The Bully is Back

by HapHazred

First published 10th of June, 2015

When Rainbow's house is destroyed by a drunken pegasus, her whole past begins to unravel, and it's up to Applejack to make sure she gets through the ordeal in one piece.

When Rainbow's house is destroyed by a drunken pegasus, her whole past begins to unravel before her, dredging up memories she would rather keep forgotten.

It's up to Applejack and her friends to make sure that she gets through the ordeal, but things turn from bad to worse when an unwelcome visitor arrives to stir up trouble.

Whether she wants it or not, Rainbow's life is about to change dramatically... and it doesn't look like it'll be for the better.

Teen for more adult-ish themes and mild violence.

Chapter One: Property Damage

The noise was omnipresent. The ponies were chattering, milling around aimlessly, getting in her way. It was all she could do to keep going, unsure what she would find when she got through the mass of bodies between her and the source of the chaos.

The crowd pushed against her, forcing Applejack this way and that as she shoved past the townsponies. She felt a particularly painful elbow dig into her ribs. With a yelp, Applejack retaliated by knocking the offending pony off her hooves.

She wondered what on earth had happened.

All she had heard was a deafening crash, all the way from her stand in the middle of town. Her first thought had been that something may have scared the cattle, causing a stampede. Another possibility was that old Mildew's cottage had finally thrown in the towel and collapsed. It didn't take much thought to realize that neither of these were the case.

This wasn't a stampede as far as she could tell, and old Mildew's place was over to the south of town, not the north. The crowd was as unhelpful as she had expected them to be. The few attempts Applejack made to wring some information out of them ended in her being told that Celestia had fallen prey to the Nightmare force. Another had been that Twilight had cast a mind-control spell on the livestock, and on an even more outrageous note, parachute pants had made a comeback and Rarity had lost it.

Applejack had decided that the first two were impossible. The last one would have made much more noise.

"Let... lemme' through!" came a slurred stallion's voice. Applejack was almost thrown to the ground by a small-ish, bedraggled looking pegasus running straight at her.

Applejack caught herself just in time, and snapped her teeth around his tail, before tugging him back into the crowd. "Y'ain't going anywhere, partner!"

The stallion collapsed in a heap, unable to stand after Applejack's violent assault. She prodded his side as a handful of ponies began to applaud. "This fella' drunk?" she asked, taking note of his reddened cheeks and lazy expression.

She didn't get an answer before she heard gasping from the edge of the crowd, outside of her line of sight. Carrot Top was backing away from something, Applejack wasn't sure what.

"Ponyfeathers," she grunted. "Hold this for me," she instructed the closest townpony in a businesslike manner, and then gestured at the prone stallion. "I'll be comin' back for him soon."

Applejack stormed to the scene of the disturbance, not encountering any resistance for the first time that day. What she saw shocked her into silence. Her jaw dropped and her ears flattened against her head.

A huge white construct was jutting out of the lake. It was easily recognizable due to it's cloud columns and rainbow fountains: this was Rainbow Dash's house. The only major difference Applejack was that instead of floating in the air, half of it was sunken under Ponyville's lake. Applejack's eyes widened as she saw what had caused Carrot Top to panic. Emerging from the water was a small blue shape, coughing and spluttering. To Applejack's dismay, it bore a distinctive multicoloured mane.

"Rainbow!" she exclaimed, rushing towards the water's edge and wading out towards her friend. When she got close enough, she tried to drag her out by her mane, but Rainbow knocked her aside with a vicious swipe of her hoof.

"Get... get off me," she coughed, spitting out what looked like an entire bathtub's worth of water. "I'm fine, I'm just wet."

Applejack recoiled as if stung. "There ain't no need for that, now..." she began. "You looked like you were in trouble..."

The pair stumbled back onto dry land, Rainbow shaking the water out of her wings. Her mane plastered itself against her neck and her feathers seemed glued together. "I... I know," she replied. "It's been a day."

The crowd backed off as they wobbled away from the scene of destruction. Rainbow turned back to look at her house, half submerged under tons of water. "This sucks," she muttered.

Applejack looked over at the stallion she had caught from earlier, still lying face down on the ground. She glanced back at Rainbow Dash, staring at her house, wiping the water off her face. "Did he have somethin' to do with this?" Applejack asked, deciding to deal with the disaster first, and mend her friend's feelings later.

Rainbow looked down at her hooves. "Y-yeah, I think so," she said, bitter. "Just let him go. I don't care about him."

The pegasus stallion began stumbling to his hooves, still trying to get away. Applejack frowned. "RD, if he's done this, he needs to get arrested," she told her. "I know you're confused right now, but..."

"I'm not confused," Rainbow countered. "I'm just upset." She groaned and let herself slump backwards until she was staring at the sky. "All I wanted to do today was play, and maybe practice a bit. I didn't want to have to go looking for a new place to stay, and drag my belongings out of my sinking house." She closed her eyes. "And here I thought today was going to be fun."

Applejack's frown deepened. Her stall was still unmanned: it was possible somepony might be stealing from it as they spoke. But worse still was the fact that Dash was acting strangely. She might even be injured: it was Applejack's first priority to make sure she was okay, and she couldn't do that sitting on a bench.

From the water trudged the little green shape that was Tank. The tortoise lumbered towards Rainbow with his customary speed. The pegasus gave him a little smile.

"Hey, bud. Looks like you had a nice swim, huh?" she said, her expression falling as she finished her sentence. Applejack held out her hoof.

"C'mon, sugar'. We'd better get you someplace dry or you'll catch your death of cold," she said. Rainbow took the hoof, and Applejack pulled her up. "Let's go."

Rainbow kept on flicking water at Applejack every time she spread her wings, unable to dry them out. She was becoming more and more frustrated with her situation. "This is going to take hours of preening," she complained as they made their way towards the centre of Ponyville. That was where Twilight's Crystal castle lay.

"Come on," Applejack urged. "The other's will want to hear 'bout this."

"Well, great," Rainbow groaned. "Now everypony will know I'm homeless."

"They'll just be happy to know you're safe," Applejack retorted. "What if they heard about the accident an' didn't know you made it out?"

"Of course I made it out," Rainbow said. "Pegasi can float, y'know."

The pair both strode into the grand hallway of their majestic castle. Upon entering, Rainbow dripped water all over the polished crystal floor, almost causing her to slip. "Jeez!"

She flapped her wings, trying to catch her balance, but to no avail. Her wings were still slick with water and couldn't catch the air. If it hadn't been for Applejack, she might have fallen flat on her face.

"Whoa, there!" Applejack warned, stabilizing her friend. "Floor's mighty slippery, now..."

"I noticed," Rainbow replied, then smiled for the first time that day. "Hey, AJ... gimme' a push!"

After a brief moment's hesitation, Applejack obliged. "Sure thing," she said, and then shoved Rainbow's flank. The resulting force sent her sliding across the floor towards the doors to the main room. Rainbow gave a playful whoop as she did so.

"Aw, yeah!" she exclaimed, her current troubles forgotten. Applejack cantered after her. "Aw, horseapples! How d'you stop?"

It was at that inopportune moment that the doors to the throne room opened. From beyond the doors, Twilight rushed outside... only to collide headfirst with Rainbow. Applejack winced as the pair fell to the floor, completely out of control.

"Should've seen that comin'..." she muttered.

Rainbow and Twilight groaned, each one nursing their respective bruises as they got to their hooves. "Wh-watch where you're going..." Twilight began, before realizing who it was she had bumped into. "Rainbow! You're okay!"

"Not anymore," Rainbow replied, grimacing. "You really should blunt that horn or something..."

"I mean," Twilight explained, "I heard about the accident! Somepony destroyed your house! I... I got worried."

Rainbow looked over at Applejack, who was leaning against the wall, a satisfied, smug smile playing her lips. "Told ya' we should've come here."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. It's just that my house got sunk, is all." Rainbow suddenly brightened. "Hey, we could form a 'our house got destroyed' club!"

Twilight winced at the statement.

"Too soon," Applejack whispered. Rainbow's ears flattened.

"Oh, okay. Just trying to, y'know, lighten the mood..."

Twilight frowned. "What exactly happened? I heard somepony attacked you, or something. But that can't be right... that's crazy."

Applejack remembered the drunken stallion, and she remembered what Rainbow had told her. Rainbow sighed. "No, it was somepony. Threw a lightning bolt at my house."

Twilight widened her eyes. "That's awful! Why would he do that?"

Rainbow hesitated. "I... dunno. Maybe I fired him from the weather team, or beat him in a race, or something?" She coughed, and put her hoof on her chest. "An awesome pony like me can't possibly remember everypony they've beaten. I win a lot of races."

"You mean to say somepony destroyed your house 'cause you beat 'em in a race?" Applejack asked, suspicious of Rainbow trying to conceal the truth from her. "That sounds awfully far-fetched."

"It was an important race," Rainbow added. "Besides, that's not important right now! What's important is that I have nowhere to stay any more!"

Twilight tapped her chin as she pondered the situation. "Well, bringing this pony to justice is important... but I agree." She looked around at her castle. "How about here?"

"Eh... no offence, but I don't think you and I would survive that long together," Rainbow replied. Twilight shook her head, smiling.

"Oh, I'm sure we'd survive!" she said. Rainbow narrowed her eyes and gave Twilight a disbelieving look.

"Okay... I suppose you won't mind if I drag whatever stuff I have left over here until I can find someplace more permanent?"

"Of course. Are there any books? Are they sorted alphabetically? By author? Have you arranged your clothes properly?"

Rainbow sighed. "See, this is what I meant." She gave Twilight a wry smile as the young alicorn scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed. "We'd be at each other's throats within minutes."

Twilight and Applejack both looked at each other. "Well, it can't be that hard to find somepony who'll take ya'll in, can it?" Applejack asked. "We'll go by one by one and see who has a spare room."

"R-Rainbow's house got..."

"Destroyed. Blown up. Gone." Rainbow exclaimed. Fluttershy widened in panic. Twilight raised her hooves, doing her best to placate the mare.

"But she's fine! Look," she said, pointing at Rainbow. "See?"

"Y-yes, I suppose," Fluttershy replied. "But what's she going to do?"

"Well, we were wonderin' if you'd maybe have a spare room for a while?" Applejack asked. Rainbow poked her head over Applejack, stealing the spotlight.

"It'd just be for a short amount of time."

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Of course! I'd be happy to let you stay here for a while."

Rainbow's face lit up. "Yes! Awesome." She jumped in the air, full of glee, before coming down heavily, becoming serious again. "Oh, but I gotta' ask... I kinda' have these allergies. Being an animal caretaker, I don't suppose you have... uh..."

Fluttershy's face fell. "Yes? What animals were you thinking of?"

"... squirrels, hedgehogs, mice, badgers..."

Fluttershy held her hoof up, stopping Rainbow in her tracks.

"I, um, think you'd better check with the others first, then," she told Rainbow sheepishly. "I have... all of those."

Rarity pondered the question. "Well... I suppose. But you absolutely have to let me style that mane of yours!"

Pinkie's face fell. "Sorry! I'm afraid with the foals, there's no space left!" She brightened up again. "Unless you'd like to see if I can empty out the box..."

Rainbow backed away. "N-no need. Last time I looked down there, I think I saw some stuff I really shouldn't have." She turned around to leave. "Besides, those weird pygmies looked like they were happy living there. I wouldn't want to disturb them."

"... so... that's that, then." Rainbow leant against her tree, groaning. "What am I gonna' do?!"

Applejack opened her mouth to mention her own home, but was interrupted before she was able to make a sound. A wild orange blur came out of the blue, skidding to a halt in front of all three of them. Applejack recognized Scootaloo's purple mane and tiny, buzzing wings.

"Rainbow!" she exclaimed, leaping off her scooter. Rainbow only just managed to adjust her weight to repel the young filly throwing herself at her idol. "I saw your house was missing whilst I was at school!"

"Oh, don't worry," Rainbow told her. "It's still there. It's just a bit wetter than before."

"Were ya' worried?" Applejack asked. "Come to think of it, was Applebloom worried?" she asked, suddenly uneasy that her younger sister might be as concerned for Rainbow's safety as Scootaloo was.

"She was confused, but she didn't really mind as much," Scootaloo told Applejack. "She just wanted to know what happened."

"House blew up," Rainbow told her. "It's an occupational hazard."

"Seriously?!"

"Yep. We're looking for a place I can crash right now."

Scootaloo's little wings began to flutter as she failed to contain her exitement. "Ooh! You could totally stay with me!" she exclaimed. "Mom is always talking about the guest room, and how empty the place feels sometimes."

Rainbow eyed the young pegasus. "Is this for real?" she asked. "As in, did your mom really say that?"

"Yeah, all the time," Scootaloo replied. "Don't you trust me?"

"Would you trust me?" Rainbow asked, still eyeing Scootaloo, who nodded furiously. "...yeah, of course you would. And so you should! I'm the most trustworthy pony in town!"

Applejack tapped the ground with her hoof, pulling Rainbow's attention back to their original discussion. "There ain't no harm in askin', right?" she pointed out. Rainbow shrugged, her eyes beginning to brighten as she felt hopeful again.

"Yeah! C'mon, then. Let's see what your parents have to say about this!"

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need to, Rainbow," the middle aged mare told her with a kind smile. "My Scootaloo has told me all about you, and I've seen you around town as well."

Rainbow scratched her head. "Yeah, I am pretty noticeable, huh?"

"Very. I'm Greased Lightning." The mare held out her hoof. "Though why anypony would name their child anything with 'grease' in it, I have no idea."

Applejack watched the pair with interest. Scootaloo's mother was a tall mare, sporting an impressive dollop of purple mane. By comparison, Rainbow looked tiny, her own small, petite frame dwarfed by Greased Lightning's more mature body.

"Rainbow Dash. I, uh, give your daughter flying lessons. And manage the weather. And sometimes save Equestria."

Applejack almost scoffed at how humble Rainbow was trying to be. She was so painfully uncomfortable at it it looked almost comedic. Rainbow glared at Applejack in a no-nonsense manner, which only made it worse.

"And we're all very grateful, too," Greased replied. "The weather is important to Ponyville's welfare, after all."

The house was nice too, Applejack noticed. It was small, granted, but not cramped, and it would be easy to heat as well. The walls were covered with pictures of Scootaloo and the Crusaders. Applejack was reminded of her own walls back at her house, except with pictures of Applebloom instead. Greased Lightning was a pony that cared for her daughter, she deduced.

"Yeah, it is. Y'know, just yesterday, Thunderlane and Sky High almost drowned the entire town in rain 'cause of some silly paperwork problem," Rainbow gabbled. "Pretty dumb, huh?"

Lightning looked over at Scootaloo, turning from kind to stern. "Now, you mustn't let Rainbow distract you from your homework," she reminded. "You still need to get your grades up in maths."

Scootaloo blushed. Rainbow bounced, and everypony focussed their attention on her once again. "Ooh, I know maths! I can help!"

Greased Lightning raised her eyebrow and tilted her head. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I failed pretty hard in school, but I've been catching up ever since," Rainbow explained. "Turns out you need crazy smart-skills to get into the Wonderbolts."

Greased Lightning turned on her daughter like a shark. "Hear that, Scootsie? Your friend will be able to help you with your maths! Isn't that great?"

Scootaloo backed away, appalled at how the situation had turned against her. As mother and daughter trotted away, Rainbow approached Applejack, dragging her hooves as she did so.

"You ain't gonna' follow 'em?" Applejack asked.

"Well, yeah, but... well, I don't remember saying... uh..."

Rainbow kicked the ground petulantly.

"Thanks. I was pretty rotten today."

Rainbow did her best to smile, but the gruesome pain and anguish she had suffered at having to lower herself to apologizing had taken a lot out of her.

"It's fine, ya'll had a rough day," Applejack told her. "But... 'bout that drunken stallion..."

"He was drunk?" Rainbow asked, her voice reduced to a grunt. "Not surprised."

"I could tell," Applejack said. "Why did you want to let him go? He's a threat to Ponyville if'n he goes blowin' up our houses! And it ain't like you to let him."

"No," Rainbow explained, taking her time to carefully choose her words, "He's just some... just some loser who got angry for no reason. Or... maybe there is a reason, but it's a long story."

"Can you tell it to me?"

"No, I mean, there isn't any reason." She shrugged. "Like I said, he's just drunk and stupid, and not worth my time."

Applejack gave a dissatisfied snort.

"Rainbow, you should at least try to get him to pay the damages on your house," Applejack said. "It's his fault you're homeless now, after all."

"Hey," Rainbow replied, reverting to her usual, smug self. "I'm not homeless: I got all of you guys, right? Even if you all want to style my mane, surround me with allergy-inducing animals, re-organize my stuff or transport me to scary alternate dimensions." She smirked at Applejack. "I'm not that afraid of being in between houses for a while."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Well, if you ever need anythin'... you know where I live."

"I know," Rainbow told her putting her hoof on Applejack's side. "You're always there, aren't you?"

Applejack hesitated. "Yeah. I guess I am," she replied, feeling a little awkward.

Rainbow looked down at her hoof. "Sorry. Is this awkward touching?" she asked, and then swallowed. "It's awkward touching. I'll stop."

"It's fine," Applejack replied. "Just took me by surprise is all." As she heard Greased Lightning and Scootaloo trot back towards them, she returned serious. "Rainbow, I don't know what's wrong with you an' that stallion, but if'n you ever want to talk, please do. I'd rather listen to your whole life story than deal with more problems of yours gettin' even worse."

Rainbow remained silent. Scootaloo popped her head around the corner of the door, interrupting both of them.

"Hey, wanna' see your room?"

"Sure thing, squirt!" Rainbow exclaimed, beaming once again. Greased Lightning tilted her head in surprise.

"She lets you call her 'squirt'? She hates me calling her pet names," she said. "Isn't that right, Scootsie-wootsie?"

"Yes," Scootaloo dead-panned. "I do."

Rainbow explored her room, examining each nook and cranny with unrelenting interest. Considering how small the room was, it didn't take her long: most of the space was taken up by the large double bed and chest of drawers. There was a window, though, which Rainbow was glad for: she loved sleeping with the wind breathing life into the room.

But even the open window didn't make the room feel any less cramped and confined, like a prison cell.

"I can't believe Wallflower showed up here," she muttered to herself. "And I can't believe he'd do this..."

She sat down heavily, finally allowing herself a moment of weakness now she was all alone, and held her head in her hooves.

"What've I done?"

Author's Notes:

Chapter 2 will be released on the 12th of June!

If you liked what you saw so far, don't forget to check out my other stories. Don't forget to leave any criticism or thoughts in the comments. I always read every single one, and I love getting them.

Have a good one!

Chapter Two: The Bully is Back

The view was incredible from this altitude. Ponyville was sprawled out in front of him, bathed in the morning sunglight. It was just like a map, minus the names of the places scribbled across the landscape. The beauty of it all was completely lost on Bullit, though. All he was looking for was any sign of the distinctive floating cloud-house. He didn't have much of a description to go on, but he knew he'd recognize it when he saw it. Cloudsdale architecture was particularly recognizable.

"So this is where she's holed up, eh?" he asked with a sly chuckle. "How about that? Our little brat hiding in a tiny place like this?"

"Maybe she didn't think we'd look somewhere boring," Rattle replied. "She was always more a fan of crowds."

Bullit Blaze unfolded a scrap of newspaper from his mane, reading through the article again. Ponyville Flyer wins Silver at Equestria Games, read the title. Bullit grinned.

"Well, better get looking, right?" he said, and dove off his cloud towards the town below.

Applejack was sat down in the kitchen, taking a minute to read through that day's paper as the rest of the household bustled around her. She was determined to get as much reading done as she could before getting interrupted by one of Big Mac's problems, Granny's yelling, or most likely of all...

"Hey, did'ya find out what happened to Rainbow's house?" Applebloom asked.

...Applebloom's ceaseless questioning.

"It kinda' fell out of the sky. Somethin' about a drunken pegasus and a thunderbolt," Applejack replied, giving her sister a dismissive wave. She was none to keen to go into too much detail. After all, if Rainbow wasn't comfortable with telling her, what were the chances she'd like Applebloom knowing?

"Wuz' it the gangs again?!" came Granny's irate reply. "If it were, I'll smack 'em silly, just you—..."

"The gangs have been gone for years," Applejack replied. "Remember?"

Granny frowned.

"Nope."

Applejack snapped her newspaper in front of her again, blocking out any further distractions. "Well, they are. 'Got kicked out."

Granny harrumphed, as if dissatisfied with the result. Applejack let herself get drowned in her own thoughts. Most of them revolved around Rainbow and her new lodgings. Something about the situation just kept niggling at her, and Applejack wasn't comfortable letting sleeping dogs lie.

"Oh, come on! I can do way harder stuff than this," Rainbow proclaimed. "I can do crazy awesome stuff like kinetic and potential energy! This is just adding!"

Scootaloo looked at Rainbow, her eyes filled with utter despair. "And multiplying!"

"Multiplying is just adding stuff lots of times," Rainbow told her, dismissing Scootaloo's fearful replies with a wave of her hoof. "It's easy if you use a pen and paper."

"Cheerilee won't let us use pen and paper," the young filly replied. "She says it's important we can do this stuff in our heads!"

Rainbow snorted. "That's dumb. You always have pen and paper. Besides, you can't do hard multiplications in your head."

"That's what I said," Scootaloo replied. "Not to mention, we have calculators nowadays," she said, holding out the small device she had stored in her drawer. "It's so much simpler!"

"Oh, don't be silly," Rainbow scoffed. "Those'll never catch on."

Scootaloo went silent for a second. "What do you even use all this for, anyway? All you do is fly around."

"Most of the time, yeah. I just let my awesome instincts guide me." Rainbow flicker her mane out of her eyes as she lounged back against the edge of the desk. "But for complex tricks, it's sometimes important to figure out if they're, y'know, possible or not." She shrugged. "Typically, the more scientifically improbable what I do is, the more impressed ponies are when I actually pull them off."

Scootaloo frowned. "So... you calculate whether your tricks are doable or not... then do them anyway?"

"That about sums it up. Apparently, ponies can't perform the Sonic Rainboom," Rainbow explained. "That's exactly why everypony loves it so much!" She stood up to her full height and puffed her chest out. "And that's why maths is important! So you know exactly when to ignore it."

Scootaloo frowned. "That's not what Cheerilee says..."

"Yeah, well, who are you gonna' believe? Me, or a qualified teacher?" Rainbow asked. "Now, c'mon, pack your things and let's go! School is in, like, ten seconds!"

"Ten minutes."

"Ten seconds!"

Applejack shrugged. "She'll be fine. She's with Scootaloo, after all..." she muttered.

"Wassat'?" Granny asked, cupping her hoof around her ear. Applejack shook her head.

"Nothin', Granny. Just thinkin' aloud." She sighed and put her paper down. "C'mon, then! It's 'bout time we get you to school," she said to Applebloom.

"Okay!"

Applejack got to her hooves. "I got plenty of chores today. Harvest apples, sell apples, visit Rainbow... probably sell more apples, too." She tapped her hoof impatiently. "C'mon! Let's get going!"

Scootaloo buzzed after Rainbow as fast as she could, barely able to keep up with the speeding pegasus. It wasn't fair, she thought. Her schoolbag was weighing her down, whereas Rainbow was completely unburdened. In fact, Rainbow was almost trudging just so Scootaloo could keep up.

Living with Rainbow was proving to be harder than she expected. Awesome, but hard.

"Keep up, slowpoke! Imagine it's practice!"

"Practice for what?!" Scootaloo shouted back.

"Going really fast!" Rainbow replied. "Flying! Looking awesome! Anything!"

"Speaking of looking," Scootaloo began, widening her eyes as she saw the schoolhouse begin to appear over the horizon. "Watch out!"

Rainbow quickly spun around to face the sudden appearance of the school, widening her eyes as she fought off panic. Thinking fast, she dashed up into the air with a powerful beat of her wings, only just avoiding a collision with the building.

Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief. It'd be really embarrassing to have her first day with Rainbow ruined by her knocking the whole school down.

"Ha! Not this time, building," Rainbow gloated, gliding down to the ground. "I saw it coming a mile away."

Scootaloo dismounted her scooter, shaking her head in disbelief. She was lucky that Rainbow had been flying slowly, she realized. Had she been going at full speed, or even half speed, things might have turned out much worse. Scootaloo locked her ride against the fence and shook her helmet off her head.

"So... This is it, yeah?" Rainbow asked, whistling. "It's pretty small. Up in Cloudsdale, the school was huge. It was way uglier, too."

"Huh." Scootaloo tilted her head, curious. "Did you have bullies there, too?"

Rainbow hesitated briefly. "Uh, yeah. A few."

Scootaloo decided that perhaps it was a bit of a delicate subject. Rainbow didn't look happy reminiscing about her old school. "Sounds rough. I'd hate to be in a big school like that," she said. She started imagining how horrible it would be to get lost in a crowd and still get singled out by bullies. It'd be like being stuck in a shoal of fish that just abandoned you to a hungry shark.

"Just a bit," Rainbow replied. "Anyway, see you later!"

"Leavin' so soon?"

Rainbow spun around to face Applejack and Applebloom, trotting towards the school gates among the other fillies and colts. Applejack was carrying Applebloom's bag for her, and looked wide awake despite it being only half past eight.

"Oh, hey!" Rainbow flew up in the air, before balancing herself on one of the fence posts, giving her a height advantage over the farmpony. "I was just taking Scoots' to school!"

"I can see that," Applejack replied, and passed Applebloom's bag to her. "I was droppin' off Applebloom myself."

Applebloom cantered over to Scootaloo, a broad smile on her face. "Hiya! Is Sweetie Belle here, yet?"

"No," Scootaloo replied, eyeing two ponies in the playground. "But they are."

Applejack walked over to her sister. "Somethin' up?"

"Nope!" Applebloom replied, taken surprised by her older sister. Applejack shrugged, leaving the young filly to her own devices.

"All right, then. I'll see ya'll this afternoon." She looked over at Rainbow. "You comin'? Or are ya'll busy?"

Rainbow pondered the question, before nodding. "Sure thing! My shift only starts after lunch."

Applejack grinned. That was one item off her schedule already. With a bit of luck, it wouldn't be the last.

The Sugarcube Corner was almost empty. The early risers of Ponyville had already gone to work, whereas it was still too soon for the rest of the populace to fancy a coffee and cake. But for Rainbow and Applejack, who more or less made their own timetables, it was perfect. They were sat outside, each with a small pastry they ordered, courtesy of Pinkie's lightning fast service.

"So, you checking up on me?" Rainbow asked. She leaned over the table, eyes narrowed. "It's okay if you are. I thrive on attention!"

Applejack hesitated. "Well, actually, I was a bit worried..."

Rainbow's shoulders sagged. "Yeah, I thought you would be." She took another sip of her coffee in silence. "Look, Greased Lightning is awesome. Scary, but awesome. She tore apart a bike with her bare hooves!"

Applejack chuckled. "You sure you ain't scared of her 'cause she's Scootaloo's mom, and you feel a lil' threatened?"

"Where'd that come from?" Rainbow asked, puzzled. "And besides, you'd be scared too if you saw her with that wrench."

"... and you're fine, then?" Applejack asked. "Comfy?"

"AJ, you're not my mom," Rainbow pouted. "I don't need you to fluff my pillows for me. They're already very fluffed." The pair fell into silence for a brief while. Rainbow eventually rolled her eyes and sighed. "... but thanks for asking."

"Anytime. But anyhow, that's enough of that." Applejack smiled. "You'll never guess how many times ponies have been askin' me about your house. All they heard was I was there, and I've been pestered ever since." She rolled her eyes. "My family's been askin', the a pony on my way here asked, last evenin' after I left your house, I got questioned..."

Rainbow raised her eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What've you been telling them?"

"As little as possible," Applejack replied. "Only that it had somethin' to do with a drunken stallion and a thunderbolt."

"Lightning bolt," Rainbow corrected. "Thunder can't have bolts."

"Lightning bolt then. Beg pardon' for falsifyin' my reports," Applejack replied sarcastically. Rainbow shrugged.

"That's cool, then. Word's bound to get around anyway."

"Good. I was worried I might be doin' you a disservice."

Rainbow snickered and took a bite out of her snack. "You worry way too much."

"Ponies are startin' to ask spread rumours, though. Granny thought it was gangs."

"Gangs? That's crazy! They've not been around for years, and I'd have heard if they came back." Rainbow's pastry dropped out of her mouth as she turned red and aggressive. Applejack raised a hoof, signalling Rainbow to let her finish.

"That's what I told her! But you just know that other ponies'll come up with the most ludicrous of stories." Applejack gestured wildly with her mug. "You'd best be on the look-out for bad rumours."

"Ugh," Rainbow groaned. "Fine, I'll keep an ear out." She picked apart her pastry with her hoof. "This sucks."

Applejack nodded. "I know, sugarcube." She looked up at the sun. "Aw, shoot. I got apples to buck," she said. "Tell ya' what: I'll be around town later to sell my produce later. Maybe we could meet up again then?"

Rainbow grinned. "Sure! I'll be, y'know, around. Might scavenge some more of my stuff from my house later." She tapped her chin. "I'll need some diving equipment... y'think Grease' has any? Or will I just have to wait 'till we drag it out the lake?"

"I might take time off an' join you, if you want."

Rainbow stopped mid-thought, and smirked. "...you've been taking a lot of time off work to take care of me, lately."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Takin' care of you is work. Feel free to scavenge your stuff alone if you want..."

"No, please come with!" Rainbow backpedalled. "My stuff is super-heavy!"

Applejack's thoughts wandered as she watched her customers browse her goods. Rainbow always kept things to herself for far too long. Applejack remembered her little reading fiasco. She just kept on keeping secrets until everything blew up in her face, and even got accused of stealing slippers, of all things.

"Do you know what I'd like?" muttered one of her customers, chatting with a friend. "Oranges. We don't have any oranges here. Strange, isn't it?"

"Oh good", Applejack groaned under her breath. "The townsponies have gotten picky."

"It is odd," replied her friend. "Still, apples are pretty nice. They're a lot sourer."

"Are you two really comparing apples and oranges? 'Cause historically, that hasn't worked out all that well."

"And you don't have to peel them!"

"Agreed," the second pony said. "That'll be two bags of apples, then, miss Jack!"

Applejack smiled. It was true what they said: apples really did sell themselves. And one more item off her schedule.

She let her thoughts drift back to her friend. There was also the matter of the young flyers contest. She let all those feelings of anxiety bubble and boil until she was a quivering wreck. Applejack adjusted her price tags absent-mindedly. "I wish she'd figure out that we don't like seeing her keep secrets like that."

Applejack shook her head, frustrated. Rainbow was right: she was acting like an overbearing mother. She decided to stop fretting for the day. She had apples to sell and things to do, and besides, she'd see Rainbow later in the day to help her with her stuff.

"Oh..."

Rainbow sat down, wings drooping by her side as she lost the strength to lift them properly. Twilight hung her head. "Sorry, but weather is magic-resistant to everypony who doesn't have a weather-related cutie mark or talent... or is a pegasus. I can't just levitate it out the lake."

"The house has collided with the lake bed," Thunderlane went on. "Even if we mobilized the whole weather team, we'd just break the house if we tried dragging it out by force." He shrugged apologetically. "I'm afraid the only thing we can do is vaporize it and let it become part of the lake."

The trio of ponies were gathered around the place Rainbow had dragged herself from the lake, the spot closest to the half sunken cloud-house. For the first time, it seemed the reality of the situation had hit Rainbow: her home wasn't coming back.

"I kinda' hoped you'd be able to get it out," she admitted.

"We can still salvage most of your things," Twilight said. "Especially the stuff on the second floor: it looks relatively intact."

Rainbow walked over to the waters edge and kicked the lake, sulking. "Great," she replied, only half paying attention. "I'm gonna'... stay here for a bit."

Thunderlane and Twilight both looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Twilight made a move in Rainbow's direction, but thought better of disturbing the dejected pegasus. Instead she flew up over the lake, observing the wreckage of Rainbow's home.

"Horseapples," Rainbow muttered. "I had some good times here..."

Thunderlane stepped to let a new arrival pass. Applejack brushed some dirt off her coat she had acquired from her day's work. She trotted up to Rainbow, who's hooves were just deep enough in the water to get wet.

"You look pretty down," she said, coming up behind her friend. Rainbow quickly wiped her hoof across her face, snorting.

"What, me? Naw, I'm made of, uh, steel," she replied. "Steel doesn't get sad."

"I bet if it did, we'd be okay with that," Applejack told her. Rainbow shook her head.

"That's ridiculous. If steel got sad, it'd rust." She looked over at Applejack. "You don't want me to get rusty, do you?"

"No, o'course not."

"It's just a shame, y'know? I don't think I had anypony over to visit, ever." Rainbow kicked the water again. "Kinda' missed out. I mean, you'd have mostly fallen through my floor, but we could have worked around that. You and Twi' and Rarity had a sleepover. That sounded like fun. Minus the tree."

Before Applejack could find the words to reply, Rainbow took a deep breath, loud enough to startle Applejack. Rainbow spread her wings, and the gentle breeze caused each individual feather to flutter. The wind whistled through them ever so faintly. Rainbow was only rarely quiet enough for Applejack to hear such small and unnoticeable noises, and it surprised her.

"Well, better get started. Apparently, the top floor is relatively intact, so..." Rainbow flew up just above Applejack. "Thanks for coming. Again."

"Anytime, partner."

The Barrel Scraper was a surprisingly pleasant establishment who's name gave no indication of the service quality found within. Bullit Blaze strode through the room, observing his surroundings with disdain. He shook his head at the kind and polite ponies enjoying a cool, refreshing drink on a summer's afternoon, disgusted.

He lay his hoof over the bar, his face twisted into a condescending scowl as he beckoned to the bartender, an older, fatter pony.

"Beer," he ordered, "... and make it cheap!" The bartender, taken aback by Bullit's sour attitude, hurried to the barrel and began pouring. Bullit scoffed. "This place don't look like it's seen a proper fight in years," he said. "What happened?! Did the guard grow a pair?" He leaned over the bar. "Did you?"

"There just aren't that many violent types around here anymore," the bartender replied, nervous. He was so nervous, in fact, that he almost spilled Bullit's drink. Rattle gave him an evil eye, causing the older pony to flinch.

"Why's that?" Bullit asked, taking the mug and bringing it to his lips. The bartender hesitated. Rattle got impatient.

"Why haven't we seen any gangs 'round here?" she asked. "Who's in charge here?"

The Bartender relaxed, happy he could finally answer a question. "Oh, that'd be either Mayor Mare, if you're looking for any administrative concerns. For any kind of friendship dispute, you'll want Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Friendship dispute?" Rattle asked, unsure if she should laugh or feel insulted.

"I meant," Bullit continued, "...who's the boss? You know, the pony in charge of whatever gang you have in this little backwater hamlet." He turned towards Rattle. "Is hamlet the right word?"

"I think it is, Bullit."

"Hmph."

The bartender held up his hooves defensively. "Oh, there aren't any gangs around here. We're quite a peaceful town."

Bullit raised an eyebrow.

"You mean this place is... uh, unoccupied?"

"Well, we're occupying it."

Bullit's hoof shot across the counter faster than the eye could follow, taking the bartender by surprise. Even Rattle flinched. He grabbed the older pony by the neck and dragged him over the counter, the wood digging into his sides. The bartender gave off a small whimper as Bullit snarled sadistically.

"We're occupying it now," he said. "You can tell everypony that the Thundercloud's gang are here to stay."

His grin widened as he breathed out, his stink washing over the bartender unpleasantly. Rattle gave a throaty laugh, startling the entire room. All eyes were drawn towards the deadly duo, shocked into absolute silence. The Thundercloud's gang had arrived.

Then the bartender began to laugh.

Bullit hesitated, unsure if his ears were deceiving him.

Upon re-inspection, he found that his initial suspicious were correct. The bartender was laughing. Laughing at him.

"What's so funny?!" he demanded, his temper rising.

"Oh, it's nothing you need concern yourself with," the older stallion replied. Bullit's grip loosening around his neck, allowing him to slide back to his side of the counter. "It's just that I didn't know you were a gang."

Bullit tilted his head, confused.

"Wh-what about it?"

"Listen, word of advice, boyo..." the bartender said. "There are two ponies you absolutely have to stay away from if you want to keep yourself out of the hospital." He smiled benevolently. "I'm only saying this because it's been a while since I've had a good laugh, and I hate to see you two get hurt for no reason..."

"What are you talking about, you old fart?" Rattle demanded.

"Stay away from, one: any pegasus with a rainbow mane. She'll just cause you nothing but trouble. And two: an—"

"A pegasus with a Rainbow mane, eh?" Bullit asked, interrupting the old stallion before he could finish. "I don't suppose you'd know where I could find such a pony?" He shook off his surprise at being made a laughingstock and grinned. "I'd very much like to pay her a visit."

Author's Notes:

Chapter 3 will be released on the 14th of June!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, you may also enjoy Ponyville's Bad Day.

Please leave any thoughts or criticism in the comments! I always read them and I always enjoy getting notifications. They make me feel special.

Have a good one!

Sticks and Stones Broke his Bones...

The dinner table was loud, Rainbow thought, although this was through no fault of her own. Greased Lightning and Scootaloo were chatting by themselves, and with enough gusto for all three of them.

"Um..." she began, feeling her tremendous social skills leave her for the first time in a while.

Her half-hearted attempt at joining in was seized upon by Greased with the vicious speed of a panther. "Yeah, dear? Did you say something?" Rainbow flinched at the sudden explosion of attention. Greased Lightning spluttered with laughter. "Gracious, you should see your face! Scootsie, you didn't say your friend was so shy."

"I'm not shy!" Rainbow protested, desperate to salvage her reputation. "I'm just... off my game."

"She's just... yeah! Off her game," Scootaloo added, coming to Rainbow's aid with all the delicacy of a broken bottle.

"Sure she is," Lightning replied, hacking at her meal with a blunt knife. "Anyway, did you manage to get any of your things from that wreckage?"

Glad to finally be a part of things, Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, I got my books, my photo-album containing pictures of my friends, my family, me winning things... I got some of my Wonderbolts merch, a handful of my trophies, my huggy-snuggly— I mean, my sheets and some spare clothes..."

"Sounds like most of your stuff was salvageable," Lightning commented. "What did you lose?"

It took a second for Rainbow to answer the more delicate question. Tank, who had thus far been a silent spectator, trudged to his owner, who handed him a leaf of lettuce.

"Uh, food, mostly. And a few training devices I kept. A good few mementos, too."

"Huh. Pity."

"Yeah."

"Did you move the stuff to your room?" Greased asked. "If you need storage space, we have a garage..."

"I moved my books up there, as well as my, uh, sheets, but I had the rest stored in Twilight's Castle," Rainbow explained. "It's large enough, after all."

Scootaloo chuckled. "Yeah, I know! I can see it from my bedroom!"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, it is pretty huge. I bet we made a whole lot of ponies angry for wrecking their view!"

Greased leaned back in her chair. "I just bet. Then again, maybe they like having a view of a beautiful crystal palace." Greased then eyed her daughter with growing suspicion. "Before I get carried away talking to Rainbow, don't you have homework to do?" she asked. "Something about the timeline of Equestria?"

Scootaloo groaned and slid off her chair. "Okay, okay!" she muttered. Greased grinned at Rainbow.

"She knows better than to argue," she told her. "Isn't that right, Scootsie?"

"Love you too, mom!"

"She hates my guts."

Rainbow giggled. "Heh. Scootaloo is real lucky to have a mom like you," she confessed. "She never talked much about her life at home. I guess I've always been a bit curious."

"Huh. Well, she talks about you to no end," Greased Lightning replied. "Always going on about you and your stunts and your flying and your heroism..."

"I'm actually only around seventy percent hero," Rainbow admitted. Despite her best efforts, she began blushing from the older pony's praise. Greased Lightning's face fell a bit as she became sadder.

"I hope you aren't too disappointed in me. You take good care of Scootsie when I'm not around."

"Y-you're awesome!" Rainbow gushed, surprised. "You're tough and smart and..."

"Uh huh, go on."

"...and... uh..." Rainbow petered out. "...stuff."

"Yeah, that about sums it up. Tough and smart. Not the complete recipe for a loving parent."

Rainbow scratched her head again, licking her lips. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, does Scootaloo have any problem with... bullies?"

Rainbow regretted asking her question as soon as she had finished saying it. Greased's expression darkened and turned into an unhappy scowl. "Nothing too bad. Not like when I was a kid. Just name calling and teasing." She folded her hooves grumpily. "I still don't like it."

"Right, I get that," Rainbow replied.

"If it were me, I'd buck 'em right in the face. But that sort of thing is frowned upon these days." Rainbow remained silent. "I remember when there were still those loud-mouths running amok, and I had to slap two of them silly with my crowbar. Boy, did that stop them in their tracks. Never had trouble again."

"That was years ago, though, right?"

"Yup. What, seven years ago? Scootaloo was just a tiny foal back then." She harrumphed. "They shouldn't have messed with me in my home with my sleeping kid right upstairs."

"Ponies in gangs are ruthless," Rainbow told her. "You were just lucky there were only two of them!"

"Bah! I'd have taken on a dozen of 'em. Besides, you sorted them out real quick, didn't you?"

"Well..."

"Don't think I forgot who kicked those louts out of Ponyville," Greased Lightning said. "The rest of town might hush it up, but in my opinion, you deserve a medal."

"Well, it wasn't just me," Rainbow argued. "There was—..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, humility is good for the soul, and all that," Greased said. "All I care about is Scootsie being happy. I don't know what to do about ponies making fun of her aside from telling her teacher, which I did... But apparently, now it's just been happening outside of school instead." Greased Lightning threw up her hooves in defeat. "Ridiculous." She ran her hoof through her mane, taking a moment to collect herself. "Do try to keep an eye on her for me? My work tends to keep me busy for most of the day, and that filly just goes off running everywhere on some ridiculous 'crusade'."

"Sure!" Rainbow exclaimed. She saluted like a true professional would, or a Wonderbolt. "Happy to be of service, ma'am!"

Greased Lightning broke out into a warm smile. "Thank you, dear. I don't know where Scootsie' might be without you."

Thunderlane slouched as he trotted home from work, only just able to keep himself awake. It was nightfall, and he had been up all day working on the weather, not to mention helping his colleague salvage her belongings. It had been a long, long day, and he was just glad it was over.

"Can't wait to get home," he muttered. "Make myself some hot chocolate, or something..."

It must be hard, he thought, for Rainbow. After all, he had a home of his own he could relax in. He didn't know how friendly whoever it was she was staying with was, but he knew it wouldn't be the same. It'd be like treading on glass, he thought: be nice to the family or be gone.

He knocked against another pony as he walked, jostling him out of his thoughts. He spun around to face a pair of pegasi, flaring his wings as he babbled apologetically.

"Oh, so sorry..." he said, reeling from the impact. That pony had been tough... what was he made of, pure muscle?

To his surprise, the expression he encountered was not a forgiving one.

"Sorry, are you?" the pony replied, his mouth twisted into an ugly snarl. Thunderlane felt tiny as the two pegasi towered over him, despite Thunderlane being a tall pony himself. How'd they get so big?

"Uh... yeah," he replied. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I was worrying about a friend..."

The pegasus gave a wry chuckle. "Oh, you shouldn't be worrying about your friend," he said. His companion nodded.

"Worry about you."

Thunderlane began to back away. These strangers weren't from Ponyville... They might be criminals, thugs. They could be dangerous. He might be in danger. Thunderlane's thoughts were erratic, but his natural survival instinct kept them in check. He fought back his desire to run...

Run!

Run!

Thunderlane turned, his flared wings already providing him with enough lift to take off. They began to cut through the wind like knives, the drag of the air began to tug him towards the skies, faster, higher...

Wrong choice, a voice in the back of his mind told him.

He felt a pony's teeth clamp around his tail like the metal jaws of a trap, then tugging him back to the ground and forcing him into submission. Horseapples! Why'd I try running?

"Dumb pony," the stallion muttered, before laying his hoof on Thunderlane's side. He grimaced and began to gradually apply pressure. "Sorry, but I'm in a pretty bad mood this evening."

Thunderlane squirmed, trying to use his hooves to swat the stronger pegasus off of him, but he couldn't reach. The pegasus mare slapped him back down for his efforts, causing his vision to blur and his left eye to tear up. Can't see!

"I've been laughed at," the stallion explained, crushing Thunderlane's ribs with a snarl. "Me! Like I was funny!"

"Get off!"

"Make me," the stallion growled, before twisting his hoof with a snarl. Thunderlane felt something inside him snap, and pain flared up his torso. He grunted, gnashing his teeth as he fought back a scream. He refused to give them the satisfaction.

As if by magic, the pressure disappeared. The stallion shook his head angrily, wiping his hoof on the grass as if removing dirt. He beckoned to his companion.

"C'mon. Let's leave this guy. No sense beating the guy to death just 'cause he was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said, taking a deep breath. "It was pretty therapeutic, though."

Thunderlane groaned, trying to get to his hooves, but his side stung far too much to move. He gasped for air.

"H-help..."

Applejack was tending to her cart the next morning, examining the wheel whilst Applebloom packed her bags. By the looks of it, it'd need a new axle: the current one was worn down to the point of breaking.

Yet another entry to her schedule.

She stretched out her legs, her heavy muscles only just flexible enough to move. She remembered her previous night, where she had lain awake until two in the morning, unable to sleep. Applejack shook her head ponderously. Best keep myself awake until the afternoon. I might be able to sneak a nap in then...

Hearing the soft sound of hoofsteps, she pricked her ears, and scanned the horizon for any signs of a pony. It couldn't be her family, she knew, because they were all in the house, and whoever it was was coming from the road...

She found her pony, a stallion trotting towards her, his hooves dragging against the dirt. "H-hello there!" he exclaimed, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Hullo, partner," she replied, moving herself with all the speed of a weight on hooves towards him. He was a pegasus, she noted, but other than that he seemed oddly familiar. "Have we met?"

"Uh, I must have one of those faces," he replied, his wary eyes betraying his dishonesty. Applejack narrowed her own, cautious.

"Sure y'do," she said. "What are you here for?"

"I'm actually here to ask for directions," he told her. "I... know you're an element of harmony, and I was hoping you might know the whereabouts of Rainbow Dash," he said. His mouth curled unpleasantly as he spoke the name. Applejack tilted her head.

It was then that she remembered his face: though his snout wasn't as red and his eyes were far more lively, there was no mistaking it. This was the stallion she had caught the day Rainbow's house had been demolished.

Despite not being fully awake, Applejack recalled her friend's expression as she had stood in front of her broken home. In particular, she remembered her wiping her hoof over her face to desperately try and look as tough as ever. Maybe she had been, too, and it was just Applejack's imagination, but the more she thought about it, the more she was certain Rainbow had been in real pain.

And this was the stallion responsible.

"You're the one, ain't you..." she snarled, pawing the dirt with her hoof, lowering her head as she threatened to charge. "Yer' the one who made my friend homeless..."

The stallion backed away out of instinct. "I... I can explain!"

"You better," Applejack warned. "This here's my property, and there ain't nopony goin' to tell me what I can and can't do on it. Ya' get me?"

The pegasus swallowed desperately, and nodded. "Yeah, I get you. I... I was drunk, and scared, and..."

"That ain't no excuse," Applejack snorted, her temper worsening. "My friend is livin' in a home she don't know 'cause you were drunk?"

"I want to pay her back!" the stallion blurted out. "I was wrong to lower myself to... I mean, I've been trying to find her since yesterday," he explained, "...but now she doesn't have an address, I couldn't find her." He hung his head in defeat. Applejack scanned his face for any signs of deception... Rapid breathing, darting eyes, anything, but found nothing other than regret.

"What's your name?" she asked.

The stallion tried to stand up straight and make himself presentable. "Uh, Wallflower," he said, a little embarrassed upon revealing his rather feminine name.

"And why'd you attack Rainbow?" she asked, continuing her interrogation.

"AJ!" came Applebloom's voice, reminding Applejack about their trip to school. She hissed angrily.

"Shoot!" she snapped, and glared at Wallflower. "Don't you go nowhere," she threatened, and trotted back to the house, shaking her head, furious.

Wallflower just stood there, as if petrified.

Applebloom pounced on her older sister as soon as she was close to the house. "Hey, sis'? We ready to go?"

Applejack eyed her unwanted visitor. "Sure thing, Apple-B. Just let me deal with our guest first, 'kay, sugar?"

Applebloom looked at Wallflower suspiciously. "He here t'cause trouble?" she asked, looking up at Applejack with huge, innocent eyes. Applejack bit her lip: where would she even begin? Applejack was too confused herself to give a proper answer.

"I don't think he means to," she answered. She turned back towards Wallflower. "Get inside while I finish talkin': this is private matters."

Applebloom pouted, but did as she was told. Applejack rubbed her eyes with her hoof as she walked back to her visitor. "Listen, I've changed my mind. I don't want t'know what your deal is with my friend, 'cause that's her business," she explained. Before Wallflower had a chance to relax, she continued. "But if you do so much as harm a hair on her head, I'll personally drag you back here, where I can do whatever I want to you, just like we talked 'bout earlier." Wallflower nodded. Applejack followed suit, mimicking his movements to a T. "Good. You can meet me at the Sugarcube Corner 'round two-ish. I'll tell ya' if Rainbow wants t'see you or not. If she don't, you never show your face around her again."

Wallflower sighed, going slack with relief. "Thank you. That's a great weight off my shoulders."

"It shouldn't be," Applejack snapped. "Now, I have t'get my lil' sister to school, so you'll be on your way, now."

And with that, she beckoned to Applebloom to come, and gestured at Wallflower, indicating that it was time he left.

"What'll Rainbow think of this?" she wondered.

Twilight hesitated, the heavy wooden door seeming far more threatening than any grand portcullis. Rarity leaned inwards.

"You know, darling, it's best we get this over with quickly," she reminded. Twilight shook herself into action.

"Yes, of course. It just feels... well, dishonest."

"I'm quite glad it feels that way, myself," Rarity confessed. "If it didn't, it'd mean we had no problems at all snooping around our friend's private affairs."

"And that's just wrong!" Pinkie chipped in, bouncing over the pair as she talked. Rarity nodded.

"But this must be done! We have to make sure our darling Dashie is surviving, and you know nopony has known her longer than Fluttershy."

Twilight looked back at the small cottage, its crude, heavy, but comforting contours giving no clue about what might be going on inside. Maybe Rainbow Dash was already there, and they'd be caught snooping as soon as they crossed the doorway. Maybe Fluttershy would be outraged they'd use her friendship that way, and send them out. Maybe...

"Twilight, come on. This is for the best."

The young alicorn swallowed her concerns and knocked her hoof on the door, twice, thrice, four times. She began counting, knowing it would take Fluttershy three seconds to get up, four to work up the courage to answer, then another five to make her way to the door...

The door opened, and Angel's head peered out, glaring at Twilight as if she were an intruder.

Twilight had forgot to account for Angel's swift reaction time. She hung her head, peeved at making such an obvious mistake.

"Hello. Is Fluttershy in?" she asked, doing her best to remain polite. The little mammal tilted his head and stuck his lower lip out before hopping back inside, the door swinging open behind him.

Fluttershy had only just poked her head around the corner of the staircase. She eyed her guests, surprised.

"Oh!" She trotted up to them, and when they were all inside, she slowly closed the door. "I didn't expect you... all at once..."

"Yup! All three of us!" Pinkie declared. "Like the three maresketeers!"

"We're here to ask about Rainbow Dash," Twilight began, deciding to get her questions out of the way as soon as possible.

"One for all..."

Fluttershy widened her eyes. "Um... why can't you just ask her?"

"...and all for cake!"

"Because we don't think she'll tell us, dear," Rarity explained. Twilight nodded.

"I saw her yesterday, when we were trying to move her things out of her house... she just wouldn't say a word, but she was obviously in pain."

Rarity nodded. "Applejack's the only pony who's been getting through to her lately... I'm afraid I don't really speak 'Dash', if you follow."

Pinkie bounced between the pair, a determined look on her face. "But Dashie's our friend too, and it's not fair that Applejack should be the only pony to help, right?" she asked. "We want her to get better too!"

"Oh, dear," Fluttershy began. "And you think I know something, don't you?"

Twilight looked at Rarity, then Pinkie, for guidance. Once both ponies nodded, she turned back to Fluttershy, more determined than ever. "Yes. I know it's something to do with the stallion who broke her house: when she came over to the Castle, she refused to go after him no matter what we said."

"And that doesn't sound like the Rainbow I know."

"Yeah! She'd go all out on his flank!" Pinkie added, before growling at herself and flailing her hooves wildly. "How'd you like your wings, fried or grilled?"

Fluttershy looked to her left. Twilight could tell she was looking for a way to evade the question. "We'd understand if you don't want to tell us: we don't want to compromise your friendship with her. But we wouldn't ask if we didn't think it was for the best."

"... or maybe marinaded, with a touch of sage?"

After a long pause, Fluttershy sighed. "Fine... I'll tell you what I know."

"Ha! Thyme's up!"

"Pinkie, do be quiet. We've only just managed to convince Fluttershy to talk, might as well not interrupt her," Rarity scolded. Fluttershy took a deep breath, ready to recount her tale.

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! Chapter four will be up on the 16th!

If you enjoyed this story, you may also enjoy Fancy That?, also written by me.

Please feel free to comment with criticism, thoughts, or indeed, anything that comes to mind. Have a very good one!

...But Words is what Killed Her

Applejack was sat opposite her friend in the Sugarcube corner. She kept an eye on the time to make sure that Wallflower wouldn't barge in. That wasn't the point, after all. The point was to make sure Rainbow was fine with meeting him here, and she still hadn't gotten around to telling her about his visit.

The pair had met at the school, just like they had the day before. Once they had dropped off their respective young fillies, they had arranged to meet at the Corner for lunch. Applejack swallowed. How could she explain to her friend what was going on without sounding like a meddler?

"You, uh, look weird, today," Rainbow pointed out, scratching behind her ear. "You doing okay?"

"I'm, well..." Applejack began, fumbling to find her words. "There's a, uh, pony who wanted to meet you," she said.

Rainbow raised her eyebrow. "O...kay. Is he, like, trying to get me to pay taxes or something?"

"Well..."

"'Cause if he is, tell him I'm on a flying trip to Neighpal."

"He says he wants to give you money," Applejack replied.

It took a while for Rainbow to reply. "Oh, I see what this is about," she said, her voice growing cold and hostile. "This is about the pony who broke my house, isn't it?" Applejack nodded. Rainbow threw her hooves up in the air, flying into a frustrated rage. "Seriously?! You just had to meddle?"

"Hey, he came to me!" Applejack replied, going on the defensive. "He was goin' around lookin' for you, but he couldn't 'cause nopony knows you're livin' with Scootaloo."

Rainbow clenched her hooves. "Yeah, okay, whatever. Just... don't ever talk to him again." She clenched her teeth. "He's just a nopony."

Applejack watched as Rainbow's temper deteriorated. Applejack gaped: she had been calm and collected only a few moments ago.

"Rainbow, I don't know what's up with you an' that guy, but I don't think he's nothin' to be afraid of," she told her. "He looked honest."

"I'm not afraid of anything!" she replied, panic causing her voice to quicken to a squeak. "Horseapples, just tell him to go away!" She held her head in her hooves before looking at Applejack, eyes wild.

"Maybe," Applejack began, reaching out to her panicked friend, "... you should tell me what is is that's gotten you so worked up. Remember the Young Flyers Contest?" She put her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, doing her best to calm her. "If you don't talk 'bout it, you'll just eat yourself alive."

"I..."

Applejack leaned forwards, egging her on. "You don't want to know."

"Rainbow, the mere mention of this stallion gets you angrier than Saddle Rager," Applejack said. "I think you could say my curiosity is well an' truly piqued." She folded her hooves. "And I ain't leavin', and from the looks of things, neither is he. The longer you hide this from everypony, the worse it'll get."

Rainbow opened and closed her mouth several times as she searched for words. Applejack waited with agonizing patience. It took a full five seconds for Rainbow to swallow, and sigh.

"...I'm a horrible pony."

Applejack widened her eyes, surprised. "You ain't a—"

"I am, though," Rainbow replied. "That stallion didn't destroy my house because he was bad, he did it because he was scared." She swallowed. "Of me. Back in Cloudsdale, before I came here, I may have been a bit... less awesome than I am now."

Applejack leaned forwards, intrigued. "How so?"

Rainbow sighed. "Back in school, I was... a bully," she replied, tripping over her words as she began her confession. "I tormented ponies like Wallflower. I guess I was just a kid, right? Kids do stupid things for stupid reasons. It was kinda' like pulling wings off a fly: effortless." Applejack frowned as Rainbow became even more self-deprecating. Was she really so guilty about that that she felt she had to hide from a pony trying to pay her back for property damage? "I'd call them 'slow' for not getting their cutie marks as quick as I did. I was all about speed, see, and anypony who wasn't as fast was a loser, and I made sure they knew it. And that's when I fell into the wrong kind of crowd."

"What kind of crowd?"

"This one pony named Bullit," she replied, spitting the name out like it was a rotten apple. "He was a little runt of a pony, but he was vicious, and he got me into the gangs." Applejack's eyes widened, and for just a second, her hoof recoiled away from Rainbow's shoulder. Memories of darker times came flooding back, of cruel and disorganized bullies waiting for her and others outside school. She swallowed. Rainbow gave her a wry smile. "Yeah, I didn't think you'd like that."

"I don't," Applejack admitted. "I didn't know you were one of them." Rainbow's smile, small though it had been, fell.

"Yeah, well... things kind of went from bad to worse. I think it'd have been okay if it wasn't all my fault, but it was. Gangs are a lot more dangerous up in Cloudsdale, see... we kept a tight grip on the place by organizing fights and staying out of sight. The guards just avoided us, 'cause we resisted, and resisted hard.

"That don't sound right. Even in Cloudsdale, the guard are tough ponies when it comes to upholdin' the law."

"We practised a lot. We were organized, and we ruined life for everypony," Rainbow said. "I wish we hadn't. It took... a really bad day for me to pack up and leave." She shrugged. "There just wasn't anything left there I hadn't already broken, and barely anypony who didn't either want to hurt me or who I had hurt left. Wallflower was just... one more pony I broke along the way."

Just one more pony, Applejack thought.

Rainbow bit her lip. "So, there. I'm a liar and a brute. I didn't want anypony to find out, and now you have." She ran her hoof through her mane, massaging her scalp. "I'd... I'd get it if you don't want to be friends with me anymore..."

Applejack's jaw dropped. Before she could collect her thoughts, the colour pink invaded their table, exploding between her and the dejected pegasus. Both of them flinched in surprise.

Pinkie Pie grabbed a-hold of Rainbow's shoulders, a wild grin on her face.

"So this is where you were hiding! Very sneaky, Dashie, I didn't expect you to hole up in my own home!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"P-Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted. The excitable earth pony nodded, her expression turning grave.

"Yup! And how could you think we'd want to stop being friends?!" she demanded, grabbing Dash by the scruff of her neck. "How could you? The betrayal!"

Applejack looked around, and saw to her surprise that the rest of her friends had arrived as well. "Rarity? Twi'... what're you all doin' here?" She widened her eyes. "Did ya'll overhear..."

"We heard everything, thanks to some of Pinkie's novelty spy gadgets. But besides, we already knew," Twilight told them, adopting a stern look.

Rainbow detached herself from Pinkie, and whirled around towards Fluttershy, who was hovering near the back. Rainbow looked at her with an expression of horror. "You didn't!"

"...I did," Fluttershy said, cowering slightly. "I was worried, so I told them everything."

Twilight interposed herself between Fluttershy and Rainbow. "She told us because we were all worried about you, and you weren't telling us. But now we know that you're just fretting over nothing."

"Indeed," Rarity continued. "All this nonsense about you being an absolute lout back in Cloudsdale has nothing at all to do with what you're doing now. Helping Ponyville and saving Equestria, and being an admirable pony whilst doing it."

"A meanie bully wouldn't have done all the things you've done! They'd be too busy being unfriendly and very un-Rainbow!" Pinkie added.

"Besides, you've been tearing yourself up about this for years," Fluttershy said. "If you were as bad as you think you are, you wouldn't be worrying about it."

Rainbow rubbed her temples.

"All of us took a lot of growin' up to get where we are," Applejack chipped in, her surprise finally waning enough for her to contribute. "If you're a good pony now, then..." she trailed off. After a brief pause, she forced herself to put aside the memories of Ponyville past and continued. "... then I for one don't care what you were." She shrugged. "I'll bend my rules on holdin' a grudge this one time. We all did things we wish we didn't, after all."

"Absolutely! I used to never laugh, or joke, or even try to make other ponies smile!"

"I used to wear toques," Rarity confessed, hiding her face behind her mane. "Yellow toques."

"I used to be shy," Fluttershy told them. Once all eyes fell on her, she added "I was very young."

"Yeah, well, that's not the same, though, is it?" Rainbow replied, flaring her wings. "I'm sorry, but my problems are a bit bigger than wearing an ugly hat."

"A very ugly hat."

"It's big to us," Applejack told her. "And it still don't mean we're wrong."

"We can help you," Twilight said, "...if only you'll let us."

"B-but..." Rainbow began, but hung her head in defeat before she could finish. "...okay. I just thought, you'd... Well..." She smiled. "See me as a bad-guy, or something." She sat down heavily. "I hate what I did so much..."

Twilight gestured at Applejack, flicking her head towards the young pegasus mare. Taking her cue, Applejack trotted over to her friend and slid her hoof around her shoulders, pulling her close and dragging her into a warm hug.

"Well, that's exactly why we forgive ya'," she said.

Rainbow fell silent as the rest of her friends joined in the hug. She was too busy smiling.

"Thanks," she choked. "Thanks a lot."

Applejack nuzzled her friend, a sensation of warmth spreading from her chest outwards. For as long as they were together, all of them, there was nothing they couldn't face. Applejack was just happy that at long last, the mystery was solved, and her friend was on the path to happiness again.

The moment didn't last long.

A young pegasus mare burst into the corner, panting loudly, unable to catch her breath. She looked around the room, her eyes finally settling on the rainbow maned pegasus, surrounded by her friends.

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. "Gale? What's up? There an emergency?" she asked, forcing herself to adopt a businesslike manner. Sky nodded.

"It's... it's Thunderlane," she said. "He's been attacked."

The weatherpony was lying down on his back, bandages wrapped around his chest. Applejack thought he looked like a mummy, if a mummy could talk and was hooked up to several medical machines who's purpose escaped her.

Rainbow Dash was not happy. A scowl was plastered on her face, and her muscles were bunched up and tense. It surprised Applejack how she could go from confused and sad to angry and furious in such a short space of time.

She began to think about Wallflower, and where he might be. He'd be wondering what was going on, but Applejack didn't care. They didn't have time to worry about an apologetic pegasus, not when somepony was lying in hospital.

"You gonna' be okay?" Rainbow asked. "I can take over your shift for as long as you need me to—"

"I'll be fine," Thunderlane answered. He looked awake, at least. Having seen a few injuries herself, she knew he'd get better... but it might take him a while. "It's just a few broken ribs..."

"Just a few?" Rainbow asked, folding her hooves. After a brief moments hesitation, she changed her tone, and gave a small chuckle. "Heh. Yeah, not even worth worrying about, right?"

Thunderlane nodded. "Yup. Just a bruise. Nothing that can keep a weatherpony down, right?"

Rainbow nodded, grinning. Applejack noted that her muscles were still tense, however, even if her expression was far more relaxed. In fact, she was practically trembling. Out of concern, or anger?

"Did you get a look at whoever it was?" Applejack asked. "The authorities had better be given their descriptions as soon as possible, sugarcube."

Thunderlane became serious again. "Sure. There were two of them, a mare and a stallion. I didn't catch their names."

"What did they look like, then?" Rainbow asked. "C'mon, spill!"

"One was a mare," Thunderlane said. "But she wasn't the scary one: she just grabbed my tail and held me long enough for the other one." He narrowed his eyes. "There was this stallion. He wasn't big, exactly, but he was strong. He was the one who broke my ribs. It didn't even look hard for him."

Rainbow raised her eyebrow. "Uh, 'kay. But what did they look like?"

"They were both pegasi. I'm afraid it was dark, though..."

Rainbow hung her head. "Right, yeah. Night-time."

"Yeah."

"Do you think they're still in Ponyville?" Applejack asked, concerned. "They sound like nopony I know of. Two ponies, a mare and a stallion, that'd hurt somepony so easily?" Thunderlane winced. "I'm sorry, but it's true: and you ain't no pushover, neither."

"They might be. They didn't look like they were going anywhere, but I certainly didn't recognize them." Thunderlane smiled. "And don't worry. They were tough: and fast, too. I tried flying away, but they were just too quick."

The room fell into silence as the trio contemplated the notion of two dangerous pegasi roaming the streets of Ponyville... Streets filled with ponies they knew and cared for.

"So, when do you think you'll be back in the air?" Rainbow asked.

"The doctors say not before two weeks," Thunderlane replied. "Apparently, bones take a while to knit together properly."

"Don't I know it," Applejack joked. "Big Mac' was out o' commission for a month when he snapped his leg on tree-buckin' duty."

"Well," Rainbow said with a confident smile, "I can keep the skies clear until you get back, 'kay?"

"Sure thing."

Rainbow turned to leave, still as tense as ever. "You take care. I'm off."

Applejack glanced back at Thunderlane, then trotted after her friend, closing the door behind her. Twilight and Rarity were both waiting in the corridor, not wanting to crowd the injured pegasus. Rainbow was growling to herself, now free to show just how livid she was.

"Rainbow, calm down," Twilight tried saying. It didn't work, and only seemed to send Rainbow to spiral out of control even further.

"Calm? There are two seriously bad ponies just wandering around out there! They hurt my teammate!" Rainbow thumped the wall with her hind hoof, relieving some small amount of stress. "Today has been... a real pain."

"I know, darling, but we can face it together, can't we?" Rarity suggested. "We could come up with some sort of... neighbourhood watch scheme!"

Twilight's eyes lit up with excitement. "We could organize shifts! We could have whistles!"

Rainbow and Applejack both groaned. "Shifts?"

"Organize?"

"Okay, well, you three do that then," Rainbow retorted, trotted away in a huff. "I'm gonna' take a little flight around Ponyville. I have to clear my head."

As the three ponies watched her leave, and once she was a good distance away, she stopped in her tracks. "Oh, and, uh... thanks again."

Rainbow was cross. She found that flying didn't help either: with each wingbeat she felt progressively angrier. Ponyville was spread out below her, offering no support whatsoever. She tried closing her eyes, but all she saw was Thunderlane's bandaged torso, or Wallflower's terrified expression as he ran away from her, back in Cloudsdale.

"Horseapples... think happy thoughts..." she muttered. "Think about flying."

It had been the one thing she had enjoyed, back in Cloudsdale. Flying as fast as she could: that had been her release.

It was a pity it didn't seem to be working now.

"Dammit, I thought I had gotten away from all this," she exclaimed, feeling her blood boil and her heartbeat race. "So why do I feel so angry!?" She kicked a cloud as hard as she could, scattering the pieces across the sky far and wide. She panted as she tried to collect herself. "When I find those two, they are gonna' get it!"

She had felt the need to hit things for as long as she had lived. Since she had been a foal to her adult life. But this, right now, was the strongest it had been since her teenage years. It was like her hooves were itching to collide with something, and a cloud wouldn't cut it.

"Poor Thunderlane," she muttered under her breath. It wasn't a nice feeling, she knew, to be held at somepony's mercy and then be shown none. Her hoof instinctively went to her head, brushing against the top of he skull. It wasn't a nice feeling at all, she decided.

Unable to calm down, she glided to the ground, where she hoped the increased feeling of gravity would soothe her nerves. The street was half full. School would end soon, and a lot of ponies would be leaving their jobs and make their way to meet their children, if they could. Rainbow stormed down the street, stomping at the ground as she went.

It hadn't been five minutes before she was drawn out of her grim mood by somepony calling for her

"Oh, hey," came the oiled, precise voice. "There you are."

Rainbow recognized it from years gone by, her ears folding back violently as the memories came flooding back. She turned, her pupils contracted to pinpricks as she looked for the source of the voice.

"I expected we'd bump into each other eventually."

Sitting on a bench, stroking his own hoof, was the pony she had hoped never to see again. His creepy, almost reptilian eyes wrinkled around the edges as he looked at her with a smug look.

"Bullit..." she growled. The muscular pegasus stallion grinned, his skin pulling back to reveal his grimy, ugly teeth.

"The one and only. How've you been keepin'?"

Scootaloo cantered out of the schoolhouse, leaving her friends in her dust. She had homework to do, and if she got home earlier, that'd leave her with more time in the evening to spend with Rainbow Dash.

She dodged Twist, who was a notoriously slow walker, and carefully evaded Diamond Tiara and her cronies, taking the long way around the playground. Scootaloo shuddered as she pictured getting ambushed by their jeering and taunting. If she were Rainbow Dash, she thought, she'd stand up to them, but instead she was just Scootaloo.

Once she made it out of the playground, she quickly unlocked her scooter and swung her helmet onto her head with a fluid, practised motion. Then, with a powerful flutter of her wings, she buzzed down the street away from the confines of the school.

She took a left, heading into town. It'd be best, she thought, to take the short way through Ponyville before it got filled with ponies during rush hour. Then she'd get home without a hitch!

Bullit Blaze began to slowly circle the paralysed mare, enjoying the effect his presence was having on Rainbow. To her dismay, she noticed that Rattle was there too: yet another pony she would prefer to forget.

"I'm actually surprised you recognized me," Bullit told her. "Last time we met, I was carrying scissors." He made a cutting motion with his hooves. "Close shave, that. Very close shave."

Rainbow glowered at him, her heart pounding. "You really shouldn't have come to Ponyville," she warned, pawing at the ground. Bullit chuckled in response.

"Yes, yes, yes... we've been told that we're supposed to avoid you," he said, grinding his teeth as he did so. "We may even have been laughed at. Put me in a very bad mood, that did."

"Good thing we were able to relieve stress," Rattle snarled.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, realizing what they meant without needing any further explanation. She remembered the image of Thunderlane, lying in a hospital bed, bandages wrapped around his sides. Bullit continued talking regardless.

"We weren't happy you left. We still had a score to settle, you and I," he said. "Remember what we all said when we met? Thunderclouds forever, right?" He snickered. "Should've guessed you'd turn traitor. Well, there's a price for that, and you know what that is."

"You couldn't beat me before," Rainbow replied, finding her breath coming in leaps and bounds, unable to properly control herself. "What makes you think you can beat me now?"

"We've been practising."

With that, he stomped his hooves with a wild, sadistic grin. Rattle sprung into action, launching at Rainbow like a snake, wings flared. Rainbow leaped back onto her hind hooves, raising her forelegs in a desperate guard. Bullit grinned.

"Get her!" he snarled. "And be careful! She's fast."

Rattle was inches away from her target, her hooves aimed straight for Rainbow's throat. Closer and closer she came, her honed reflexes making everything seem slower. Rattle was by far the fastest fighter in the Thunderclouds, and her lightning fast leap had proven that.

But then, Rainbow was gone.

"What?!"

Rattle caught herself just in time, landing on her hooves instead of falling flat on her face. She whirled around. Rainbow had been right there... it was impossible she could have moved that fast. Even back in Cloudsdale, she hadn't been that quick...

"Y'know, it's pretty good we met..." Rainbow confessed, hovering above her. Rattle's eyes widened in panic as she took stock of the situation. Rainbow had altitude, and if any pegasus knew anything, it was the power of potential energy. "I really needed to work out some stress," she finished.

Rainbow powered straight down, using the energy gained from her height to crush the pegasus mare into the ground. Not even Rattle's lightning fast reflexes could prepare her for the blinding speed Rainbow commanded... Especially when she was this furious.

Rattle groaned, her wings disjointed and out of place as Rainbow hurled herself at Bullit, who was beginning to regret trying to take his revenge so soon. "Your turn!" she bellowed.

"B-but we trained!"

"So did I!" Rainbow replied. She wrapped her hooves around Bullit Blaze's mane, and with a powerful tug, she tossed the heavy pegasus over her head. Bullit gave a yelp as he tumbled back down to earth.

It wasn't a finishing blow, despite the force of his landing. Bullit caught himself as he flew, using his wings to stabilize himself, reorienting himself just in time to see his opponent charge. Rainbow hurled herself at him like a cannonball, hitting him in the stomach and driving him into the ground. Bullit coughed up all the air in his lungs, unable to breathe.

Rainbow dug her hoof into his side, eyes wild and mouth contorted into a smile. This wasn't the Rainbow from earlier, Bullit realized. This was the Rainbow from days gone by, back to haunt him. He began to panic.

"This is what you did to Thunderlane, isn't it?" she growled, applying pressure to his chest. "You showed me this one a while back on Wallflower... man, you were such a monster." She snarled, leaning in harder, Bullit's ribs beginning to bend under the weight. "Still are!"

"Dammit', Dash, get off me!"

"'Bet Thunderlane said something similar, right?" Rainbow growled. "Hey, y'know what? I think I remember what you do next." She grinned. "You twist, right?"

Bullit braced himself for pain, but before he felt the inevitable snap, he heard a stallion's voice cry out.

Rainbow's onslaught stopped.

"I-I knew it! I knew you hadn't changed!"

Rainbow looked to her right. A dozen yards away stood a third face she would rather never see again: Wallflower. He stood, his hoof brought to his mouth as he fought back a scream.

"Hey, no!" Rainbow shouted back. "He attacked me!"

Bullit grinned. "She came out of nowhere!" he exclaimed. "She's a monster!"

The pressure on his chest lessened as Dash recoiled back. She looked around wildly: it was rush hour. In the chaos, she hadn't realized that she had attracted a crowd.

"You're nothing but a criminal!" Wallflower exclaimed. "Just like in Cloudsdale!"

Rainbow leaped off of Bullit Blaze, panic taking hold of her. "No! It's not like that! He's just as bad!"

"On second thought," Bullit whispered as he got to his hooves. "This is much better."

"Did she just attack somepony?" asked one of the townsponies quietly. Rainbow widened her eyes as she crowd began to slowly turn on her. Bullit then crossed the street melodramatically towards Rattle's prone body.

"Oh, she almost killed my special somepony," he wailed. "And just because we bumped into her!"

"She was a real monster back in Cloudsdale," Wallflower went on, backing away into the crowd. "She broke my ribs."

"No, I..." Rainbow growled. "You don't understand!"

She eyed Wallflower. If only she could say he was wrong, if only she could say it was all a lie. But she couldn't, because it wasn't. Her wings crumpled into her sides as she felt the crowd's icy stare wear down her defences. "D-don't be stupid!" she shouted. "You can't believe Bullit! He's just as bad!"

"Did she just call us stupid?" came a voice from the crowd, causing the rest of them to mutter darkly. Rainbow closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise. Her temper was rising again, and she knew, she just knew she had to keep it under control.

"Don't fight anypony..." Rainbow whispered to herself. "That won't help..."

"What did that pony say about Cloudsdale?" one of the ponies asked. Bullit was only too happy to provide an answer.

"She was a gang-pony!" Bullit shouted, clutching his sides as if in pain. "And a bully!"

Bullit made sure to keep his back to Wallflower at all times. He didn't expect the little stallion to recognize him after so much time, but he wasn't keen to take any risks. The crowd could easily turn on him just like it turned on Rainbow.

Rainbow fought back the urge to strangle him. It wouldn't be hard, she thought: Bullit was far slower than her, and he couldn't even begin to match her strength. His real advantage had been how vicious he was, but when going up against somepony prepared to go all out, he'd have no chance.

Except he was winning, she realized. The crowd was getting restless and Rainbow didn't know what to do.

"Rainbow..." came a small and horrifyingly familiar voice, "Is that true?"

Hovering between two townsponies was Scootaloo. Her ears were flattened against her head as she looked to Rainbow for reassurance. Confirmation that this was all a lie, some cruel deception. Unfortunately, she found no such help. Rainbow's face was like an open book, and to somepony used to reading it every day, it may as well have been a signed confession. She teared up and her face turned to a scowl, and she turned around to run.

"Scoots, wait!"

But Scootaloo was already leaving, buzzing straight down the street where she had come from. Rainbow extended her hoof towards her, as if she might be able to catch the disappearing speck in the distance.

Then her face darkened once again, turning from panic to rage, her blood boiling. She swerved towards were Bullit had been, screaming wildly. "I'll show you what for, you..."

But Bullit had disappeared, taking advantage of the distraction to escape into the crowd along with Rattle. Instead, the crowd just saw a roaring, snarling pony who had just been pummelling a pony whilst he was down. They backed away, full of fear.

"Don't go..." Rainbow whimpered, wishing that her friends would arrive soon.

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. New chapter on the 18th!

As always, please comment with criticism, thoughts, the works. If you enjoyed this story, you may also enjoy other stories by me, like Fancy That?.

Have a very good one.

No Home for the Wicked

Bullit Blaze dragged Rattle into the dark, safe confines of the Barrel Scraper. The injured pegasus groaned as she went over the rather sharp doorway. Bullit ignored her plight and kept pulling.

"Well," he muttered, "...that was interesting."

"...I think my body is broken."

"Don't be a whiner," Bullit snapped. "We didn't know she was quite that... quick. But hey, we might have gotten the next best thing, right?" He laid his comrade over in the corner, and trotted over to the bar. "Who'd have thought she'd be that susceptible to a few mean words, after all?" He waited until his drink was ready, then took a long sip. His sides were still aching from the beating he had sustained, and he was sure they'd bruise by tomorrow. "You know the saying about sticks and stones? Well, Rainbow can dodge those, so we'll just have to make do with words." He glared out the window, wondering if perhaps he might catch a glimpse of his elusive prey. "I'm not leaving without what she owes me."

"I need bandages..."

"Yes, yes, yes, we'll get you bandages. Like I said, don't be a whiner."

"I can't feel my wings."

Rainbow cantered down the streets, avoiding other ponies as much as she could as she chased down Scootaloo. She'd have head home, she thought... she'd have had to. Where else would she have gone?

She cursed Bullit's name as she went. She shouldn't have expected him to play fair... he hadn't gotten where he was by keeping the odds even. But she just wished he hadn't been quite so effective at it. If her friends had been there, maybe it'd have been different...

"Hang on, squirt, I'm coming..." she panted, knowing full well that her presence may well only make things worse. Scootaloo would have forgiven a lot of Rainbow Dash... as far as the little filly was concerned, she could do no wrong. But bullying... given the circumstances, it wasn't surprising she'd feel betrayed.

Rainbow tried to stop herself from thinking too much. If she kept on thinking, she'd only run herself into the ground. She needed to keep running... just keep running.

She reached Greased Lightning's house, sweating and panting. Her little skirmish with Bullit had tired her out more than she cared to admit. That kind of acceleration wasn't something to be undertaken lightly. If she had been any other pony, she may well have catapulted herself into a nearby cloud.

She banged on the door, trying to get either the young filly or her mother to let her in.

"Go away!" Scootaloo shouted from the window above. Rainbow groaned.

"No! I don't want to!"

"I saw everything!" Scootaloo shouted back. "You're just like Diamond Tiara! No, you're worse than Diamond Tiara: she never hit anypony or tried to kill them!"

Rainbow craned her neck back to try and get a view of the young pegasus. "It's complicated!" she said, as soon as she could make out Scootaloo's face.

"Did you bully ponies for not getting their cutie marks too?"

Rainbow regretted making eye contact as soon as she asked that question. The hurt on her face told Scootaloo everything she needed to know. Scootaloo slammed the window shut.

"Thought so!" was the last thing Rainbow heard of her.

She charged at the door again, her skin feeling like it might peel off from all the times she rattled at the door. "Grease'! Lemme' in, please!"

"Rainbow, stop that awful racket!" came the adult pony's mature and confident voice. "More noise'll only upset her."

The lock came undone, and the door opened just enough for Rainbow to make out Greased's worried face. Rainbow almost fell to her knees in relief. "Oh, thank goodness!" Grease still blocked her path though, refusing to let her in.

"Rainbow, calm down: I'm going to tell you what happens next," she said. "First off, I've never seen Scootsie' like this, so you can imagine I'm pretty darn worried. Second off, I heard what was said about you this afternoon. Sounds like she's got reason to be afraid of you right now."

"Yes," Rainbow admitted, "I know, but I've been changing! I've been trying! I don't want to lose Scootaloo to this!"

Greased nodded understandingly. "Of course, I can tell you don't, but she's just a filly, 'kay? I won't let you storm in here and terrify her senseless, as much as I think this is unfair."

"You believe me?"

"Sure, why not? Pony I've never heard of says you're an old gangpony, and maybe I think I'm missing a bit of context. You know how it is."

Rainbow's face fell. "But you're not going to let me stay, are you?"

"No. I'm her mother, and I think she needs time." She sighed. "I'm sorry. I really did mean to let you stay as long as you needed to..."

Rainbow closed her eyes, hanging her head low as she felt the world drop away from beneath her. "I... I get it."

"I thought you would," Greased said with a smile. "But you know that my daughter always comes first."

"Yeah. I want the same thing."

"Do you have someplace to stay?" Greased asked. "I can arrange for a hotel if you're out of options..."

"No way. I don't want to stay alone right now," Rainbow replied. "There's a pony who'll probably be willing to take me in, and I know for a fact that we get along."

"The one in the hat, right?"

"Yeah."

Greased nodded with approval. "Right. Do you want me to send your stuff there, or...?"

"No, not just yet... I'd rather make certain. And besides," she added, "I don't intend to make this a permanent change." Rainbow hesitated. "Do you?"

"No. Give her a few days. That's all I ask."

"That's all I want," Rainbow replied, and turned to leave. "Thanks... for everything."

"Chin up, girl," Greased shouted as she flew up into the air. "If I know anything about these ponies, it's that they'll believe anything. Stay strong, and watch your back."

Rainbow soared through the air, her words ringing in her ears.

"Will do," she replied quietly, just loud enough so that only she could hear.

"C'mon, Applejack," the farmpony muttered to herself. "You've been skippin' out on too much work already... can't jes' stop halfway through, no matter how tired ya'll are..."

In the course of a few days, Applejack had turned from the most hard-working of the Apple Family to the least. She knew she had been distracted recently, but she knew that was no excuse to leave all the apple-bucking to Big Mac, the cooking to Granny, and most of the remaining chores to Applebloom. She was supposed to be the pony carrying the family, after all.

She carried on pushing the logs up the hill, sweating rivers. The top seemed so very far away, she thought, her muscles aching.

All of a sudden the log seemed lighter.

"Hey, AJ."

Applejack turned to her side and saw Rainbow Dash, pushing the other end of the felled tree. Applejack quickly took note of her sunken eyes and taut, drawn face. Something was wrong.

"Hey..." she replied, pushing the tree to the top, along with the others, thanks to Rainbow's help. "You manage to clear your head?"

Rainbow seemed to sink into the ground like it was quicksand. "No."

Applejack tilted her head. This wasn't the talkative Rainbow she was used to. Even when she had been panicking earlier, she had been moving around, breathing, showing the slightest amount of emotion. Now, she just seemed empty.

"What went wrong?"

"I... need a place to crash again. And you were kinda' the only pony I hadn't asked yet, so..."

"What went wrong?" Applejack asked again, more insistently this time.

Rainbow looked close to tears. She blinked, barely containing the hurt inside of her. Applejack quickly dropped all she was doing and trotted up to her friend.

"I lost Scoots," she replied, leaning into her friend, unable to keep her feelings locked away any longer. "They took Scoots away from me."

Applejack kept her cool as best she could. "Who's 'they'? What's..."

"I can explain later," Rainbow muttered, blinking away any tears she might have shed. "Just... please help me."

Eventually, Applejack was able to lead Rainbow down to the house. Big Macintosh and Granny both looked at her, not understanding what was going on, but knowing from her face that it was serious.

"Granny, Big Mac, Rainbow'll be stayin' with us for a time," she said. Rainbow gave a small wave.

"Hi."

Big Macintosh remained perfectly silent, but gave a calm, nonchalant shrug. It didn't matter much to him either way. Granny was far more vocal.

"What's she been up to this time? Does she have a toothbrush? Does she..."

Applejack brushed the questions off with quiet assurance. "We can figure it out, don't you worry. I'll show 'er around."

The farmpony led Rainbow upstairs. This was the first time she had seen so much of the large wooden building from the inside, Rainbow realized. She had been in the barn for a few parties, seen the kitchen now and then, but never been upstairs. She took it all in. There were pictures of Applebloom and the rest of the family, including dozens of ponies she didn't even recognize, adorning each and every wall. They all looked similar, Rainbow noticed. It was pretty obvious they were part of a massive family, even though there were big ones, small ones, medium sized ones... it was incredible.

"This here's the upstairs," Applejack showed her. "It ain't very spacious, but it's cosy." The floorboards creaked as Rainbow followed after Applejack, who chuckled. "Ah, right... the floor's a bit noisy. You'll get used to it."

Rainbow tiptoed around the squeaky plank. Her old house had been completely silent, and at least Greased Lightning's house had been relatively quiet. But even from up here, Rainbow could hear the rest of the family busting around upstairs.

"We ain't got a spare bedroom, I'm afraid, so you'll have to bunk in my room. We got a spare mattress 'round here someplace."

"Heh... it's still more spacious than Pinkie's, eh?" Rainbow quipped with forced humour. Applejack chuckled.

"Yep, that sure is true."

They went down a rather long corridor that seemed to get narrower as they went. Applejack opened a bright red door at the end, revealing an airy room with a tall ceiling. It wasn't big, Rainbow realized, but it felt open, somehow.

"This your room, then?"

"Our room, for as long as you're stayin'," Applejack told her. "I know it ain't much..."

"It's perfect!" Rainbow assured, bobbing her head as she trotted into the room. "It's, uh, great. Minus the floorboards and the— Y'know what, it's just great, nothing else to say about it."

Applejack watched Rainbow smile at the old brown curtains, and nod at the flaking paint on the windows. Rainbow looked nothing if not completely satisfied. She beamed. "Glad you like it! It's all I got."

"It's nice. And far from Ponyville."

"You ready to tell me what happened?" Applejack asked. "I'm gonna' find out anyhow..." she added, noting Rainbow's lack of enthusiasm.

The pegasus nodded. It took her a good ten minutes to recount what had happened, from her leaving the hospital to her encounter with Bullit Blaze. Finally, she reached her discussion with Greased Lightning. "I finally found the guy responsible for Thunderlane, and he gets away because I'm such an idiot!" she exclaimed. "And those ponies, too... eating up his every word!"

"I'm real sorry," Applejack said. "Townsponies have a habit of believing what's put in front of them." She tried to chuckle. "At least you got some good licks in."

"I got more than a few," Rainbow replied. "Rattle won't be walking straight for a while."

"Reminds me of the old days," Applejack told her. "It's a real shame this happened." She tilted her head. "What did them ponies want from you anyhow? Why'd they come all the way from Cloudsdale?"

Rainbow shrugged. "We didn't leave on good terms. I said it took me a real bad day to want to get out of that life... well, Bullit had something to do with it." Her hoof went to her mane. "He never got over it."

"Well, shucks," Applejack said, looking out the window. "Looks like there's a storm comin'. Feel free to hide out here for as long as you need to... this'll blow over in no time, trust me."

Rainbow frowned. "Not with Bullit out there... he'll just keep on making things worse, and worse, and worse..."

"He can't hide forever," Applejack assured her. "Me and the gals' will root him out quicker'n a mountain lion on a ball o' yarn, trust me."

"Yeah, well... my hooves are tied," Rainbow said. "If I try to get him, he'll just lead me in circles again. I'm useless."

Applejack trotted away from the window and back to the door. "We'll cross that bridge when we're in the water. C'mon, dinner'll be ready in no time, and I'd better set the table."

Rainbow watched her leave, then cantered after her. She extra careful to fly over the patch of floor she remembered was squeaky, not at all keen to have the house scream at her some more.

Applejack dragged in a spare chair from the kitchen with her teeth, dodging her brother's bulky frame as she did so. "Mmhff ertrr' wrr!" she grumbed angrily. Big Mac backed away as fast as he could: whatever she had said, it hadn't been happy.

She placed the chair at the dining table with a happy smile. It'll be perfect. Best show some of that famous Apple hospitality.

Rainbow Dash hovered in the corner, looking left and right for something to partake in. "Don't you worry none," Applejack told her. "We work best as a team."

"Y-yeah. So, what do I do?"

"Just wait there, sugarcube."

Rainbow sat down heavily. Applejack left her to go to the kitchen, carrying a set of plates to the table. Applebloom was scuttling around between her legs, cleaning up after Granny. "Might as well sit at the table, RD!" she exclaimed, positioning the plates in front of each chair with expert speed and precision. "We're just 'bout done."

Rainbow nodded, finally allowing herself to smile. "Aw, right! 'Bout time, I'm hungry as a horse." It didn't take long for Big Macintosh to arrive with a massive dish of corn, and served out huge portions to each of his family. "Oh, uh, just a little for me. Athlete's diet..."

Granny looked at her suspiciously. "How'd you move, then, if ye' don't eat properly?"

Rainbow licked her lips. "It's, uh, like a careful balance of nutrition. The way my lifestyle works is... uh..." she stopped in her tracks. "It's just Pegasus stuff."

"Ah, of course," Granny Smith replied knowingly. Rainbow breathed outwards. Applejack coughed, attracting everypony's attention.

"Dig in, everypony!"

Rainbow Dash dove into her meal with a sigh of relief. Applejack kept her eye on her, becoming increasingly puzzled, wondering why she was on edge and unable to figure out why. She couldn't figure out if it was Granny, or if it was her, or a mix of both.

"Hey, how's the weather? Is it fun, up in them clouds?" Applebloom asked, curious. "Is it even possible for an earth pony to get their cutie mark in cloud herdin'?"

"It's doing great, kiddo..."

"Applebloom," the filly corrected. Rainbow swallowed. So Applebloom wasn't as open to nicknames as Scootaloo.

"...Right. Uh, it's great, Applebloom. The team are organizing around Thunderlane's absence to redirect some nasty storms from the south..."

"And the cutie mark?" Applebloom asked hopefully. Rainbow hesitated.

"I got no idea... I guess maybe, if it's your super special talent...?"

"Now, don't go givin' the filly ideas!" Granny argued. "She'll be launchin' herself in a catapult soon as you can say 'pickled apple'!"

"Would not!" Applebloom retorted. Granny gave her a stern look. "...Fine, I won't."

"I think it'd be best t'give Rainbow some space," Applejack warned. "She's had a tough day an' all..."

"No, it's fine! Don't give me space, I'm okay!" Rainbow replied, her ears flattening against her head as if she had come last in a race. "I'm just... not used to here." She quickly tried to salvage the conversation. "Uh... how's the, um, harvesting?" she stammered. "'Cause you guys harvest, right?"

"We do," Applejack told her. "Well, we were clearin' out some old useless trees out and gettin' em stored up for planks, or sellin' them. Other'n that, we're just sellin' our surplus this month while we wait for the next batch to grow. It's all pretty tame right about now," she explained. Rainbow nodded, doing her best to keep track of Applejack's runaway accent.

"Right. So you have to go every day to sell your stuff in the village?"

"Yep."

"Why can't you just set up shop here, make them come to you?"

Applejack shook her head. "'Cause that way, we're remindin' the town that we got apples for sale, and they'll sell better."

"Is that a thing?" Rainbow asked.

"Yep."

"Huh. Sounds like a drag."

"It is. A mile and a half long drag, t'be precise," Applejack said. "Not to mention, the road is rather hilly."

Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, I know!"

The discussion continued much smoother from then on, much to Applejack's relief. Rainbow spent the entire meal absorbing everything she could about the Apple family. She studied their business, their routines, their business strategies, even their trade routes. She kept her eyes wide the whole time, as if she could see the information so long as she never blinked once.

"So you don't deliver to Cloudsdale?" she asked. Granny shook her head.

"No way, José! We don't have the equipment to cart apples all the way into the sky. We get them' Canterlot types to do it for us... after we sell 'em the goods."

"Uh huh, okay."

As soon as the meal ended, Granny got up to head to her rocking chair. "Applejack, y'might want to get that mattress out of Big Mac's room. Get the young mare t'help ya'."

Rainbow trotted after Applejack, assuming the 'young mare' was her. As the pair trotted up the stairs, Applejack turned to her friend with a warm smile.

"That was real impressive of ya'. I was worried you'd be nervous all evenin'." She chuckled, remembering how awkward she had been earlier. "You were eatin' up Granny's words more than her cookin'!"

Rainbow chuckled.

"I don't remember a single thing she said." Rainbow confessed, embarrassed. "Or what you said, either."

The pair trotted into Macintosh's room and slid a large mattress out from under his bed. Applejack was shaking her head in disbelief all the while. "Well, why didn't ya' say so?"

"Well... That way we actually could have a conversation without me having to say 'Pegasi stuff' every five minutes."

"Well, it ain't much better if we have to say 'Earth Pony stuff' neither!"

"Yeah, but the difference is," Rainbow replied as they shoved the mattress into Applejack's room, "...that I'm in a house full of Earth Ponies. It makes a whole load of difference, believe me."

"Tell me," Applejack asked all of a sudden, "...what made you leave Cloudsdale? You said you had a 'bad day'. What exactly happened?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "It's a long story."

"Well, you've jes' been listenin' to a long story about farmin', and none of that seems to have stuck. So, let's talk for real."

Rainbow sighed. "Fine, whatever, but it's not a fun story." She pulled a sheet over the mattress while she talked. "Do you want me to embellish?"

"Keep the Wonderbolts raids and giants to a minimum."

"Hrmph. Well, incidentallly, the Wonderbolts were involved." Applejack raised her eyebrow. "Well, I was trying to join, see? And the gangs were holding me back, which was a bit of a problem. Having criminal records is frowned upon by the Wonderbolts."

"No kiddin'?"

"No kidding. Not to mention I was beginning to have second thoughts about what we were doing... A pony can only be so heartless before seeing a grown stallion cry makes you want to quit that life, y'know? Anyway... I cut ties, and focused on practising. Ponies were still pretty scared of me, but I didn't mind, 'cause that's what I was used to. Until Bullit got ideas."

"What did he do?"

"He was pretty big on the idea of 'loyalty'. Ironic, huh? He came over with six other ponies and said that I had to pay a price to leave the Thunderclouds."

Curiosity gnawed at Applejack. "Can you tell me what that price was?"

Rainbow finished adjusting the sheet, and sat down on the mattress, just in front of the window.

"I... think it'd be best to show you," she said. "Gimme' your hoof?"

Applejack hesitated, but when Rainbow urged her on, she held out her foreleg obediently. Rainbow took a deep breath and took Applejack's hoof in her own. She slowly moved her hoof up towards her head, over her snout, between her eyes, up her forehead, and into her mane.

Applejack felt the thick colourful strands of hair part as Rainbow guided her hoof across her scalp. To Applejack's surprise, it was rather rough, bumpy, uncomfortable even. As she concentrated, she realized that there was a sort of pattern there... She felt a series of uncomfortable, unnatural ridges she didn't think should be there.

"What are those?"

"Scars."

"Is that..."

"Yeah." Rainbow peered into Applejack's eyes. "He said he wanted my mane."

Applejack swallowed, her throat feeling uncomfortably dry. Rainbow let go of her hoof, although Applejack didn't move from her spot. "Your mane?"

"My mane," Rainbow repeated. "And he wasn't too bothered about taking a bit of skin along the way."

"That's monstrous," Applejack replied, like it was the only logical response. Rainbow breathed heavily, her skin crawling under her coat.

"Yep. It was just some sick power-play for him. It took all six ponies to hold me down for just long enough for him to try to cut it off for a few seconds... but I struggled." She gestured at her head. "That's where the scars came from. I was the strongest of them, though, and managed to kick my way out. I was real lucky."

"Must've hurt."

"I kinda' didn't notice at the time." Both ponies fell into uncomfortable silence. Rainbow closed her eyes, exhaling. "I didn't think they'd catch up with me. I thought for sure they'd have been caught once I left them."

"I'm sorry they weren't."

"Yeah... me too." She eyed Applejack's hoof, still rested in her mane, gently exploring the set of scars Rainbow had acquired. "You can let go, now... I think you've found them all."

"Oh, uh... sorry," Applejack replied. "Awkward touching?"

Rainbow hesitated.

"...not really, I guess."

Applejack slid her hoof away, brushing against Rainbow's ear, causing it to flicker. "That's all right, then," she said. She eyed the mattress sitting on the floor. "I'd better get some sheets for that."

"...right, sure. I'll be here," Rainbow replied. "Sitting." She watched Applejack leave. "All by myself."

Even though there was nopony else in the room, for the first time that evening, Rainbow didn't feel alone.

Author's Notes:

New chapter will be out on the 20th.

Don't forget to hit the comments! Criticism welcome. I don't really have a story to recommend you guys this time around because the one I wanted to be ready is proving very difficult to write (being a first person story). That said, when it's ready, I'll be sure as sunrise making a lot of noise about it, since it's pretty awesome.

Have a good one!

Silent Consent

Word was spreading around Ponyville like wildfire. Rainbow's name was on everypony's lips. It was in shops. Homes. Streets and restaurants. It'd often start with a question.

"Is it true she beat up somepony on the street?"

Sometimes a word of defence would be uttered. Perhaps "That's not right, of course not," or "nah, don't be silly."

But then ponies would think. Some ponies had seen it. "It was true! I saw it, plain as day." That tended to put a wrench in their arguments..

"But she's the element of loyalty," some of the more persistent ponies might say. "She wouldn't."

"She cut in line once. I always thought she was rude."

"And aggressive."

"Yes, but I heard she used to be in a gang. A gang of criminals. Somepony said so."

That was the phrase that made everypony stop. Somepony said so. Somepony could be anypony, and anypony could be trustworthy. Ponyville wasn't a town of liars, after all. Right?

"So the question is, who do you think she's loyal to?"

"Maybe the elements made a mistake."

"I still can't believe it."

"You better. My brother saw the victims limp off. That was no show."

"Twilight would never..."

"Rainbow would never..."

"Maybe we were wrong."

"Maybe she is just a bully."

Mayor Mare's desk seemed much larger that morning. It loomed over her like some kind of monolith, piled high with papers and problems alike. But her latest headache was what her secretary called the 'Rainbow Dash Affair'. She rubbed her snout. She knew first-hoof how ponies could turn on somepony given the right push... and somepony was pushing very hard indeed. The few guards around Ponyville had been able to ascertain that much.

If only the matter wasn't so delicate, the Mayor thought, then I could investigate the matter publicly.

"Is she here yet?" the Mayor asked her assistant, becoming increasingly impatient as time went on. The secretary, a wafer thin pony, was about to shake her head, but before she could complete the gesture there came a knock on the door. The Mayor stood up, breathing a sigh of relief. "Well, thank goodness. Come in!"

The door to her office opened. In came the distinctive lavender shape of Twilight Sparkle, the newly crowned Princess. Of Friendship, the Mayor reminded herself, not of Ponyville.

"I wanted to see you," Twilight said, her expression far from jovial.

"Likewise. I assume you're aware of what rumours have been circulating around town."

Twilight nodded. "Yes, but they're not rumours: Rainbow Dash confessed to them yesterday," she explained. "It's complicated, though: I'm convinced she didn't assault that pony. It's just a misunderstanding."

"That's not what I've been hearing," the Mayor replied. "And besides, this wouldn't be the first violent act Rainbow has committed here in Ponyville."

Twilight frowned. "You don't believe the rumours, do you?"

"Only partly. Not so long ago, we had a bit of a gang problem ourselves," the Mayor told her. "Rainbow was one of two ponies who took serious steps towards removing them."

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin. "I didn't know that. But even so, that wouldn't prompt her to attack a random pony! Even if she is often rude and harsh, she's not at all like that." Twilight frowned. "Unless..."

The Mayor nodded. "Yes. My thoughts are that the same pony attacked might be a gangpony himself. There aren't many other reasons I can think of that would prompt her to take such drastic measures." The Mayor put her hooves together. "And even if he isn't, he needs to be stopped." She sighed, wiping her forehead. "I kept Rainbow's involvement in the movement against the gangs a secret because I was afraid of this. Rumours spread quickly and don't go away nearly as fast. Whatever she may have done in the past, I felt she deserved better than being a target for the town. Especially now she's joined forces with you, milady."

Twilight brushed aside the title with a casual wave of her hoof. "Just Twilight will be fine... and that makes sense. It's an avenue worth investigating, in any case. Do we even know who it was she attacked?"

"No. Nopony seems to have been able to recognize them," the Mayor's assistant said quietly. "Or the pony who fled the scene during the fight. They were all pegasi, however."

"Another pony?"

"There were three in total," The Mayor explained. "A mare, a stallion, and the third pony who ran away before Rainbow could inflict serious damage."

"You found all this out in just one evening?" Twilight asked, impressed.

The Mayor sighed and rubbed her eyes. "It cost me a rather painful all-nighter." She shook her head, and adjusted her glasses. "I don't suppose you know where Rainbow is now? We could use talking to her as soon as possible."

"I saw Greased Lightning... She's the mare she was staying with... And she told me she went to stay with Applejack, out of town," Twilight replied. "I imagine she's not happy right now."

"Well, at least she's with a friend," the Mayor retorted. "Ponies tempers are bound to be high right now. A cloud-house gets blown out of the sky, there's a brawl in the streets, and a weatherpony in hospital... ponies aren't happy."

Twilight shrugged. "I suppose we'll just have to work through it. First step is finding the ponies ruining Rainbow's name!"

The Mayor nodded. "Yes, that sounds like a good place to start. Let's get to work."

Applejack was working outside in the morning sun when she heard the telltale sounds of Rainbow trotting towards her. She had a very recognizable walk, Applejack thought. Light, but energetic, without being fast-paced. She wiped her brow and put down her tools as she leaned against a nearby fence.

"Mornin', sugarcube," she said, watching as Rainbow came up to her. "Feelin' better?"

Rainbow nodded, and stretched out her forelegs. "Yup... I mean, stuff's still gone to hay, but I slept well, and look who I found!" She gestured up to the sky, where a dark speck was hovering over the orchard in circles. "It's Tank," she said. "Tank's back! He must have sneaked out of Lightning's house." She cackled and bounced on the spot, her wings keeping her aloft. "I completely forgot about him. I was a teensy bit distracted at the time."

"You look positively beamin'," Applejack commented, surprised. Rainbow shrugged.

"Yeah, well... I'm away from town, Bullit can't find me, and I'm with my best pal ever! Way I see it, it could be way worse." She hopped from hoof to hoof. "So, since I'm here, fancy a game?"

"I'm workin'."

"Maybe a race?"

"I'm workin'."

Rainbow hesitated.

"... do you want a helping hoof?"

"I'm work— Yeah, sure, I could use the help," Applejack corrected, observing Rainbow's earnest, innocent face. "You've never asked to help out before."

Rainbow scratched her head, blushing. "Y-yeah, well, I've never been hiding from Ponyville before, so..."

This solicited a troubled groan from Applejack. "Rainbow, y'can't just hide here... that ain't gonna' solve anything." She gestured towards Ponyville, just on the horizon. "You're gonna' have to go back there eventually."

"Yeah, yeah, okay..." Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "I know, all right? But at least let me help out until I actually want to go, please?"

"And don't the weather need tending to?"

Rainbow's wings fell to the ground. "You're not helping."

"I'm tryin' to," Applejack replied as kindly as she could. Rainbow groaned, and gave her a dark glare.

"You weren't there! They just turned on me. And worse, if I actually find Bullit—..."

"Then ya'll can pound 'im into the dirt!" Applejack replied viciously, stomping on the ground. "That's what I'd—..."

"I can't," Rainbow told her. "He'll just make it look worse. I tried that last time, and he just twisted it to his own advantage." She shrugged. "I can't fight back, AJ. That's why he's so scary." She began pacing around the yard, kicking up small plumes of dirt as she stomped around. "Who'll he take away next if I play his game? Fluttershy? She saw an awful lot of what I did back in Cloudsdale. I bet she'd turn on me in a heartbeat if she got her hooves on any dirt—"

"That's enough!" Applejack snapped, causing Rainbow to stop in her tracks, eyes wide like a filly scolded. "Yer' friends ain't leavin' you for anything. I'd have hoped you knew that you ain't the only loyal pony in these parts."

Rainbow remained silent, staring at her hooves. She wore an expressionless face, leaving Applejack no clue as to whether her words got through to her, or whether she was eating herself alive inside.

"Right, yeah. I'm worrying about nothing," Rainbow muttered, and trotted gloomily towards the farmhouse. "I'll be inside. Sorry I was rude, and all." She hung her head unhappily. "I'm just grumpy 'cause I'm useless."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Rainbow, ya'll ain't useless," she retorted, and a cunning thought occured. "An' ya'll can prove it by emptyin' the shed?"

Rainbow spun around, exited at the prospect of work for the first time in her life. "Really? You'll let me help?"

"Sure... why not." Applejack smiled. "Jes' don't break nothin'!"

It was midday when Twilight, along with Fluttershy, trotted towards the farm. Applejack shaded her eyes with her hoof, struggling to make out their expressions.

"Hiya!" she shouted. "What brings you to my neck o' the woods?"

Twilight sighed. "What do you think?" she asked. "We're here because of the commotion Rainbow caused yesterday."

Fluttershy remained characteristically silent.

"Well, she's here on the farm," Applejack told them. "She's out back. You want me to—"

"No! First, I'd like a word."

Applejack frowned. "What?"

"I talked to the Mayor," Twilight explained. "The Mayor," she repeated, in case the gravity of the statement was lost on Applejack. "She's been up all night trying to puzzle what's been going on, and we think that—"

"I know already," Applejack said, cutting her off. "Rainbow told me. Her old gang-buddies ambushed her and are muddyin' her name about town."

Twilight widened her eyes. "Oh. She told you?"

"Of course. She's livin' with me."

"Right, yes, but after yesterday, I thought... Nevermind," she said, shaking her head. "I just though it'd be harder to wring the truth out of her than that." Twilight frowned. "Did you say 'old gang-buddies'? Like... this isn't just some random pony?"

"Nope," Applejack replied, becoming serious. "Some madpony named Bullit. He's after..." Applejack trailed off, hesitating. "Uh, he's after Rainbow. He's bitter 'bout her leavin'."

"Oh," Fluttershy muttered, her pupils shriking. "I remember Bullit. He was... really, really, really mean."

Applejack huffed. "Well, Rainbow dispatched him easily enough, it's just he ain't playin' fair. He's usin' words and cheap shots to bring 'er down."

"Well, that's for sure," Twilight replied, unfolding and refolding her wings as she thought. "Maybe we could make an announcement? Denounce Bullit for what he really is?"

"That's somethin' Mayor Mare would know, not me," Applejack relied. "I don't know ponies like she does. But I'm not sure it'll work. Ponies know what they saw, not what they're told. Not without evidence."

"Well, he has to be stopped!" Fluttershy exclaimed, causing both ponies to jump, startled by her sudden outburst. "If Bullit keeps on lurking around Ponyville, Rainbow will never be able to go back!"

"Oh, hey guys!"

All three of them went silent as Rainbow dropped in from above, looking tired but satisfied. "Oh, hi!" Twilight replied, her heart racing. "Sorry, you jumped out at us."

"Heh. I do do that, don't I?" Rainbow replied. "You guys visiting me, AJ, or both?"

"Both," Fluttershy replied. "Um... We heard what happened..."

"Yeah," Rainbow said, landing on the ground with a heavy thump. "That was rough. Did, uh..." Rainbow's gaze lingered on Fluttershy for a second. Applejack remembered her earlier outburst, and could see Rainbow's features twist with guilt. "Y-yeah, uh... you don't believe what ponies are saying?"

"Of course not," Fluttershy replied. "We know you'd never attack somepony in the street."

"And if you did, you wouldn't have stopped," Twilight joked. The attempt at levity was lost on Rainbow.

"But other ponies are buying it, right?"

"So far, it's just been one day. Rumours spread quickly, but I don't think it's really all that bad just yet," Twilight said. "But if Bullit stays out there, it will."

"Right... yeah." Rainbow pawed the ground. "So, what's your plan?"

"We find your two former 'friends', and we find this third pony."

"Their names are Bullit Blaze, Rattle, and Wallflower," Rainbow explained. "The first two are really, really vicious. I wouldn't say dangerous, not for a pony like me or an Alicorn Princess, but they're not to be underestimated."

"Well, them. We need to find them, and arrest them. Wallflower needs to know that you've changed." Twilight brightened. "We can still fix things between you two. All he needs is to know that you're a hero now, and everything will work out."

Rainbow and Applejack both eyed each other. "Uhm... Twi', I don't think anypony is in a forgiving mood right now. What I did was rotten, and sure, I'm still super-cool, but I don't think you can really fix this kind of thing." Rainbow pawed the earth. "I'd rather just... well, wait here until he leaves. I don't feel like being reminded of stuff right now..."

Applejack frowned. "Remember what we discussed, RD," she warned. "Ponyville still needs weather."

Rainbow spun around, holding her hooves out. "But c'mon!"

"So long as you have a job, you can't quit on Ponyville," the farmpony replied, keeping her head held high as Rainbow's wings flared outwards. "And I for one won't let you."

Twilight and Fluttershy both watched the exchange with cautious interest. Rainbow's eyes narrowed, but eventually her entire body sagged.

"Yeah, okay, whatever. I see what it is," she muttered, and took off in a huff. "If you don't want me around, fine. I'll go and fix the clouds up in no time."

As she left, Applejack was left with her two friends, staring at the sky with a bemused look on her face. Twilight trotted up behind Applejack, as surprised as the farmpony.

"I think you made her mad," she said.

"Yeah... I can tell," Applejack replied. "No wonder she was an angry teen."

Rainbow Dash flew through the sky, muttering under her breath. She gazed down at the ground, hoping that watching the clueless ponies below might distract her from her foul temper. It didn't.

"Stupid Applejack," she grumbled. "So what if she doesn't want me around? I love being on my own."

Dozens of unwanted clouds peppered the sky, breaking up Ponyville's clear blue horizon. They were scheduled clear skies for the whole week. Of course, with one weatherpony down and Rainbow absent without leave, it would be tough to keep up with the cloud formations.

"They've even let an altocumulus settle in," Rainbow growled. "Well, just as well! I need something to vent on."

She glided over to the huge mountain of cloud blocking out the sun, determined to give it a good thrashing. She grit her teeth.

Without blinking, she began to beat the cloud with her bare hooves, not ever letting up. She grunted with each swing, each blow causing pieces of cloud to float off into nothingness. "Stupid... everypony!"

All the while she pictured Bullit's face on the side of the cloud.

She began to slow down, her forelimbs feeling heavier and leaden. She collapsed onto the cloud, panting, and observed the huge, gaping hole she had made.

A bird fluttered down and landed next to her, balancing on a tendril of cloud. Rainbow eyed the little thing. It was a robin, she realized, and it tilted it's head at her like she was a curiosity at a shop.

"What do you want?" Rainbow asked. "Fluttershy send you?"

"Tweet."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Rainbow rested her head on the cloud. "Y'know, what I really hate is not knowing where I belong anymore. Y'get me?"

The bird fluttered it's wings. Rainbow decided that despite their difference in species, the bird could indeed 'get' her.

"I guess it's just a part of losing my house, right? Everypony seems to want to kick me to the curb these days. Even AJ." She ran her hoof over her features, rubbing her fur and skin. "It's not fair."

The robin did not respond.

"...and, I mean... we had a moment, and stuff, right? We... had a moment."

She stroked her scalp, remembering the feeling of Applejack's hoof running through her mane. She groaned.

"I'm just being stupid. I'm me, right? I don't need to be taken care of. I don't want to get taken care of."

From it's perch not far from Rainbow, the robin fluttered it's wings. Rainbow narrowed her eyes at it.

"Not a word of this to Fluttershy, you hear? I don't need ponies thinking I'm a whiner."

No reply from the bird.

"You don't even know who Fluttershy is, do you?" Rainbow asked. The bird gave a little tweet. "Well, don't ask me. I don't speak bird."

Rainbow closed her eyes for a second. She felt tired. She had gotten up early that morning, she remembered: the noise around the farm had kept her from sleeping properly. And it started so soon, too. It must have been six in the morning when they started, and only half past five when she heard that darn floorboard start creaking. At least Scootaloo's house had only become active around eight. Two hours made a big difference, in Rainbow's opinion.

"...turn up?"

Rainbow's eyes snapped open as soon as she heard the voice. A stallion's voice, she realized.

"Probably not, but we can always hope. It'll take all day to break this thing without her."

Rainbow shifted in her cloud. They were weatherponies, she realized. She recognized Sky Hight's voice, at least. He had been Thunderlane's partner.

She got to her hooves and began making her way to meet them.

"I'm not even sure Rainbow should be allowed to fly at this point," came the reply. Rainbow froze.

They had been talking about her.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"I don't know any more. You know how she was: aggressive, rude, pushy... if she's gone back to her old ways, we're all in trouble."

It took all of Rainbow's self-control to now fly out the hole she had carved in the cloud and confront the pair. She wanted to keep listening: she wanted to know the extent of what Bullit had done to her.

"She wasn't very rude."

"Are you kidding? She acted like she was the boss of us!"

"Well... she kinda' was. She is the boss of us."

"That's not the point. She's a bully, and she's trouble. We need to be doubly careful around her. Or else we might be the next pony she bludgeons in the street."

"Princess Twilight would never allow that."

"Princess Twilight is Rainbow's buddy," was the reply. "She won't do anything to stop her if she goes rogue, just you wait and see."

Rainbow pressed her eyes shut, unable to keep herself quiet any longer. She shot out of the cloud faster than a bullet, much to the shock and surprise of the two weatherponies hovering outside. Sky High even had the nerve to try to salvage the situation.

"Ah, uh, there you are. Um..."

"Can it," Rainbow snapped. "If... if you think that, fine!" To Rainbow's dismay, she found she was having a hard time speaking properly, and her words felt stiff and hoarse. She did her best to ignore the feeling of her throat clogging up. "You can clear all this all by yourselves, then!"

With her last defiant statement, she turned and flew off towards the Acres. She didn't even care if Applejack thought she was a wimp, a whiner, even a loser for going back. She just wanted to get far away from the ponies she used to work with, and trust. The feeling had not been mutual.

"Two more ponies Bullit has taken away from me," she muttered. "No... that I took away from myself."

Applejack looked up at the sky, frowning. Several unwanted clouds scattered shadows over the orchard, stealing precious rays from her trees.

"For Pete's sakes, don't weatherponies ever work without Rainbow kickin' them into gear?"

As if on cue, the tell-tale sign of her friend, her magnificent rainbow trail, shot across the sky towards the farm. Applejack's frown deepened, concern creasing her features. If her work wasn't done, why was she coming back?

Not a few moments later and Rainbow was on the ground, heading towards the farmhouse. Applejack broke into a trot after her, her muscles still warmed up from her day's work. "Oi! RD!"

Rainbow stopped just as she passed through the doorway. She angled her head just enough towards Applejack that they made eye contact.

"Yeah?" she asked. "Can I go inside?"

"What happened to the—"

"They didn't want me. Or rather," she explained, "...they were happy to have me fix their clouds, but according to them, I'm 'not fit to fly'."

Applejack's eyebrow twitched. She forced herself to keep her expression neutral. It wouldn't do to be anything other than stable in front of Rainbow Dash. That's what she'd want, after all.

"I'm sorry," she said. It was all she could really think of. After Scootaloo, she hadn't expected much to get to Rainbow, but she had been wrong. "Maybe you could talk to them or some—"

"I don't want to," Rainbow replied. "I don't want to any more. They don't want to talk to me, after all." She turned around, facing Applejack square on. "I think I get it. This is just some for of karma, isn't it? All the stuff I did is coming back to haunt me. It makes sense."

"This isn't your fault," Applejack began. "It's them—"

"No it's not. Everypony is sending me away! Scootaloo, and my team, and you..." Rainbow ran her hoof through her mane as her wings began to tremble. Adrenaline was coursing through her, and she looked ready to explode. "If I hadn't done what I did, everything would be fine. It's fair."

"It's not fair, though," Applejack retorted. "And I know you don't think so either." She exhaled. "You can't want this, can you?"

Rainbow threw her hooves in the air. "All I want is to stay here and pretend." She began pacing, elevating her voice a pitch. "Just... I can't work, I can't go into town, I can't see my best pal because she hates me now, I can't live in my own house because it's broken and gone..."

"Dash..."

"...so please let me stay here and not lose anything else!"

Applejack caught the desperate glint in her friend's eyes. Something else was wrong, she could tell. She sat down and folded her hooves, like she would back when Applebloom was younger. "RD, what is it now? There's always something with you. Why do you need to be here so badly?"

Rainbow twitched. "You'll laugh."

"I promise I won't."

Rainbow twitched again, her muscles completely tensed up at this point. Applejack couldn't believe how many layers there were to the poor mare's anxiety.

"I left Cloudsdale on bad terms... with everypony," Rainbow began, before stopping, unwilling to continue. Applejack waited a few seconds before prompting her to continue.

"Dash, hiding won't make anything stop," Applejack countered. "I said it before, and I'll say it ag—"

"Fine! Just... I left Cloudsdale because my dad told me to." She paced around, livid. "I went home after Bullit attacked me, asking for help, and his great advice was that I should leave... leave and never come back. That's why I left Cloudsdale. My gang attacked me, everypony else was afraid of me, and my dad abandoned me. And it's all happening again."

Rainbow banged her head against the wall as she ground her teeth together.

"Your pa' was probably just lookin' out for you..."

"I... whatever. It never felt that way," she replied choking on her words. "It's just one more relationship I ruined. He hated me for being who I was... and who can blame him, right? I had nothing in Cloudsdale years before I actually left. I had ruined it all long before then. I just didn't see it." Her ears were flattened against her head as she talked. "And it's the same here. I've been... rude and nopony wants me. I'm just a dumb pegasus with anger management problems and an ego. I'm just amazed Scootaloo didn't kick me out sooner. And you don't want me either."

Applejack widened her eyes in shock. "Rainbow, that weren't why I told you to leave the farm. You're blowin' everything out of proportion," she said, cantered towards her friend in a panic. "Stop thinkin' you're not worth it. That's not what this is about!"

Rainbow was breathing heavily. In fact, she looked like she was on the verge of hyperventilation. "I don't have a job, I don't have Scootaloo, my reputation is ruined... I'm nothing again!"

"You'll always have your friends," Applejack said. "Okay? We're all loyal to you too." Rainbow shuddered away from Applejack's outstretched hoof. This time, she was too broken to calm down. Applejack tried remembering what her other friends might do in this situation. "Just let it all out," she said in her most soothing voice. "You ain't payin' the price for being a bad pony," she said. "You're payin' the price for being a good one. You got everything you did by being a hero, a friend, and a great pony to be around. You wouldn't be sufferin' if ya'll were bad, now, could you?"

"If this is what being good feels like, I think I preferred being a gangpony," Rainbow gasped. "I just feel... guilty. All the time. For being happy. And when I'm not happy, I'm just angry!" She clenched her jaw, forcing her eyes wide. "I just want to hit everypony until they see I'm not bad! But it won't work. It never works."

"I know," Applejack said as the pair sat down on the porch. "Let's just... talk, 'kay? We can sort out this whole nonsense tomorrow." Rainbow didn't respond, but gave her a silent nod. Applejack pulled her head towards her own, and they leant against each other. Rainbow, the comforted, and Applejack, the comforter. "We'll sort it all out tomorrow."

"My dad was a guardpony," Rainbow explained, keeping her voice even. Some time had passed since her outburst, and she was still far from content, but she was talking. Applejack was glad for that, at least. "He did his best, I think, but he just wasn't around. He never even showed up when I got my cutie mark."

"He had a job."

"I know, but he also had a daughter, right?" Rainbow argued. "He heard about my behaviour later, though. He wasn't happy, and we kind of... drifted apart after that. I didn't really have anyone, then, until Bullit found me." She breathed heavily onto Applejack's coat. "I really hate Bullit for finding me like that. I think he knew I was an easy mark. We started mucking around, breaking stuff and threatening ponies. It just... escalated, and I never even noticed."

"Back when I was a filly," Applejack said, "I was always worried for my family. We live away from the town, and we had been burgled before. Gangs... the ones we had 'round here, at least... were threatenin' us and always out for trouble."

Rainbow bit her lip and shifted her weight. She was still pulled against Applejack, but listening to her talk about her own experiences was very disconcerting. "I'm sorry."

"I know. How'd your pa' react to you bein' in a gang?"

"He... quit the guard. I think he didn't want to have to arrest his own kid," Rainbow said. "He just retired, and that was that."

Applejack looked down at Rainbow's dejected expression. "He quit the guard to protect you?"

"Maybe. I really hope he didn't. But I guess loyalty runs in the family... Not that I was really all that loyal at the time." Rainbow brushed her mane out of her eyes. "He told me there was nopony left in Cloudsdale who could protect me. He suggested Ponyville: a little town in the middle of nowhere. I... hated the idea of moving here. But I was so scared at the time, I just... went. I'm glad I did, but I wish I did it differently, you know?"

"Likewise," Applejack said. "When you arrived, everything changed for Ponyville. You were one of the first to step up to our own gangs. I guess ya'll had a bit of stress to work out, eh?"

"Heh... yeah, a bit. They just reminded me of Bullit so much, and I didn't want to live anywhere with those ponies kicking around. So I kicked them out. And that was that. I never talked about my life in Cloudsdale, 'cause it would've meant everypony knew I was one of the ponies I got rid of. I wouldn't have had any friends. I wouldn't have had a job." She shrugged, scraping her shoulder-blades against Applejack's coat. "Over time, I think I got comfortable. Until now." She curled in on herself. "Everything is changing again. Now I have to start over."

"Not entirely," Applejack corrected. "You've got the girls. You got me. I know we ain't much, but—"

"Nah," Rainbow interrupted. "You're all right, I guess. You've helped me loads." Rainbow rubbed her hoof over her nose, allowing for a shaky chuckle. "Don't tell the others I was, uh... am... such a mess."

"I dunno 'bout that," Applejack said with a devious smile. "I'm a very honest pony by nature."

Rainbow grinned. "Yeah, that's right." She got to her hooves, adjusting her mane from the tangled mess it had been to the slightly more presentable mess it usually was. "Don't tell anypony I said this, but... you're a pretty awesome pony too. When you try."

The farmpony ran her hoof through her mane, blushing ever so slightly. "Y-you hittin' on me?" she joked, trying to alleviate the tension.

"...maybe."

Applejack blinked. The young pegasus could have said anything: she could have joked, laughed, made a sarcastic comment. She didn't have to force Applejack to think about her in... that light.

Or maybe she was joking, Applejack wondered. It wouldn't be in any poorer taste than her own quip. She swore internally. Without realizing, she had driven herself into a corner, and now if she made a mistake, she'd get laughed at.

Or Rainbow was being serious. Then laughing about it would make things worse.

"You, uh, okay there?"

Applejack blinked again. Her eyes felt dry. "Uh, yeah?"

"You stopped moving for a minute."

"I was thinking."

Rainbow swallowed. "I could tell," she replied. "Tell you what: it's late. I'm done crying for today. It'll totally ruin my image. So, how about we leave it at that for now?" She dusted herself off as best she could, flattening the crumpled fur that had ruffled against Applejack's own. "I'm really, really hungry."

She paused awkwardly, then ducked inside the house.

Applejack stroked her nose, still thrown by the possible half-confession. Before she could finish thinking, Rainbow had already disappeared inside, leaving Applejack on her own to ponder what had happened. It didn't take long for Applejack to make up her mind.

She was hungry too.

The Apple family was bustling around the house like they usually did. Granny was in the kitchen, balancing dishes. Applebloom dodged her and Big Macintosh as she cleared up after them.

Rainbow was sat at the table, not allowed to help out, just like last time. But unlike yesterday, Applejack was sat next to her, eyes glued to the table. The few times she had tried to help, she had found out she became clumsy. She couldn't stop herself from bumping into Big Mac, stepping on Applebloom, and very nearly knocking over dinner. It was after that last misadventure that she decided so sit down and remove herself from the chaos of the kitchen.

Applejack couldn't help but wonder if this was how Rainbow felt, being stuck watching everypony else do the work.

Of course, Rainbow not helping out had been her fault, she remembered. It had been her persistance that got Rainbow to sit around and wait for other ponies to do the work for her. In hindsight, not a great idea.

Well, it was in the past now. Now, she was sitting next to a pony who very well might have admitted to having romantic feelings for her not a few hours ago.

She had a long time to think about what to do. Unfortunately, there wasn't much for it. Rainbow wouldn't admit any sort of attraction a second time, not if she was worried about getting rejected. That just wasn't how she'd behave: she'd pretend it never happened and that'd be that. If Applejack wanted, she could ignore her and everything would just blow over.

It was an option, but strangely, not one Applejack was sure she wanted to take.

To Applejack's dismay, she found herself unable to get a bead on her own feelings. All she remembered was a feeling of closeness, but surely that was just another sign of a strong friendship? The things her and Rainbow had been through, it had made them almost family.

There was nothing for it: Applejack had to attempt an experiment. Swallowing any fears she might have had, she shifted her hoof over the table's surface until it knocked against Rainbow's own.

A whole three seconds passed before Rainbow shifted her weight. Applejack winced. But to her surprise, Rainbow maintained physical contact. She eyed Applejack, amused.

"Subtle," she remarked.

With a smile, she moved her hoof to sit on Applejack's own, instead of merely resting beside it. Applejack relaxed, the tension easing from her muscles.

Without any words, both ponies knew they had said 'yes'.

Author's Notes:

There you have the longest chapter yet. New chapter out on the 22nd.

Have a good one.

No Nice Things

"So then. How are you feeling?"

Rattle groaned and rolled over onto her hooves. She flexed her shoulder once, before trying to extend her wings. They shuddered as they spread out. "Still a bit stiff, but okay."

"Stiff is fine," Bullit told her. "We won't be going head to head with Rainbow any time soon." He paced around the room. "I've been quite busy relaying Dash's troubled past to some likely townsponies. Some of the schoolcolts, in particular, were very effective."

"Schoolcolts?"

"Yup. Think about it. Their parents get word from their kids, and it won't be about strangers hurting strangers anymore ," Bullit explained with a savage grin. "With their kids safety on the line, well, it's only natural they should turn on little Dashie."

Rattle licked her lips as she thought. "Uh... huh. I'd prefer to just rip that mane off her as soon as possible."

Bullit shrugged. "Well, we tried that, didn't we? And it didn't work. I think that our best plan is to get her sad, get her nervous, get her weak... and then we can take our souvenir from her." He stroked his chin. "But... there's only so much rumours can do. We need to hammer the point home."

Rattle raised her eyebrow. "How's that?"

"Well, this is the good bit. What do you think would happen if ponies found out that Rainbow was in charge of a gang, like in the 'good old days'?" He let the thought sink in. Rattle's eyes widened.

"You mean we'll finally show ourselves again?"

"Yup. I think it's about time that this town got afraid of the dark again."

Both ponies chuckled, causing a couple of the ponies around them to shift their gazes towards them. The Bartender rolled his eyes. He couldn't overhear them from this distance and he didn't care to. Whatever they were talking about didn't sound savoury.

The door to the bar opened. Bullit's eyes darted towards the newcomer. He recognized the slim build worried expression, and girly cutie mark in the shape of a flower. That was the pony that had been at the crowd not so long ago. Wallflower, Bullit remembered. He sneered. He remembered him from Cloudsdale, too. He had been fun, before he had tired of him.

"Rattle... let's go for a walk," he said. "We don't want our little cry-baby to recognize us. The jig is up if he does."

Wallflower turned his eyes onto the pair, but was only able to make out the backs of their heads. "Hey!" he shouted. "You were the pair Rainbow beat up earlier, weren't you?"

"Sorry, kid, we got places to be," Rattle retorted, holding the door open for Bullit. The two ruthless criminals escaped into the bright open streets of Ponyville. To Bullit, she said "How about we get some tools?"

Bullit grinned. "Tools, yes... and some paint."

Applejack yawned. Dinner was weighing her down, making her troublesome trek up the stairs more tiresome than she would have liked. Her hooves felt like they had weights strapped to them. It didn't help that the day had been particularly tiring, what with her and Rainbow's argument, Twilight's visit, and a day's worth of chores, and...

The welcome sensation of another pony's hoof on her own.

She stumbled into her room and sat down on her bed, the mattress creaking under her now considerable weight.

She supposed her and Rainbow would have to talk. Maybe even this evening? Applejack brushed her mane out of her eyes. Somehow, it didn't seem all that real.

"Hey there."

Applejack jumped, startled. Rainbow had poked her head through the doorway with a mischievous grin. Applejack huffed.

"Haven't you heard of knocking? And besides, I didn't hear the floorboards creak. How'd you—"

"Flew over it," Rainbow replied, and sat down on her own mattress, on the other side of the room. "So, uh..."

"Why?" Applejack asked, deciding to get straight to the point. Rainbow gave a little shrug.

"I guess 'cause you were always around, and I liked that. Except when you weren't, and then I just missed you," she explained as best she could. "I'm not all that sure, really, but when I got kicked out of Scoot's house, you were the first pony I thought of. I decided that couldn't be a coincidence, right? And I was right. You just... made everything better, the best you could." Rainbow's wings fluttered, a sign of anxiety. "And so I guess I kind of... blurted it out, and it felt normal-ish."

"Normal-ish?"

"Yeah. Like normal, but ish."

Applejack chuckled. "Ya'll sure have a way with words, sugarcube."

"It's one of my many talents," Rainbow declared, puffing her chest outwards. Applejack tried to hold back a snicker, but she couldn't. Rainbow laughed along with her. "Yeah, uh, I don't know how to explain it, really," she admitted. "It felt different, but okay."

"So then," Applejack began. "Where do you want... this... to go?"

"I dunno," Rainbow replied. "Somewhere, I hope. Like, when all this nonsense is sorted out, we could do something official." She smiled. "I'd like that."

Applejack wished she hadn't eaten quite so much. This conversation was already setting her insides a-flutter without the added trouble of being over-full. She felt like she had swallowed a whole bucket of butterflies, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her breathing steady.

"I'd like that too," Applejack told her. "When were you thinking—"

"Well, tomorrow, right, I could meet you while you're working..." Rainbow began. She gave Applejack a mischievous smile. "I could steal you away with my spectacular flair, and we could have an awesome afternoon looking down on Ponyville."

Applejack picked at her hoof. "Well, I'm supposed to do chores tomorrow, an'..."

"That's why I said steal," Rainbow explained. "You can't feel guilty if I steal you away from work, right?"

"I might have to put up a fight," Applejack warned, eyebrow raised. Rainbow grinned.

"I'm very persistent."

As if on cue, Applejack felt her jaw drop down, and a yawn escaped her. "Well... I'm very tired," she said, "So I'm going to hit the hay."

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah." She threw herself into a horizontal position, and closed her eyes with a broad, childish smile. "Good talk."

She knew exactly what she wanted to do tomorrow. She just had to find somepony to give her directions.

Bullit and Rattle both stood, concealed in darkness, outside a small store not a few blocks away from the centre of town. There were no ponies in sight: they were alone.

"You ready?" he asked his partner. Rattle nodded in response.

"Are you certain that this'll get ponies to turn on her even more?"

Bullit nodded. "Positive. We won't make it hard for them to figure out, after all," he said. "And besides, what do we stand to lose?"

"They could come after us," Rattle replied. "I'm still not at one-hundred percent..."

"They won't. We'll stay hidden, after all." He darted out of the shadows, grasping a heavy metal pipe between his teeth. "C'mon!"

Rattle was after him quicker than a flash. She was balancing three cans of paint on her back, each containing a different colour. Bullit threw the pipe right at the large glass windows of a store, grunting as he put all his strength behind the throw. Glass showered the produce the store sold as the window caved in under the blow. He grinned, and gave the cans of paint a hefty kick.

All three soared towards the wall, where they landed with a clunk and a splat. In the gloom, it was impossible to make out what colours they were, and Bullit was in no mood to stick around and find out. He already knew, after all.

"Let's scram!" he exclaimed, and the pair both flew back into the darkness as the ponies inside scrambled to see what the noise had been about.

Then they escaped, as invisible as they had arrived.

"O...kay..." Twilight replied, unsure where Rainbow's sudden request had come from. The pegasus was hopping from hoof to hoof, eyes glistening with barely contained energy.

"Flowers! I need some," she repeated. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

The castle was bathed in late morning sunlight, and Twilight had been in the middle of receiving a large package of books. Her library was only a quarter full but she was certain that with her new-found political pull, she could have a fully functioning library again. That is, if she was able to work free of interruptions... which she apparently couldn't.

"Why?"

"For, uh, Applejack," Rainbow replied. Twilight smirked at her failed attempt to conceal the truth. Rainbow had the endearing tendency to blurt out the truth whenever she was under pressure.

"O...kay..." she repeated, this time more sly than confused. "Have you considered Rosethorn's Bouquet Palace?"

Spike, lounging not far from the pair, nodded. "It's a very respectable establishment. Rarity always says so. She goes there all the time."

Rainbow tapped her chin, pondering the issue. "Rarity says so, huh?"

"Always."

"I thought you'd just use some kind of summoning spell or... do you have one of those?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I don't use magic for everything..."

Rainbow shrugged and laid an understanding hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "It's okay... we can't all be awesome twenty-four seven."

"You're welcome," Twilight deadpanned. Rainbow leapt out the door as fast as she had entered, bouncing almost as playfully as Pinkie. Twilight wiped her forehead. "I hope she doesn't get in trouble."

"C'mon, how hard can it be? For AJ, right?" Rainbow said to herself as she cantered through the streets of Ponyville. She began garnering suspicious looks wherever she went. Rainbow felt the hairs on her back stand on end, and became progressively more nervous. "O...kay, maybe harder than I thought... heh..."

Still, she made a point of never staying in one place for too long, and she was determined to get what she needed. Flowers. Everypony loved flowers, right? All her books said so. She had even brought up the matter with Tank earlier, and he had been more than supportive, if a little quiet.

"Plus, AJ's a mare, right?" she said. "Come to think of it, I'm a mare, too, and I'd like them!" She slowed down for a fraction of a second. "Even if I wouldn't ever admit it..." Shaking her head, she continued her canter.

Rainbow knew that it would be lunchtime soon, given from the height and angle of the sun. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to get to Rosethorn's shop, or Flower Boutique of Frilly-ness or whatever it was called, before he closed down for lunch. Even shopkeepers had to eat, right?

"Yes, of course they do," Rainbow told herself.

She slowed down as she approached the building she needed: a tall, elegant looking... wait a minute...

As Rainbow got closer and closer, she noticed that the windows of the show had been smashed inwards. Several ponies crowded around the place. Rosethorn himself, a small, bulky pony sporting a magnificent moustache, was shooing the crowd away.

"Go on, get! I have produce to sell!" he exclaimed as Rainbow finally came within earshot. "It's just a bit of broken glass and a new paint-job, nothing spectacular!" When Rosethorn saw her, his expression darkened. "Oh. It's you."

Rainbow swallowed. "Uh, hi. What happened here?"

"We were hoping you could tell us!" shouted one of the ponies in the crowd. Rosethorn grumbled angrily and turned to the mob again.

"I said get!" he exclaimed, his bushy eyebrows alone scaring off more than a few ponies. He returned his attention to Rainbow Dash. "Small act of vandalism," he said, his cool returning. "What do you want?"

Despite his unnerving calm demeanour, there was something in Rosethorn's attitude that intimidated Rainbow. She cleared her throat: no way was she going to wimp out.

"Flowers. Like, a bunch."

"A bouquet."

"Yeah, a bunch of those."

Rosethorn nodded and trotted inside. Rainbow followed, the few remaining ponies outside keeping their eyes fixed on her.

"Okay... what do you want?"

"Flowers."

Rosethorn rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know that, but which kind?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, as if it were an eye-rolling competition. "The best kind."

"That's highly subjective."

"Fine," Rainbow replied, squaring her stance. "I'll have a dozen of your Highly Subjectives."

Rosethorn didn't reply instantly, and opted to stammer, confused. "Wh-what?"

"It was a joke," Rainbow explained with painstaking deliberation. Rosethorn gave her a token chuckle. "Like, uh, what flower is best to get a really cool pony for a..." she hesitated. "...meeting."

"A romantic rendez-vous," Rosethorn replied. Rainbow's face lit up.

"I've never heard of those! Are they pretty?"

Rosethorn frowned. "It's called a date."

"Oh," Rainbow replied, thoroughly confused at this point.

Rosethorn waved his hoof. "Never mind. I had a couple of good ones, but they got damaged last night," Rosethorn said with a slight grimace.

Rainbow frowned. "Yeah... what exactly happened here?" she asked. Rosethorn swallowed.

"See for yourself," he muttered, and leant his head outside the broken window, gesturing at the wall outside his house. Rainbow followed suit.

The walls were covered in crudely applied paint. Rainbow could quickly recognize three separate colours: blue, yellow, and red. In that precise order.

"That's my cutie mark's colours..." she muttered, her ears flattening against her head. "Oh, horseapples."

"I think you can guess what ponies have been thinking," Rosethorn told her. "A lot of ponies are taking this to be some kind of signature." Rainbow whirled around, holding out her hooves defensively.

"Hey, I had nothing to do with this! I was someplace else entirely!" she exclaimed. "It was Bullit!"

Rosethorn leaned in closer, his voice lowering to a whisper. "Listen, girl... I've known miss Rarity for a good long while, and I know for a fact that she'd never associate with any ruffian. But do yourself a favour and avoid letting other ponies know you're on first name terms with the vandals that did this, okay?" He stepped away silently. "Some ponies might come to some wrong conclusions."

Rainbow hung her head. "I... right, yeah."

Rosethorn nodded, and looked around his store for anything his customer might appreciate. "I have a few good ones... just give me a second to find them... the place is a bit of a mess right now..."

Rainbow did her best to follow him, careful not to step on any broken glass. It was a shame, she thought. Those had been some very pretty flowers.

"What's your beau like, then? What do you think he'll enjoy?"

"Uh, she."

"Ah, a belle, then." He went back to his work, still waiting for Rainbow's answer. She coughed.

"Well, uh... she's hardworking..."

Rosethorn picked up a handful of delilahs.

"... kind of tough..."

Rosethorn frowned, and put them back down again.

"...really brave..."

Rosethorn listened intently, testing out different arrangements. To Rainbow, it seemed like he was picking and choosing them at random, but he had a look of intense concentration on his face all the while. They couldn't be coincidences, Rainbow thought.

Eventually, he finished, and presented her a highly distinctive and colourful bouquet of flowers. Many of them Rainbow couldn't even recognize, and they were all arranged perfectly... or at least, as perfectly as Rainbow could tell. She didn't know how Rosethorn had done it, or what the science was behind the flowers, but they were comfortable and stimulating to look at, as if they were moving somehow.

"There you go, miss."

Rainbow beamed. "Heh... all right!" She took the bouquet and stored it under her wing. "You're the best!"

Rosethorn grinned. "Do spread the word: I hear my niece Roseluck's getting delusions of grandeur again."

"You bet!" Rainbow replied, and tossed the older pony a handful of bits. "That should cover it, right?"

After counting the coins, Rosethorn nodded. "This'll do. Nice doing business with you."

Rainbow sidestepped the broken glass and made her way towards the door, a happy smile plastered to her face. With ponies like Rosethorn around, maybe things wouldn't be half as bad as she thought.

"Look out!"

Rainbow widened her eyes as she heard the older pony's voice again as she stepped out the door. Her pupils darted across the street, surprise and panic tensing her muscles.

"Wha—"

Her reflexes kicked in just in time: her wings spread and she darted to the left, dodging a small stone that had been flying towards her. She even felt the displacement of air against her fur as it passed her by. Her sudden acceleration kicked up a small dust-cloud, and her equally sudden deceleration caused her to stumble a little. Once she got her bearings again, she scanned her surroundings, but to no avail.

"Did somepony... throw a rock at me?!" she gasped, shocked.

Rosethorn rushed outside, panicked. "Ponyfeathers, that was a close one. I saw somepony throw that at you and I..." he looked down. "Oh, dear..."

Rainbow followed his gaze down to the ground where she had just been standing. To her dismay, she saw the precious flowers she had bought scattered across the pavement.

She must have dropped them when she flared her wings to dodge, she realized. And now they were ruined, every single one. The arrangement was broken, dozens of petals had been torn off, and one or two had been squashed when Rainbow had tensed up earlier.

All because somepony threw something that probably wouldn't even have hurt her...

"It's all right," Rosethorn muttered. "I'll get a new one made for you in a jiffy... Oi', wait!"

To his dismay, Rainbow stormed off, her mane covering her eyes as she flared her wings. "I... I don't want them anymore," she replied, her voice trembling. "I'll find my own."

"Miss..."

"Don't bother. If the town doesn't want me to have nice things, then I guess I won't." Her muscles were shivering and shaking with frustration. Rosethorn swallowed, unsure what the pegasus was going to do.

Rainbow took off into the sky, desperate to get away from Ponyville before she lost her temper, despite her best efforts.

"Not again," she muttered to herself. "Not again..."

Bullit was on his back, laughing himself breathless. Rattle sneered at the departing pegasus. "Ah, that was priceless," he managed to say once he had caught his breath. "Too bad I missed."

"Yeah, although let's face it, it was a pretty small rock."

"It'd have bruised, at least," Bullit replied. He peered around the corner. Rainbow had almost gotten out of sight. "Well, that's one 'romantic rendez-vous' ruined. I bet she won't get over that in a hurry." He clenched his hoof, his eyes firmly locked on Rainbow as she disappeared over the horizon. "Just a little more, little Dashie... just a little more, and you'll be all over the place. And then," he snarled, "That mane is mine."

He turned towards Rattle.

"Where next?" she asked.

"I'm thinking... yeah, I'm thinking we step up our game. Maybe a few broken bones will get her run out of town," he suggested, much to Rattle's apparent delight. "Still, there's only two of us. Might as well play it safe: we'll target single ponies for a while... at least until you're back at full strength."

"Single ponies, huh?" Rattle replied, her lips parting to reveal glistening, shark-like teeth. "Sounds like a plan."

Bullit nodded to himself.

"Then there's only really one question to ask, isn't there?" he said. "Who's next?"

Author's Notes:

Next chapter will be released on the 24th!

Still no stories other than this one that are out yet. I'm working on a pretty cool story that's also rather long that's also AppleDash-y, but it's taking longer for me to finish than I expected. And then it'll take me a while to edit it properly.

Until then, enjoy!

Romantic Ronday-Voo

Rainbow Dash trotted through the fields of flowers, looking left and right. She could see red ones, blue ones, white ones and big ones... But nowhere in the mass of colourful petals and sweet-scented roses was there a guide detailing how to arrange them to look as pretty as possible. Dash groaned. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wasn't going to go back to town with her tail between her legs. No way in Tartarus.

She'd see this through and have a nice, hoofmade bouquet for her 'romantic ronday-voo', or whatever it was Rosethorn had said.

She grit her teeth. It wasn't even that somepony had tried to injure her physically: it was that the older stallion's hard work had been dashed to the ground. What kind of a boneheaded ass would do something like that?

They weren't even just ruining her day, anymore. They were ruining Applejack's day, and Rosethorn's. And that just wasn't fair.

And vandalizing his shop just to get at her. That was Bullit's work, no doubt about it. Only somepony as heartless as him would stoop to such lows.

"It's not fair!" Rainbow exclaimed, kicking a pile of flowers that she could have sworn looked pretty on their own, but just didn't work at all when positioned side by side. Nothing worked: everything she made was terrible. She was useless.

She looked all around her. How was it that when they were spread before her as nature intended, they looked stunning, but whenever she tried to add her own personal touch to it, it failed miserably? She rubbed her nose, her mood worsening. If anypony were to see her, they'd have noticed her flattened ears and depressed, drooping wings that trailed through the beautiful flora.

"They're beautiful just the way they are... why can't they just do what I want them to?" she asked herself. She sat down heavily.

Either she'd figure out a plan B, or she'd have to disappoint Applejack. And as far as she was concerned, that wasn't an option.

"Plan B it is, then... whatever plan B is."

The journey home from school had begun feeling longer and more tiring than ever before. Scootaloo's wings weren't even moving half as fast as they used to. Whenever she felt like gaining speed, she just... couldn't. Like her muscles refused to operate at anything better than half-efficiency.

Not even the thought of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's taunts following her could get her to go any faster.

Had Rainbow teased ponies for being blank-flanks? She knew she had. She had seen the look on her face. There was shame there, and guilt, and hurt. It all amounted to her being a bully, and exactly the sort of pony who made her life miserable every day. In fact, if Rainbow were a filly, who was to say she wouldn't be hanging out with Diamond and Silver? Maybe she'd be worse. Maybe she'd go further than taunts, teasing, and pranks.

From what she was hearing from Snips and Snails, she had been worse. Vandalism and assault, they had said. They had been proud of those words. Scootaloo had wondered if somepony had told it to them, if they had recited it... but it didn't matter.

She didn't matter.

As far as the little filly was concerned, if there was one type of pony that the Cutie Mark Crusaders didn't forgive, it was a pony with a cutie mark who made others feel bad. It just wasn't right, Scootaloo thought. Cutie marks came when the time was right, so why was it fair to hurt ponies because their time was right earlier?

She skidded to a halt outside her house, and unstrapped her helmet.

"Scootsie? That you?" came her mother's voice. Scootaloo sighed.

"Yeah! School's over!"

She parked her scooter in the garage, where her mother was tinkering on some complex looking metal component. Her hooves were having difficulties fitting inside the tight, uncomfortable device, and she had a look of intense concentration on her face. What she was trying to accomplish, Scootaloo could only guess at.

"Good," Greased replied, retracting her hoof after a short, sharp tug. "Then you can get back to working on your maths."

Scootaloo's face fell. "Again?"

"Yup. Until the whole book's done."

Scootaloo groaned, and trotted past her parent on her way to her room. Greased watched her leave. Scootaloo's hooves were dragging just enough for her to notice. She frowned.

"I think it's about time I wrap up this whole 'Rainbow' business," she muttered. "She'll have calmed down by now." Her ears flickered, the hairs on the inside tingling. She eyed the street outside the garage door suspiciously. Nopony was there. "Huh," she grunted, returning to her work. "Probably just the wind."

From high above, hidden in the clouds, two ponies watched her, concealed from the townsponies below.

"Single mother and one stunted filly," Bullit commented. "Looks like we have our target." He grinned. "Who'll be laughing now, I wonder?"

Applejack was waiting on the hill, sitting on the pile of logs she had moved there two days ago. The whole of her orchard seemed to be teasing her. The apples were all hanging on their little twigs, just waiting to be bucked down into their baskets. But all Applejack could think of was Rainbow Dash, and the date she had promised her earlier.

It felt strange and uncomfortable, and it was distracting her from being able to even walk in a straight line. It was as if she had drunk one too many ciders... or four.

At this rate, her chores were several days behind. The things she'd do for a friend...

Her eyes caught the hint of colour on the horizon. She smiled, partaking in a quick experiment. She closed her eyes, just for a second, and held her breath. As soon as she had counted to one, she opened them again.

"H-hey, there," Rainbow said, standing in front of her like she had always been there. Only the ruffled feathers were any clue of her having flown at all. "Actually, could you, uh, keep your eyes closed for me?"

Applejack raised her eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Your eyes. I need them closed," Rainbow repeated. "No funny business, I promise!"

Applejack eyed her friend suspiciously, and obliged. "I'll be holdin' you to th— Whoa!"

Gravity went crazy as soon as she had shut her eyes: up felt like it was down, and down felt like it was sideways. She felt the powerful force of acceleration, stronger than any she had felt previously. Not even when she had been on the Friendship Express had she gone so fast. Not even when she was sprinting at full speed had she accelerated this much.

The only constant was the feeling of Rainbow's hooves wrapped around her waist, keeping her from falling. Applejack used that to finding her bearings. If Rainbow was there, then the ground had to be down there, she thought. Even though Applejack had no idea where they were going, she kept her eyes shut tight.

And then everything ground to a halt. Applejack felt the ground underneath her hooves again, and Rainbow's presence disappeared. She did her best to keep the contents of her stomach where it was. "Are... are we there?"

Rainbow might well have nodded, but Applejack had no way of knowing. "Yeah, we're here. You can open your eyes now."

What Applejack saw took her breath away. They were high up, far above Ponyville, on the slopes of one of the nearby mountains. Which one, Applejack couldn't remember... But what was truly spectacular wasn't the view, or the freshness of the air. It was the flowers. The meadow was a sea of colour, each petal more vibrant than the last. They were crimson, orange, golden... The stalks were all a deep, luscious emerald... And then there were crystal blue flowers and deep, indigo ones. All swaying in the gentle mountain breeze.

"I, uh, well, tried to make a cool bouquet, and I tried to buy one in town, but... Well, it didn't work," Rainbow explained. "So I figured that if I couldn't bring them to you, I'd just bring you to them."

Applejack brought her hoof to her mouth, failing to keep her jaw closed. "I... Rainb—"

"Uh, I'm not quite finished," Rainbow said. "I know I never say this enough, but..." Rainbow slid her hoof back around the back of Applejack's head, pulling the two of them as close as they could be. "Thanks. For dragging me out of the lake, for trying to get me a place to stay, for listening to me whine about my stupid problems, for taking me in, and for making everything better. All the time."

Every detail about Rainbow was magnified tenfold. Her eyes, so very deep and vibrant, bursting with energy. Her fur, short and coarse, designed to keep out the cold. Her snout, which Applejack had only just then noticed sported a small cut on the left side. Even at such a young age, tiny wrinkles were beginning to form under her eyes, accelerated by the wild range of emotions she'd express every day. Coupled with the scent of flowers, the soft voice thanking her just for being her, Applejack decided there was no other choice for her but to fall in love.

"AJ... would you like to be my super-special somepony?"

Applejack closed the already tiny gap between the pair to nuzzle her little pegasus. "Only if you'll be mine."

Rainbow grinned, and held out her hoof. "Deal."

The pair knocked hooves, cementing the agreement. Rainbow gave Applejack a mischievous lick on the nose, causing the farmpony to flinch ever so slightly. Rainbow snickered.

"So, uh... how was your day?"

The train station was far from packed. There were only a dozen or so ponies looking to go anywhere in this small town outside Canterlot, and even less that had the time to do it. It didn't take long for Twilight to locate the pony she was looking for: a stallion waiting by the edge, a small item of luggage by his side.

So this was what a few hours of investigation was worth: one feeble-looking pegasus and a bag of clothes. Twilight walked up to the young stallion. She knew he'd have to be about Rainbow's age, given what she had found out, but he looked older somehow. He gave the impression of having aged before his time. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Mr. Wallflower?" she asked. The stallion flinched, appraising her as fast as he could. He was quick to notice both the horn and the wings, and it didn't take him more than a few moments to realize who it was had accosted him.

"Princess Twilight!" he exclaimed. "Your highn—"

"Just Twilight will be fine," she replied, glancing at the train times. "You have about ten minutes to wait, right?"

"Y-yes," he answered. "I'm going back home to Canterlot."

"Not Cloudsdale?" Twilight asked, although she already guessed the answer.

"No... no, I'm not going back to Cloudsdale." He tilted his head to the side. "I get the impression you already know who I am."

"I do. Me and the Mayor worked very hard to find you. You've been hiding out in different corners of Ponyville, spreading rumours about Rainbow Dash."

"They're not rumours!" Wallflower retorted. "She is a monster! I saw her!"

Twilight frowned. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. We believe... me and the Mayor... that the ponies you saw Rainbow Dash fight were up to no good." She swallowed. "We believe this is all just a big misunderstanding and ponies have been getting riled up over nothing."

"It's not nothing," Wallflower insisted. "I know what she's like! I even recognized the trick she was going to do to that poor stallion," he said. "Snap his ribs clean off, that would have." He nursed his own sides absent-mindedly. "She's... she's not well, Princess. I don't know why you trust—"

"Because she's not that pony any more..." Twilight hung her head. "I understand you can't see that," she told him, sadness in her voice, "and I'm not about to try to convince you otherwise. I know Rainbow has done some terrible, awful things, and a lot of ponies would argue she doesn't deserve forgiveness."

"She was there the whole time," Wallflower said. "She didn't even try to speak up. She just watched, laughed, and didn't ever care." He stood up to his full height. "No, I won't forgive her. Ever."

"And that's your right," Twilight replied. "I've learned that you can't always fix everything, and that's... a very hard lesson to learn. But there's a pony in hospital because of two vicious criminals, and whatever information you may have might catch them." Twilight sighed. "I really need you to remember as much as you can about the ponies she was fighting. Please."

Wallflower went quiet. His eyes flickered to the side. "Well, they were both pegasi. I didn't get a good look at their faces."

"Do you know where they might be now? We think they're out doing the same thing you were, trying to get back at Rainbow for stopping them."

Wallflower hesitated. "I'm not sure I want them to stop doing that."

"It's not about you and Rainbow," Twilight told him, becoming as regal and stern as she could. "This is about stopping two very bad, very dangerous ponies."

Wallflower frowned, and breathed out. "Fine. For Ponyville," he replied. "But never for her." He tapped his hoof as he thought. "I did see them, briefly, when I stopped for a drink at the Barrel Scraper. They left almost as soon as I arrived."

"Probably to prevent you from recognizing them," Twilight muttered. "Or maybe because they had someplace to be."

"They could be hiding out there, anyway," Wallflower finished. The platform became louder and louder as the train grew closer and closer. Twilight smiled.

"Thank you. You've done the right thing," she said, as the doors of the train opened. The pegasus picked his suitcase up, his unhappiness plain for the world to see.

"I hope so. I really hope so."

Laid out on her stomach, sitting opposite Rainbow, Applejack felt truly relaxed. Her right hoof was over Rainbow's own, and her left was similarly trapped. Rainbow played with it every now and then, rubbing the sides or squeezing it as she talked. It felt like a very small, very amateurish, and very welcome massage.

"...and then I decided I couldn't work anymore, 'cause I was too distracted," Applejack finished. "So I waited up at the hill where you found me. I didn't have to wait too long, neither."

"Heh. Yeah, I am pretty quick," Rainbow replied. "And that was after everything that could have gone wrong went wrong this morning."

Applejack tilted her head. "You mentioned somethin' about flowers, earlier. What was up with that?"

Rainbow shrugged, her expression falling. "I got a rock thrown at me."

Applejack felt her eyes widen as surprise, and shock, took her. "What? Where? When? Who threw it?"

"At the flower store, somepony just... threw a small rock at me," she explained. "I didn't see who, and I dropped the flowers I had bought. It really sucked, too: I don't really go in for girly stuff like that..."

"Well, ya'll were pretty girly before," Applejack retorted, before returning on-topic. "Did you get hurt?"

"Huh? Naw, I just dodged. Even if I didn't it was just a small rock. I was really just angry about dropping all my stuff, y'know?"

"Well, I'm not," Applejack replied. "That just ain't right, if you ask me."

"Figures you'd say that. It's fine, really," Rainbow told her. "I think I'm getting the hang of this 'Ponyville's most wanted' thing. You think I could get one of Pinkie's disguises?"

"Don't worry. This'll all blow over in no time, and everything'll be back to normal," Applejack reassured her. Rainbow Dash frowned.

"Y'know, I don't think it will. I don't think I want it to go back to normal anymore, either." She looked up at Applejack and shrugged. "I mean, look how easy it was: one compromising situation and a few rumours was all it took for ponies to start being scared and angry at me. All of a sudden, every time I'm rude, I'm threatening somepony. Every time I'm lazy, I'm off vandalizing stuff." Her ears flattened against her head. "Why would I want to be friends with those guys? I know I'm not the easiest pony to get along with, but I never threw stones at ponies."

"A lot of ponies were bullied as kids: you can't expect them to get over you bein' one so easily."

"Well... no. I get that. I suppose..." Rainbow sighed. "But now I'm the one getting bullied, and I don't like that. And they're adults. I was just some stupid... stupid kid."

"But Ponyville is where you live. You're gonna' have to go back someday."

"Well... not exactly." Rainbow's expression brightened. "I live about a mile and a half outside of Ponyville now. And I kinda' like that."

Applejack stuttered, unsure of what to say. "Well, yeah, I like it too, but... well..."

"I don't really care what anypony thinks of me anymore. I've got my friends, and I've got you. What more could I want?"

"What about Scootaloo?" Applejack asked. Rainbow froze, indicating that Applejack had hit a very painful nerve.

"She's just a kid," Rainbow replied. "She'll remember the good times we had. I know it."

"She won't ever be given a chance to forgive nopony if you ain't ever there," Applejack told her. "Eventually, you're gonna' have to confront her, and it had better be sooner rather than later. I've had my own spats with Applebloom in the past, and the longer you let these things fester, the worse they get."

"O...kay," Rainbow said, accepting defeat. "I'll go tomorrow. Tomorrow, okay?"

Applejack tightened her hoof around Rainbow's own. "I'll be there with you, if you want."

"Yeah... that'd be great." Rainbow lowered her head down onto the grass. "You getting sleepy?" she asked. Applejack grinned.

"Hungry, more like," she replied. "Think it's time we head back?" She looked at the sun. "We must've been here for hours. Granny might even be wonderin' where I've been."

"Probably. On both counts," Rainbow said, and got to her hooves, painfully reluctant to let go of Applejack's hoof. "Let's get going, then. You want to keep your eyes open for this one?"

Applejack grinned, and wrapped her forelegs around her special somepony's chest, careful not to obstruct her wings. "You bet. Be sure to take me 'round the scenic route."

This time, their take-off was far less sudden. Rainbow was much less intent on getting them to their destination as quickly as possible this time. Hopefully, she'd be more concerned with treating Applejack to a smooth, pleasant flight. Even so, the acceleration was sudden and still managed to knock the breath out of her. The ground dropped away without warning, and Applejack clutched Rainbow tighter out of instinct.

"Air!" Rainbow exclaimed, prompting Applejack to loosen her grip to less suffocating levels.

"Sorry. It's just... awfully high up."

"Yup," Rainbow replied. "I bet this is a bit cooler than a balloon trip, huh?"

Applejack surveyed the landscape below them, taking in the fields, the buildings, and even the Everfree forest to the west. "Yeah," she admitted. "It's faster. I like fast." She lowered her head, careful not to lose her hat to the powerful, torrential winds. "Higher?"

Rainbow angled her wings carefully, and the ground grew even more distant. Applejack couldn't even make out the ponies below any more. Even buildings were almost impossible to identify. This was the height that she had flown at whenever she took a balloon somewhere. Except this time, she didn't have to wait ten minutes to get there: it was an almost instantaneous change.

The air was cold up there. Almost freezing, in fact. Applejack could tell just by touch that Rainbow's thick, short fur was designed to keep the cold out. By comparison, Applejack's coat was very different. Her softer, lighter fur was more suitable towards getting rid of heat, allowing for greater comfort whilst working. "It's pretty chilly," she said.

"Yeah," Rainbow replied. "Refreshing, isn't it?"

"More like freezing."

"Are you kidding? Down in Ponyville, everything is sweltering. I always love it every time winter comes."

Applejack shook her head in disbelief. "Really? I never thought of it like that."

"Why? Don't you get too hot?"

"Not as hot, I reckon," Applejack replied. "I get the feelin' we're built a little differently." The pair passed over some wispy cirrus clouds as they flew back towards Ponyville. "If it's so uncomfortable for you, why'd you stay there?"

"A few reasons," Rainbow replied. "The first one being... well, I'm not all that welcome in Cloudsdale any more. For... you-know-what reasons."

Applejack nodded. "...right."

"Then there's my job. There are a handful of other high-altitude communities around Equestria, but they didn't have as many prospects for me. Mostly just office jobs... not my style. Then there's you guys. I couldn't ever leave you guys behind, now, could I?"

Applejack grinned, and rested her head on Rainbow's own. "I guess not."

Rainbow began to drop, losing altitude. "I think we'd better head back down, huh?" She said, gliding down towards the surface. The rising air almost knocked Applejack's hat clean off, and it was only her quick reflexes that saved it from being lost to the wind. She tucked it under her forelegs, letting the breeze rush through her mane.

The ground was much easier to see now. Applejack could even make out her brother and sister, hanging out around the farm. Probably working, maybe playing in Applebloom's case.

Rainbow seemed to speed up as she approached the ground, before landing heavily, cantering as she slowed down. Applejack's trip went from smooth to uncomfortably jarring, and when Rainbow grunted to a stop, she clambered off, putting her hat back on her head. "Sorry about the landing," Rainbow told her. "You're a bit heavier than I'm used to."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that," she said. Both ponies chuckled as they made their way to the house. Rainbow had landed them just outside the orchard: Applejack's home was only a minute or so away on foot. Before they got too close to the house, Applejack pulled Rainbow back, grabbing her by the hoof. She pecked Rainbow's cheek, delivering a tender and caring kiss. "Thanks. This was a perfect afternoon," she said as Rainbow's face became flooded with red.

"I try," she replied, soliciting a hearty chuckle from the farmpony.

As the two continued walking home, they realized that somepony was waiting for them on the porch. Even from that distance, it wasn't hard to make out Twilight's purple coat and carefully maintained mane.

She seemed to be pacing around in circles. It was obvious to all that she was on edge.

"Hullo," Applejack called out once they were within earshot. "What brings you out to our neck o' the woods?"

"Bullit Blaze," Twilight replied, keeping her response short and simple. Both ponies became serious as soon as the name was uttered.

"What about him?" Rainbow asked, her voice reduced to a hiss.

"I talked to Wallflower. He might have seen them in the Barrel Scraper, apparently," Twilight said. "I figured that if I was going to confront them there, I'd better take you guys with me." She looked over at Rainbow. "I'm pretty sure they won't just leave. They sent Thunderlane to hospital: they'll almost certainly put up a fight."

Rainbow nodded. "Bullit will. He'll fight, and then he'll run. That's how we did things."

"Well then," Applejack grunted, "I'll go tell the folks that I won't be there for dinner." She trotted over to the house. "This'll be a long night."

Author's Notes:

New chapter will be out on the 26th. Have fun until then!

Stand Up to the Bully

The bartender had been having a rough evening. First things first, he barely had any customers. Business was slow, and not only was he looking at pretty meagre profits, but he was getting bored. He started to pass the time by playing cards with himself, as he usually would when he wasn't very busy.

Secondly, those two ruffians, Belt Blasé and... the other one, whoever she was, had been lounging around all afternoon. Inoffensive though they were, they gave him a bad vibe. They had tried shoving him around upon their first meeting, and hadn't become any more civil over time. At least they had given up trying to manhandle him.

It was a good thing that criminals didn't last long in these parts, he thought. If they kept up that attitude, they'd end up thrown out faster than they could say 'knife'.

That was if Rainbow Dash was still in the mood to uphold the law. He knew that ponies had been speaking pretty badly about her these past days, and it must be wearing thin. The worst thing was, he wasn't even sure if they were lies or not. It wasn't just those two scoundrels that were repeating the rumours: there was another stallion who claimed to know her from way back, too, and a dozen or so ponies that swore they saw her beat up a couple of ponies in the street, and abandon her job, and wreck some store down on the other side of town. It didn't look good.

Thank goodness there was always the other—

The doors opened with a bang. He quickly shoved his cards to the side, and feigned cleaning the bar as he examined the three ponies entering his premises. His jaw dropped.

The first pony he saw, who was by far the most recognizable, was Rainbow Dash. It was difficult confusing her with any other pony: she was just so very distinctive. The second pony almost caused him to panic. Princess Twilight Sparkle, the only alicorn he had ever seen up close and personal, was in his bar. He swallowed nervously. "Eh, good evening, ladies," he blurted out.

The last pony to pass through the doorway was another pony he couldn't miss if he tried. It was the hat, really. You just couldn't miss the hat.

"Evening," Twilight greeted without even an ounce of cheer. The bartender swallowed. "We're looking for two customers of yours."

"Oh... them," he said, instantly guessing which two she was referring to. Rainbow flew in his face, quick as a flash.

"Bullit! Rattle! Where are they?" she demanded. "Let's get this over with!"

"Calm down, there, sugarcube," Applejack said. "Remember what rushing into things got you last time?"

Rainbow Dash backed down. "I told them, I told them they should just leave," the bartender babbled. "I even warned them about you, Rainbow... and I was about to warn them about—"

"Warn them? Why'd you do that?" Rainbow asked. "We could have got the drop on them!"

"I was trying to make sure nopony got hurt! You know how... you are with gangponies."

Applejack nodded with approval. "He's right... we all know what ya'll did to them before."

Twilight raised her eyebrow, looking back at Applejack. "Mayor Mare mentioned something about this. Didn't she—"

"Kick 'em out," Rainbow finished. "I was in a bad mood when I got here, and I didn't like the idea of being surrounded by gangs again."

"She wasn't alone, either," the bartender began, but was interrupted by Twilight.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"You can just call me barkeep," he replied. "I prefer to keep things formal."

"Okay... where's Bullit, barkeep?"

The bartender looked around the room, scanning the place for any sign of his unruly customers. There were nowhere to be found. "They were here an hour ago, I swear... Are they causing trouble?"

"Lots of trouble," Twilight said, losing herself in her thoughts. She turned back to her friends. "Do you think we should wait here?"

"Well... I dunno', Twi'," Applejack said. "Maybe we should explore around Ponyville? If they're out there, somewhere..."

"This is ridiculous!" Rainbow exclaimed. "If they're not here, then where are they?"

Bullit threw the metal pipe up in the air, whistling all the while. It was pitch black, and nopony was around. He allowed himself to relaxed, and had a jaunty skip in his step. Rattle had the cans of paint, and he had his weapon of choice.

"I wonder what her name is?" he asked. "Ah well... it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I can get a good swing at her legs, don't you think?"

"Or head," Rattle retorted. Bullit sighed.

"Well, no. You know how the guard gets when bodies start piling up. Let's keep this nice and mellow for now." He caught his pipe and tucked it under his wing. "Shock the townsponies, but not attract the guard. They have more important things to do in Canterlot, anyway."

"Canterlot isn't like Cloudsdale," Rattle warned. Bullit shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. We'll have what we came for soon anyway. No way will Dashie stay in hiding after this... you know how angry she can be." He chuckled to himself. "Tearful, too. She was always a whiner."

They walked up to their chosen house. Bullit grinned, and ran the pipe along the wall, creating an awful racket. It wouldn't be long before the mare inside would get up and see what was going on... and that's when they'd strike.

"You hold her down," Bullit instructed, "And I'll do the beating." He licked his lips with anticipation, running it over his teeth.

Nothing could go wrong.

"...excuse me?"

The tiny, inconsequential voice came from seemingly nowhere. Both ponies stopped in their tracks. Rattle was the first to turn around.

"Hello?" she asked, peering into the darkness. To Bullit, she added, "Watch out. We don't want anypony crying for help."

Bullit nodded, and followed suit. "Yes? Can we assist you?" he asked, putting on his best smile.

From the darkness crept a small, painfully timid pegasus. In the gloom it was hard to make out her face, but she was very definitely yellow, with a very large pink mane covering half her face. She had a whistle tied around her neck. "Yes, um... I'm part of the new Neighbourhood Watch..." she said, and held out a small card. Bullit narrowed his eyes, suspicious, and trotted towards her.

The card was very elegant, made by someone with a lot of care and artistic ability. And it did say 'Neighbourhood Watch of Ponyville', written in highly precise calligraphy. Bullit narrowed his eyes even more. "Yes, all right," he said, feigning ignorance. "Is there a reason you're here?"

"Well... I thought that you looked, well, I hate to say it but..." the pegasus winced, as if expecting Bullit to explode. "Suspicious."

Bullit thought quickly. Rattle, still hovering by the door, widened her eyes in mock outrage. "Suspicious? Us?"

"Well, you're out at night..."

"We're plumbers," Bullit argued, holding his pipe out. "Night shift."

"And painters," Rattle added, gesturing to her paint cans like they were a badge of honour. "We multitask."

"Well... I..."

Suddenly the door opened, taking Rattle by surprise. She dropped all three cans on the floor, spilling all the paint they had brought everywhere. A middle aged pegasus mare was standing in the doorway, a large, heavy wrench in her hoof. "What in the hay is going on out here?!" she demanded.

Both Bullit and Rattle sprung into action as quickly as they could. Rattle rushed to grab a hold of her, and Bullit flared his wings, shooting towards the mare with the speed of lightning.

Before he made it two feet, the young neighbourhood watch mare had wrapped her hooves around his tail. He grunted and fell to the ground. "What the—"

"Help!" the mare shouted. "Rarity!"

Rattle had managed to grab a hold of the older mare's mane, but hadn't accounted for the wrench she had with her. With a dull clunk the metal tool struck the side of her head, and her vision became filled with dazzling stars. She stumbled back, unable to see.

"Who the hay are you?" the old mare demanded, getting ready for another swing. "And why are you attacking Fluttershy?!"

Bullit threatened the pegasus holding him down with his pipe. When she flinched, he released himself, throwing himself at his would-be-victim. His pipe locked against her wrench in dramatic fashion.

"You're going down!" he growled. Unfortunately for him, he felt something hit the side of his head, sending spikes of pain up his skull. He toppled to the side, dodging the old mare's clumsy swing.

"Not one more step, ruffian!" came a new voice. To Bullit's dismay, he saw a third mare appear out of nowhere. Some prissy looking unicorn, no less, tossing rocks at him with her magic. "The Neighbourhood Watch is here!"

"Are you for real?!" he screamed, swinging his pipe around. He felt blood trickling down the side of his face where the rock had hit. "Where do you dumb mares come from?!"

Rattle groaned as she crawled back to her hooves, holding the side of her head. One of her eyes was glued shut. She didn't look like she was in any condition to fight.

"You're the two who've been slandering Rainbow!" the old mare growled. "You know how much trouble you've caused for her? For my daughter?"

"And you absolutely ruined Rosethorn's shop!" Rarity exclaimed.

"And put Thunderlane in hospital," Fluttershy added.

From inside the house came a small, concerned voice. "What's going on?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah! All that and more!" Bullit growled. "You know, I was going to let you dumb ponies live, but I don't think you're worth the effort!"

That was when the newcomer threw a second rock at him. This time Bullit was ready, and deflected the projectile with a careful swipe of his makeshift weapon. He then darted towards Rarity, screaming loudly.

Then the wrench hit him.

He collapsed to the side, pipe clattering to the floor. One eye had stopped working entirely, and his jaw felt out of place. He gurgled, spreading his wings to try to escape. He had never been outnumbered before, and didn't like it. He felt his damaged eye swimming in his own sticky blood, and he knew he needed to get it bandaged up immediately.

Unable to see straight, he shot up into the air, hoping he could hide in the dark. Rattle, still injured from their encounter with Rainbow, wasn't nearly fast enough, and was caught by the two Neighbourhood ponies. Bullit grit his teeth: she'd have to handle herself.

There was no way he was heading back to save her.

Rainbow and Applejack were both wandering the streets of Ponyville, peering down every alley and street to try and catch a glimpse of Bullit Blaze and his henchpony. Thus far they hadn't had any luck, and Rainbow was becoming increasingly desperate.

"What if we never find him?" she asked. "Then he'll get away, and he'll just go back to causing trouble for everypony!"

"We'll find him," Applejack promised. "Ponyville ain't a large town, and if he keeps on makin' noise, we'll be bound to find him eventually."

"Eventually," Rainbow countered. "I don't like 'eventually'."

"That may be so, but we don't have a choice."

"We can look harder!"

Applejack sighed. "We already are looking harder! Besides, weren't you against finding him yourself not long ago?"

"That was different. I was... well, scared." She jumped into the air, flying just above eye level. "I wasn't thinking straight. And I would have been alone, before. Who knows what I'd have done? Now you're here to hold me back if things go bad."

"Thats... true," Applejack conceded. "Well, we ain't gonna' find nothing tonight. Twilight's watchin' the Barrel, so if they ever go back, we'll know." She yawned. "We might as well go back. I'm still starving, and now I'm tired, too."

Rainbow hesitated, grinding her teeth. "I don't want to give up."

"We're not givin' up: we're taking a break," Applejack said. "A break I need."

With a huff, Rainbow landed next to Applejack. "Fine. Fine!" She took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll keep on looking tomorrow. After I see Scootaloo." She groaned. "By this rate I'm not going to have any free time at all."

"You'll have even less if you spend all your time asleep. Come on: take me home."

As both ponies trotted towards the orchard, they failed to notice that they were being watched. Clutching a serious injury on his head, Bullit eyed them from the shadows.

He crept away from them, hoping that they didn't notice him.

"I can't go back to the Barrel, Rattle is gone, and I can't see out of one eye..." he muttered. "But I know who your 'special somepony' is, Rainbow... and if I can't have your damn mane, well then I'll make damn sure you won't have a shred of happiness left when I leave without it!"

He heard the pair chuckle amongst each other as he stumbled into the shadows. He grit his teeth.

"Stop laughing at me!"

Big Macintosh was only a few moments away from falling asleep, drifting away into pony-dreamland, as Granny had told him when he was a young colt. Only a few brief moments from waking up the next day, alive and refreshed.

That was when his door was slammed open, causing his eyes to snap open in surprise.

"Oh... uh, hey!" Rainbow said, just under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear. "Hope you don't mind... I'm kinda moving in here for a few nights."

Unsure of how to react, Macintosh simply replied: "Nope...?"

"Great! I didn't want to wake Applebloom, y'know... little filly has to get her beauty sleep." Rainbow began shoving a large mattress through the door. "I bet you're wondering why I'm not bunking with AJ any more, huh?"

"Nope...?"

Ignoring his response, Rainbow continued. "Well, we've kinda' reached an understanding, right? It's a pretty sweet understanding, too. Oh, and don't worry, AJ told me that if you asked I could tell you, so I'm not spilling any beans or anything..."

"E-yup?" Once he had figured out what Rainbow meant by 'understanding', he had to admit he was hardly all that surprised. Their hoof-holding at dinner last... two days ago now, hadn't been very subtle. He shrugged, and wrapped himself in his sheets even more.

"But, see, we kinda' want to do it right, and not rush into anything or... anything. So, uh... I'm here now!"

"E-yup." Big Macintosh could see that.

"It's just too tempting, y'know? You know what I mean, right?"

Big Macintosh harrumphed and tried to ignore his talkative guest. Rainbow continued talking, regardless.

"Don't worry, I don't think I'll be here all that long, really."

Despite growing increasingly uncomfortable, Big Macintosh sighed. "E-yup." Applejack wasn't always a very patient pony.

Rainbow laid the mattress down on the floor and bounced on it twice to make it more comfy. Each time she did, it made a loud, horrible creaking noise that made Macintosh flinch every time he heard it. Rainbow then laid down on her stomach and closed her eyes, becoming perfectly silent.

Big Macintosh closed his eyes.

"Oh, and by the way," Rainbow added, "I hope you don't mind snoring."

Macintosh sighed. "E-yup," he muttered darkly.

He most certainly did mind.

Rattle was tied up in a corner, being inspected by Fluttershy and Rarity. The vicious looking mare had stopped struggling, and was just glaring at the pair with a mean look in her eye, as if she could burn through them just by staring. Twilight was keeping watch on Greased Lightning, even though the tough mare seemed more than capable of handling herself.

"Gangponies..." she muttered under her breath. "Here... unbelievable."

"They were trying to muddy Rainbow's name even more," Twilight explained. "They were just out to hurt her, not you."

"You think that makes it better?" Lightning asked. Twilight shook her head.

"No... it make it worse."

Greased Lightning shook her head. "Not sure this can get worse. Y'know, if your friends hadn't stepped in when they did, I might be in the hospital. I'm not as spry as I used to be, and these ponies were tougher than I remember..."

"They ran with Rainbow back in the day. They're used to being in tough situations."

"So am I," the old mare replied with a snort. Scootaloo was there too, sitting in the corner. Greased Lightning rubbed her eyes. "I have to go talk to my kid," she said. "Scootsie' has seen a bunch of scary stuff, but they never came and found her in our own home." Twilight nodded understandingly.

"Of course, I understand."

Greased approached the young filly, stretching out to her full height. It was important, she thought, to look as authoritarian as she could, like the event hadn't even rattled her.

"Hey, mom," Scootaloo replied. "Were they burglars?"

"No, Scootsie'. They were only here to hurt us," Greased replied. "But they're gone now. They're not coming back."

"How'd you know?"

Greased shrugged. "Well, 'cause there are a couple of brave ponies out there who're going to catch them." She smiled. "I think you know one of them very well."

Scootaloo frowned. "Everypony at school is saying she's with—"

Greased stomped her hoof on the ground. "None of that!" she snapped. "Rainbow Dash is most certainly not with these ponies, and you should know better. I'll not have you whining about this any longer: tomorrow, I'm bringing you to Rainbow and you two are going to talk."

Scootaloo widened her eyes, panicking. "But—"

"No buts, Scootaloo. These ponies were here to make sure nopony would even look at Rainbow again, and I'm not about to let them win. Are you?"

Scootaloo went quiet. Greased Lighting put her hoof on her head, as reassuring as she could be. "You're safe, and so is the town. Rainbow's a brave pony, and if she were here tonight, she'd have been fighting them, instead of fighting with them. And I think you know—"

"I get it, mom," Scootaloo replied. Greased chuckled. She always had a tendency to go on, she remembered.

"Fine, fine. Now, back to bed." She turned back to Twilight. "I'm staying to make sure this lout get's her comeuppance."

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "I can't tell whether Rainbow will be happy she was caught, or just plain furious that Scootaloo was attacked." She yawned, fatigue kicking in. "I suppose we'll find out tomorrow."

Author's Notes:

Next and last chapter out on the 28th. It's been fun writing this, and is the longest story I've ever written.

Can't wait to get on my next project!

Have a good one!

Forgive the Wicked, Leave Her Alone

At times like these, Rainbow would pay attention to the weather. It was what she was used to, after all: she had grown up in the biggest centre of weather in Equestria, she worked with it, she even used to live in it... so sometimes, when nervous, she'd take a minute to look at the clouds, feel the direction of the wind, and gauge how warm the sun was.

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville: the sun was shining, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The weatherponies had probably gotten the hang of working without her, she realized. It was a good thing, too: she had no intention of going back, not for now at any rate.

For that matter, she had a suggestion to pitch to Applejack.

"Hey AJ..." she began, "You know I'm not really working any more, right?"

Applejack glanced over at her, a sly smile on her lips. "You used to work? I never noticed."

"Ha, ha," Rainbow deadpanned. "But, seriously... you also know your chores are several days behind?"

Applejack winced at the comeback. "Yeah..."

"Well... maybe I can work with you? Earn my keep, so to speak."

Rainbow waited a few moments as Applejack mulled it over. "You sure you'd like working on a farm?"

"I dunno, really. I helped with the shed, didn't I? That was okay." She shrugged. "I'd just like to do more than lounge around, and you have way too much work right now. So... why not let me help you get your chores back on track, then we can decide whether that's something we'd like to keep up."

Applejack smiled. "Sure, I don't see why not," she replied. "After all if you don't like it, you can always go back to working weather."

The pair approached Greased Lightning's house. Rainbow gave Applejack a look, causing the farmpony to give her a gentle nudge. "Off you go. I'll be right here."

"You sure I won't come over as pushy?" Rainbow asked. Applejack chuckled.

"You already do, sugar," she told her. "You got nothin' to lose."

Rainbow swallowed. "Yeah... right." She took a deep breath and trotted up to the door. She took a cursory glance at a mess of paint on the floor, and shrugged. It had all mixed together and had become a shade of brown. She then knocked on the door, once, twice, three times.

"Hello?" came Greased Lightning's voice from behind the door. "Wait a sec', I'm coming."

Rainbow waited patiently. Applejack noticed her bounce nervously. She leant against Rainbow, nuzzling her neck as they waited for the door to open. "Don't you worry none," she whispered. Rainbow stopped bouncing.

The door opened. Rainbow stood up straight, and Applejack pulled away from her special somepony. "Oh, it's you. I wanted to talk to you."

"Really? You mean I can—"

Greased nodded. "I'm quite certain Scootaloo has sulked long enough," she said. "I've known her long enough to know when she's just holding a grudge to be stubborn." She shrugged. "Learned it from me, I suppose."

Rainbow chuckled. "...and maybe a bit from me, too," she added. Greased snorted, and rolled her eyes.

"What magnificent role models we are, eh? Come on in. You can bring your marefriend with you, too," she added with a sly look in her eye.

Applejack tensed. "Who told you?" she asked.

"You did... right now," Greased replied. When Applejack narrowed her eyes, she shrugged. "What? You're staying with a friend, emotions are flying left and right... I asked myself, 'what would I do'?" Greased said. "How'd you think I had Scootsie?"

"Need to know, ma'am," Rainbow replied with a mental grimace as she followed the older pony inside. They went through the tight corridors under the pictures of Scootaloo and the miscellaneous junk the family had accumulated over the years.

Scootaloo was waiting in the kitchen, forelegs crossed as she waited for Rainbow. "Hey there," Rainbow said, her voice quieter than usual. "You, uh, been waiting?"

"I heard you at the door," Scootaloo replied. "Mom says I'm just being stubborn."

"I stand by what I said," Greased replied. She turned to Rainbow. "You two got this? I feel I'd just get in the way."

Applejack nodded. "We'll be fine."

The older mare hesitated, then left. Applejack noticed that she was careful to remain within earshot. Rainbow trotted up to the young filly.

"You want to talk?" Scootaloo asked, keeping her expression sullen. Between the attack last night and everything else that had been said, she was determined to be bitter.

Rainbow knew this, and bit her lip before speaking.

"Uh... 'kay. Right, so, I feel I should explain." She put both her hooves on the table. "I was a pretty bad pony when I was younger. I really, really wish I wasn't, but it's true." She chuckled. "I'm pretty fast, but I can't really outrun myself, if y'know what I'm saying."

Scootaloo didn't reply. Rainbow ran her hoof through her mane and continued.

"Anyway... I had a whole load of problems. I felt angry all the time, I didn't understand anypony, and all I wanted was to be better than other kids at school. I guess I still have those problems, really. I just manage to keep them under control." She leaned back. "Thing is, I got... better. And then I started paying for all my mistakes. I had to leave home, I lost my family, I lost all my friends... if I could even call them friends, really... and all the while, I kept thinking I deserved it, and I guess I did... but then everything I had earned honestly was taken away from me too. My home, my job, my best pal... and then I realized... after a little back and forth... that there's a point when you just got to stop punishing somepony for something they've done long ago." Rainbow held her hooves up defensively. "Now, that doesn't mean forgive... that's not really up to me... but I'm done paying for my mistakes. I'm just trying to be a good pony, be a good friend, even sister of sorts. And I can't do that properly without you, squirt."

Rainbow put her hooves down again.

"So... please stop hating me. I don't think I deserve it."

Scootaloo breathed in. "...yeah, I know," Scootaloo replied. "I just... well, you're the best. It hurt to think of you being like Diamond Tiara, or worse, like Nightmare Moon when she came to terrify us. Just another bully."

"I get that," Rainbow replied.

"I don't think so. You've never been bullied, have you?" Scootaloo asked. "You never had other ponies treat you like dirt. I don't even have the worst of it, and I hate it so much." She frowned. "And the fact you did it 'cause ponies didn't have their cutie marks is just wrong."

"If it helps," Applejack chipped in, "Rainbow did much worse than that."

Both ponies eyed Applejack. "Geez, thanks AJ. Way to support me," Rainbow grunted.

"It doesn't matter," Scootaloo said. "It's the same thing, just... bigger. It's just bullying, but with pipes instead of words." She mulled the matter over for a few seconds. "But... I get you're not that pony any more. Or at least, you're trying to be better. But when I saw you in the street, you were..." She trailed off.

"Being myself?" Rainbow replied, letting out a self-deprecating chuckle. "I try to not do that these days. Bullit just knew how to push my buttons, I guess."

The pair went silent for a moment. Eventually, Rainbow spoke up again.

"So... we good?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "I guess so. I'm sorry I ran off."

"It's all good," Rainbow replied. "I don't forgive easily myself, either."

"Heh. I guess." Scootaloo played with her hooves. "So, uh, will you be moving back in? We still have all your stuff."

Rainbow looked over at Applejack. "Uh, thanks for the offer, but I found myself somewhere else to live," she said. "It's got a really big garden, too." She turned back to Scootaloo. "But we can still hang out plenty, 'kay?"

Scootaloo nodded firmly. "Sure thing!"

"Cool!" Rainbow fluttered her wings and got back to her hooves, her smile so wide Applejack swore she could fit a banana in there. "Hey, quick question, though... what's with the paint outside?"

Greased Lightning decided that then was the best time to enter the room again. "We got a few unwelcome guests here last night. Speaking of, you might want to pay one of them a visit... she should be tied up at the Town Hall."

Rainbow leaned over Rattle's bound body, her expression perfectly neutral. Rattle just glared at her, keeping her mouth firmly shut.

Neither spoke. Neither needed to. Rainbow knew Rattle was beaten: she'd be sent to Canterlot to be tried for her crimes by the evening. She might even get reformed. It had happened to Rainbow, after all. Gilda too, from what Rainbow had heard. And after her discussion with Scootaloo, Rainbow knew she couldn't lash out at her. That would be beyond hypocritical.

But Rattle knew she wanted to.

And so they looked at each other. Rainbow Dash, the victor unwilling to finish the job, and Rattle, the defeated pony unable to finish the job.

Somehow, it wasn't as satisfying as Rainbow had expected it to be. She had expected relief, congratulations, maybe even a firework or two... but no. There was nothing: just a broken, injured pegasus who refused to even look sorry.

It just wasn't worth it.

She stepped away from Rattle, as silently as she had come. Maybe she was disatisfied because somewhere out there, Bullit was waiting for her. Stalking her like the vermin he was.

"You good?" Applejack asked. Rainbow nodded.

"I guess. She didn't even blink." She ran her hoof through her mane, feeling the familiar scars on her scalp. "She never blinks. Even when they were holding me down, she never blinked once." Rainbow shuddered. "She really is a snake."

Applejack didn't argue. It sounded accurate enough. Rainbow kept stroking her head thoughtfully.

"Listen, I'm gonna' go say hi to Thunderlane. He'll be glad to know that one of them is captured." She winced. "He's probably wondering what the hay is going on: he's been kept out of the loop pretty bad."

"Sure thing." Applejack nodded. "I'll head home. You know where to find me."

Rainbow grinned, and lunged at Applejack, stealing a quick kiss from her cheek. "Sure I do! Can't wait!"

Still feels strange. Strange, but comfortable.

Rainbow cantered away, their recent contact putting her in high spirits once again. Applejack even noticed a very literal spring in her step: with every third movement, she'd jump, her wings fluttering slightly, like she was skipping. Applejack almost laughed.

"You're hilarious," she whispered to herself.

It took her a minute to realize she had a spring in her step, too.

For the first time in a while, the hospital didn't seem quite as threatening. Rainbow's visits were often either regarding her less sucessful daredevil exploits, or a friend who was hurt. For once, her visit wouldn't be so depressing: she was on her way to deliver good news to an ex-co-worker on the mend. It was refreshing.

She trotted through the doors, announcing her presence quickly. Many ponies still gave her dark looks, but Rainbow didn't even mind. As far as she was concerned, they didn't matter anymore.

She was free.

Thunderlane's room was filled to the brim with girlish flowers, barely leaving the poor stallion room to breathe. Rainbow trotted in, dodging the forest of cards that had been sent.

"Hi there," he said. "You look pretty chipper."

"I am, thanks," Rainbow said. "Y'know the ponies that landed you here?" she said. Thunderlane brightened.

"You got 'em?"

"One," Rainbow corrected. "The other got hit on the head with a wrench."

Thunderlane laughed. "Ha! Serves him right." He nursed his side. "I'll be out of here soon. How's the team going?"

Rainbow shrugged. "No idea. I left."

Thunderlane's jaw dropped. "B-but... what about the weather? Ponyville?"

"A lot changed since you got here. I know it's only been a few days, but... well, stuff happens quickly around here." Rainbow trotted to a chair and sat down, making herself comfortable. "I guess I'd better tell you the whole story, huh?"

"You bet! What happened?"

"Well, first off, I wanted to make you provisional chief of weather," Rainbow said. "I don't intend to be going back, and somepony has to take care of those featherbrains while I'm gone."

Thunderlane shook his head, confused. "Slow down, boss-pony. First off... that's not a 'first off' kind of thing. Secondly, what? Me, chief?"

"Yeah," Rainbow replied. "It'll make sense when I tell you the story."

"See, that, right there, is why that wasn't a 'first off'," Thunderlane argued. "Ugh... just... tell me. Tell me everything."

The path to the farm was clear of witnesses. There weren't any distractions, no stupid Neighbourhood Watch Ponies, no crazy mares with wrenches, and above all, no Rainbow Dash. It was perfect, Bullit thought. There was nothing between him and his prey.

Applejack... that was the name he had heard. The dumb mare... she didn't even look like she could write her own name. She certainly couldn't pronounce anything right, what with that stupid, dumb, ignorant Earth Pony accent of hers. Bullit wrapped his hoof around a knife he had stolen. It wasn't made for fighting... in fact, he was sure it was made for cutting vegetables, but it'd do. Pin her down, and stab her 'till no more blood came out.

That was the plan. Bullit grit his teeth. He hated fighting one-on-one, but what choice did he have? He was livid. His blood was boiling, and his wounded pride would never let him retreat without dealing a significant blow to the defector, the traitor, the wimp, the coward, Rainbow Dash.

He clutched the side of his head. His left eye still wasn't working, and everything felt fuzzy. He didn't care. So what if he couldn't feel anything on one side of his body? That just meant he could withstand more punishment, right? Right?

The earth pony in question was trotting down the dirt road. She looked so happy, Bullit thought. He grinned. He'd be more than glad to turn that smile into a scream.

He stumbled out in front of her, squaring his stance, getting ready for a fight. Damn mare might kick. Applejack took a step back, confused.

"Y-you!" Bullit growled, presenting his knife to her. "You're Dash's squeeze, aren't you?!" His voice was distorted into a scream. His one eye was twitching wildly, his pupil contracted to a needle-point. "You heard of me? You gonna' laugh?!"

"Heard of you?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, you haven't. You... you... I hate you most of all. Every time I say, I say, I'm a gangpony, they laugh, or look at me funny. Such a stupid, stupid town. Stupid. With your wrenches and your Watch." He cackled, feeling his voice begin to crack. "I'm gonna' have a good time carving you a new smile. Or ten."

Applejack's face darkened as realization dawned. "You're Bullit, ain't you?"

"Ah! Ah! So Dashie talked! You're afraid now, I reckon?"

Applejack's frown deepened into a snarl. "You're the one that did that to RD's mane?" she asked. "You're the one who hurt Thunderlane? You're the one who tried to attack Scootaloo an' her mom?"

For the mere fraction of a second, Bullit flinched. This was not the reaction he was expecting. Not fear, not even laughter... just... what was it? Indignation?

"Yeah, that's me!" he growled. "Now come and get some!" He threw the knife expertly towards his victim.

Bullit had always been the sort of pony who'd see his enemies bleed out in front of him. He'd liked using pipes when he fancied hurting a weak victim, but bigger ponies... he preferred knives. Even guards and other gangsters respected knives. It was said that in a knife-fight, losers didn't bleed... they gushed. And no way was Bullit going to risk gushing blood. He was very good at throwing knives, whatever their size and shape.

It hit Applejack in the side, causing her to stop in her tracks. A trickle of blood ran down her coat. Bullit then flared his wings. That was his weak spot. That was where he'd aim to hurt. Ponies that were hurting were ponies that couldn't hurt him.

Then he could take his time.

He lunged forwards, a yell escaping his throat. To his surprise and increasing shock, so did Applejack. Years of flawless training had developed incredible instincts, and he swerved to the side in a wild attempt to dodge the Earth Pony's attack. Something was very wrong. Every pony that was injured by a knife, and saw their own blood, panicked. It was a universal fact.

All of a sudden, his right eye stopped working properly, making him effectively blind. Bullit assumed with remarkable clarity that his dodge must have failed... but surely no pony other than Rainbow could be that quick. His thoughts became a jumbled mess. Gravity went haywire, like he was tumbling around in a washing machine... and then the pain hit him like a firework across his nervous system, and he felt every vein in his eye, every square inch of battered, bruised skin, and every drop of blood that pounded around his injury. He was falling, and he screamed, his voice fuelled by equal parts surprise and agony.

Before he hit the ground, his last thoughts were that he really should have paid more attention to who the second pony he should have avoided was... because he was pretty sure he had just picked a fight with her.

Then he lost conciousness before Applejack could deliver a second punch. She punched anyway.

The three small, wiry, and loutish ponies backed away from the mare stomping towards them. One of them was clutching his ribs, his face screwed up as he tried to blink away the pain. Orchards had a diverse range of tools, they realized, from ploughs to shovels to carts to axes. And the mare in front of them had one.

"This here," she said, "Is my land. Nopony's gonna' come tell me what I can an' can't do on it, 'cause they respect me, and my privacy," Applejack growled, brandishing her weapon. "So now that one of you is in dire need of a hospital, and there ain't one here, how 'bout you get off my land before more of you need Nurse Redheart to put you in stitches?

The ponies all ran, with the exception of the injured pony. He just limped.

Applejack slung the axe after them, where it sank into a tree as they passed. One of the ponies screamed. A foot to the left, and the gangpony would be minus an ear. The farmpony turned to head home, shaking her head.

"Messin' up my trees... threatenin' my granny..."

She heard a rustling sound. More of them? She scanned around her, narrowing her eyes. "Who's there?"

"That was awesome!" came a voice from the trees. Applejack spun around angrily. She was in no mood for games, flattery, or in fact, anything. "You know, you have some serious moves."

A small blue head popped out from one of Applejack's favourite trees. Gerald was the trees name. "Is there a reason you're in my orchard? You want some of that too?" she asked. The pegasus dropped onto the ground, giving Applejack the opportunity to get a good look at her.

Light blue, rainbow tail, and a disturbing looking bandage around her head with tufts of mane sticking out. A pegasus.

"Naw, I was just taking a nap," she said. "But I have to say, I didn't expect to see anypony like me around here."

Applejack growled. "I ain't like you. I don't nap on other ponies property."

The pegasus rolled her eyes. "Relax, will you? I think you'll find we're on the same side," she said. "Like, you know the, uh... Sugarcube Corner?"

Applejack knew. "Yeah."

"Well, it gets bullied a lot. Some ponies left with a few broken bones and squashed snouts earlier." She gestured towards where the three gangponies ran off to. "Ponies like them."

"Are you trying to say you stood up to those thugs?" Applejack asked. The pegasus nodded.

"Yup. The name's Rainbow Dash. I'm new in town." She grinned. "And I happen to really hate gangponies."

Something about Rainbow's eyes caused Applejack to hesitate. She was ready to spring into action at any time, and slam this trespasser into the nearest tree... but she didn't.

"You hate gangponies, huh?" Applejack asked suspiciously. "What'd they ever do to you?"

Rainbow bristled. "What did they ever do to you?" she countered. Applejack harrumphed. Rainbow brushed her mane out of her eyes. "Well, anyway, I was wondering if you knew anywhere else ponies... like that... hang out?" She grinned. "I'd really like to meet them."

"We ain't starting anything," Applejack warned. After a brief wait, she added, "I ain't starting anything. I only do self-defence."

Rainbow gave a sharp cackle. "Boy, it's a good thing you met me, then. I'm awesome at starting things. Also finishing them."

Applejack was about to brush this madpony off, but she remembered. She remembered Mayor Mare, who was the target of attacks. She remembered Rarity's boutique, frequently broken into. She remembered the Barrel Scraper, filled with fighting and insults and crime.

"How 'bout we get a drink? I know a good place where ponies start stuff all the time." She lifted her hat. "The name's Applejack."

"Well, Applejack," Rainbow began, "I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership."

When Rainbow finished, Thunderlane let out a long, withered breath. "That's... a long story."

"Longest I've ever told," Rainbow replied. "So... that's that. I don't think I'll be going back to the weather team: as far as I'm concerned, I work on a farm now."

"How'll you practice being a Wonderbolt?" Thunderlane asked her. "Wonderbolts have a tendency to pick ponies who fly a lot."

"Wonderbolts pick ponies with unique and dazzling flying skills," Rainbow replied. "And as far as I know, I'll be the only pegasus who'll have trained on a farm. Besides, I'll still fly. I'll still fly a lot, even."

Thunderlane shook his head in disbelief. "Well... this'll be a big change. I can't believe Sky High said those things."

"I can't believe a lot of what's happened," Rainbow said. "You know, the biggest surprise for me is that even though everything has changed, I don't think I've ever been happier." She got to her hooves. "I'll see you around, Thunderlane. Take care."

"Likewise, boss-pony."

Rainbow stepped outside, leaving her old co-worker behind. Trotting down the hallway, gave herself a satisfied smile.

"That's that, then."

She began hearing the sound of hooves, and raised voices. "Get a stretcher!" came one of the voices, probably a nurse, or doctor. Rainbow frowned and trotted towards the entrance of the hospital, the source of the commotion.

A group of white-coat wearing ponies were gathered around two ponies. One of them, Rainbow realized with a start, was Applejack. The farmpony gave her a wave.

"Hiya, RD'," she greeted, and gestured at an absolute mess of a stallion. One half of his face was caked with blood, and the other side was bruised black. One of his eyes was shut tight, and the other was only half open. He was quite unconscious. "Look who I found."

Rainbow widened her eyes when she realized that the pony Applejack had dragged to the hospital was none other than Bullit Blaze himself. The doctors were busy attending to a small cut on her side, and worry and anger flared up inside her.

"...laughing... laughing at me..." he muttered incoherently. Rainbow's jaw dropped.

The doctors carried the broken pegasus away on a stretcher. Applejack gave Rainbow a little shrug.

"It's crazy who you meet, huh?" she said. "I found your old partner."

The nearby nurses looked back and forth at Rainbow and Applejack, unsure what to think. Rainbow snorted. "He's not my partner any more. Good riddance." She tilted her head. "Did he try to hurt you?" she looked at Applejack's injury. "Are you..."

"He was aimin' to kill, actually." Applejack beckoned her special somepony follow her, and the pair left the hospital behind. "He was tryin' to get at you through me." She spat. "Typical gangpony behaviour. I'm amazed nopony warned him not to try nothin' around me. Especially after what we did all them years ago."

"And that?" Rainbow said, again gesturing at the wound. Applejack snorted.

"If he thought he could hurt me with that lil' kitchen knife, he was dead wrong. You an' I both had worse."

Rainbow shuddered. "I'm sorry."

"Ain't no problem, sugar'. I'll take whatever trouble your messed up past can throw at me," Applejack told her as the pair trotted back down the beaten earth track. It really was a perfect day, Rainbow thought. "I stick by the ponies close to me."

They distanced themselves from the hospital, and the townscape transformed into countryside.

"Well, maybe you should be the element of Loyalty, huh?" Rainbow joked. "I guess we've all got a bit of everything in us, right?"

Both ponies stopped, and took a moment to stare at the sky for a second. "How do ya' feel?"

"Refreshed," Rainbow said. "It's funny. A lot changed in a week."

"It don't feel that different."

"It is, though," Rainbow said. "I'm living with my special somepony... Actually, I have a special somepony, which is huge... I quit my job to work an orchard, of all things, ponies around town don't trust me, and two ponies I wish I never saw again are going to be spending the rest of their lives in jail." She leant against Applejack's side, nuzzling the mare with as much tenderness as she could muster. "I think it's for the better, though."

Applejack snickered. "You ain't even started chores, yet," she taunted. "You'll sing a different tune when we start harvestin'." She broke away from Rainbow, and began to trot away. "So we better get started, right?"

They cantered towards the farm, Applejack sticking her tongue out at Rainbow. "Oh yeah? I'll just get it done even faster. You'll see!"

Mayor Mare gave herself a satisfied smile. No confession from Rattle, which was a bother... but Bullit had been ranting all day long. That was good: the pony just didn't know when to shut up.

Witnesses left, right, and centre. The doctors and nurses had heard everything, of course. Greased Lightning and the others had seen everything first hand. Rumours had a tendency to spread faster when they were negative and harmful, but evidence cured them just as quick. Of course, she thought, damage had been done, and it was no secret that Rainbow had left the Weather Team for good. Trust was invaluable in a working environment, and neither side had much left. There wouldn't be any going back to normal.

The Mayor heard the door knock. It was a firm knock, loud and forceful. "Come in." The pony who entered was a pegasus. He was very tall, and still looked fit despite his obvious age. His mane was going grey around the edges and his eyes were sagging slightly. Still, his bright magenta eyes looked like they could pierce through anything.

"I'm here to transport one Bullit Blaze to Canterlot, pending trial," he said. The Mayor nodded.

"Of course. I've filled out the forms already," she said. The guardpony didn't smile. "What'll happen to him when he gets there?"

"Canterlot is a big mountain," the guard said. "And the castle dungeons are very deep." The hint of a sneer crossed his face. "I doubt he'll see the light of day again. With the confessions you gave us, we've got him for several years worth of crimes, and now he's out of Canterlot, he won't get much protection from his gang."

The Mayor pulled the papers out of her desk. "You've been on his case for a while, then?"

"I took a break from his case years ago, ma'am," the guard said. "I'm just here to put him away." He took the papers and stored them in his saddlebags. "But it brings me no small amount of pleasure to see him in chains. He's done my family a considerable amount of harm."

"A lot of ponies have been harmed by him and his gang," the Mayor added. The pegasus nodded.

"Of course." He gave the Mayor a curt salute and then left the room. "You won't hear from him again. The E.U.P. thanks you and the Princess for your assistance in this matter."

The guard left, and the Mayor sat back in her chair. Then she finally allowed herself to relax.

There'd probably be some more trouble tomorrow.

Big Macintosh yawned loudly, lumbering into his room, each hoofstep slow and deliberate. It had been a tiring day... ever since Applejack had began running off with Rainbow Dash every other minute he had had to pick up the slack. He shrugged to himself: he didn't mind all that much. Applejack had done a lot for them, and in his opinion, she deserved a little time off.

Of course, he firmly intended to bring the matter up with her tomorrow. This could only go on for so long. He positioned himself in front of his mirror, and ran his hoof through his mane, messing his mane up. Not, he thought, that there was much to mess up in the first place.

He sat down heavily on his bed, and pulled his yoke off, struggling as he dragged it over his head. It crumpled his ears slightly as he removed the heavy accessory, and then, when he was free, he put it next to his bed, like he did every evening.

Then he yawned again.

He pulled his sheets, heavy, comfortable things, over his body and let his head fall down onto his pillows. He closed his eyes once, then opened them again, taking a minute to stare at his room before flicking the switch, turning his bedside lamp off.

He shut his eyes once again.

A thought occurred. He opened his eyes, and looked over at the mattress abandoned on the floor. He sighed with exasperation.

Applejack couldn't even wait more than one night.

Author's Notes:

Well, that's the end of that. I very much enjoyed writing this story. I had wanted to write a story where Rainbow had been a bully for a while, and her dealing with the consequences of changing her ways. What I hadn't expected was Bullit. I didn't anticipate such a... vocal response to him. I doubt I could ever end him properly at this point.

As for the townsponies, well, it strikes me as the most likely outcome. All that's been said will probably mean they'll never be on great terms with Rainbow, but the ones that matter would have forgiven her, and helped her get her life back on track.

This has been my longest story, but it's not the only one I'm really proud of. Like No Words Required, a short AppleDash where I challenged myself to not write a single line of dialogue. If you enjoyed this story or the Gift Shop (where I also challenged myself to do something weird) you'll probably enjoy that.

I hope you enjoyed the story, and have a very good one.

HapHazred