She was waiting a block away from the spot Twilight had said they were going to ‘surveil.’ Sighing, Applejack pulled the brim of her stetson hat over her eyes and leaned back against her rust-colored truck. Her tired mind brewed like apple stew, hot and bubbling.

She had a research paper on pesticides due in two weeks. Granny Smith had a doctor’s appointment coming up in the next few days. Apple Bloom’s latest visit to the principal’s office for the recent fight with Diamond Tiara still nettled AJ. She needed to finalize the guardianship process with Big Mac before Granny lost all her senses and the government spooks came to make their lives even more complicated, and no doubt the contractors for the apple shipments would be calling in at just that time with complaints, and—

The girl winced and reached for her back pocket where a small white carton had been smashed up against the car door.

I got a few minutes, right? She thought with a furtive glance up and down the street. She pulled a slim white cigarette from the carton, pinching it in a corner of her mouth, and produced a lighter from another pocket. I don’t need a lecture. Not from Twi. And especially not from her. The flame highlighted her freckled scowl as she puffed on the cigarette, making its end burn bright.

Applejack had very nearly refused to come when her bookish friend mentioned Rainbow Dash was going to be there. She had so many things on her plate, and the entire idea had seemed so far-fetched.

“Surveillance? What in tarnation needs a pair o’ college girls to sit and stare at it?” she had asked.

Once it was revealed that Rainbow was involved, the strange request had suddenly made more sense. Twi was asking on Rainbow’s behalf. It irritated Applejack that Rainbow couldn’t ask for this herself, but then she had to grudgingly admit that, if she had, Applejack would certainly have denied her. Lately, the two of them getting together was like putting a wet cat on a sleeping dog. As a general rule, she disliked causing a stir.

It used to be so dang simple… she thought with a smoky sigh.

She switched her cigarette from her left to her right hand, gingerly handling the stick with a grimace. She still didn’t know how to hold the stupid things. She could recall Pa holding it loosely, and with confidence, between his middle and ring finger, but she found it hard to flick the cigarette to ash it that way without breaking the filter. So AJ pinched it between her thumb and index finger, hoping to heck that she didn’t accidentally get ash on her jeans like last time.

It was hard explaining to Apple Bloom why her laundry had these suspicious dark gray smudges on them. She still had to be a role model after all.

She was going to quit. She was. She’d barely started. What difference did it make? It was either this or drinking, and her brother had that vice hook, line, and sinker. One of them had to have brain cells left. The farm was theirs to ruin now.

Applejack froze when she heard a car engine somewhere nearby. She wasn’t in a deserted area or anything—there were plenty of businesses still open on this block alone—but she didn’t want her bad habit to be discovered in case it was her friends.

With a quick flick, she got rid of the cigarette, the burning tip spiraling through the air before it burst and cooled on the asphalt of the street. Applejack exhaled the smoke she’d been holding in a powerful breath, one hand waving the telltale scent away. A car turned onto the road from the south, headlights illuminating everything. She squinted in the bright glow and went around to stand at the end of her truck bed as she fumbled for a stick of gum she’d been saving in her pocket.

The car pulled in closer. When it started to park across the street and the headlights were no longer blinding her, AJ could see that her instincts had been right. This was Rainbow’s red convertible.

Crumpling up her gum wrapper in one hand and smacking her gum, she tilted her hat back with a pointed finger and sauntered across the street as her friends began to exit the car.

Twilight was dressed in all black and was smiling excitedly. Rainbow Dash had her ‘game face’ on—that level stare and smooth-as-a-river-stone look she donned whenever she wanted to appear cool and capable. She stood with one foot on her seat as she leaned on the roof and the open car door.

Applejack just managed to keep from rolling her eyes as she stopped next to Twilight Sparkle.

“All right, gals. I'm here, but I'm gonna need more’n just, ‘Sunset is in trouble’ if ya’ll want me to take this seriously,” AJ said with her hands on her hips.

Twilight started to speak. “Well, you see, Applejack, as I was saying on the phone, it’s kind of—”

“Sunset is doing business with thugs,” Rainbow said, her brow tensing. “But she won’t give us any details. I wanna make sure she isn’t in over her head.”

Twilight cut her a sour look. “Rainbow Dash, that’s skewing things. We don’t know if she’s in danger, and we don’t know that she’s doing business with criminals!”

“Oh yeah?” The soccer player returned with a tilt of an eyebrow. “Then why does she keep skulking around like she does?”

“We’re only here to confirm or refute my theories! Not run around half-cocked!” Twilight shot back with a reproachful stare.

“Whatever,” Rainbow muttered as she ducked down to reach for something in her car.

“I'll tell you one thing,” Applejack said with a stubborn pout of her lips. “I ain’t planning on any kind of trouble tonight, so whatever it is you guys want to ‘confirm or refute’, I’d sure appreciate being clued in while we sit on this place… And that’s all I’m a-gonna do. Sit.”

Rainbow straightened from the car, a surprised look on her face. It appeared as though she was holding something, but Applejack couldn’t see what. “Huh? You mean you didn’t bring Charlene?” the athlete asked.

Applejack made a face. “Heck no I didn’t bring her!”

Twilight blinked as she looked between them. “Charlene?”

“My hunting rifle,” AJ said as Rainbow groaned up at the night sky. “I call ‘er Charlene.”

Rainbow slammed her car door shut with one hand as she balanced whatever she was holding on her hip. “Well, that’s just great! Now if we get into trouble, we’ll have no choice but to pony-up!”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Is that the only reason you wanted me to come along, Dash? My rifle?”

“It was pretty up there,” Rainbow muttered as she finally came out from around her car. The cowgirl stared at what her friend was holding.

“What… in tarnation… is that?” Applejack asked, her eyes widening.

Rainbow looked down at the turtle on her hip. “This? I’m watching it for Fluttershy.”

Applejack looked at her as if she were naked and whistlin’ Dixie. “You brought a turtle?”

“Tortoise,” Twilight corrected with a push of her glasses.

“You brought a tortoise to this so-called ‘surveillance’?” Applejack snapped, shooting the bookworm an annoyed look.

Rainbow Dash shrugged as she casually looked up and down the road whilst crossing it. She headed for the cowgirl’s truck. “Yep!”

“H-hey! Where do you think you’re going? Ain’t we using your car?” Applejack asked as she hurried after the tomboy, Twilight Sparkle quick on her heels.

“Nah. Your car is better. More inconspicuous,” Rainbow said as she went around to the passenger side. She tugged on the door, but it was locked. “Come on. Open up. Let’s get this going!”

Applejack could feel her face going red as she leaned on her hood. “Now wait just a goldarned minute! There ain’t nothin’ inconspicuous about my truck!” She jabbed a finger toward Rainbow. “You’re just afraid that turtle is going to mess up your car while we sit around doin’ nothin’!”

“First, it’s a tortoise,” Rainbow said, leaning around to peer at AJ from around the truck’s carriage. “And two, so what if that’s the reason? Your truck’s old. My car’s… Well, it’s still used, but at least it’s worth something.”

“What the hay did you just say to me?!” Applejack seethed as her hands clenched into fists on her hood. Her head whipped around to fix her irate gaze on Twilight, who wilted under the attention. “Did I hear this blowhard right?”

Twilight shuffled her feet, her brow wrinkling. “Um…”

“What?” Rainbow asked, now stepping around to stand across from AJ next to the car hood. “I wasn’t trying to be insulting or whatever! Geez, I mean… Didn’t you get this truck from the dump and just fix it up?”

Applejack took a deep, deep breath in through her nose. She pulled off her hat and covered her face with it. Her shoulders and neck coiled up tight, her large muscles straining against her shirt. Just breathe, AJ. Breathe, girl…

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight hissed. “This truck used to be Applejack’s grandfather’s! It’s practically a family heirloom!”

A pause. “Oh,” Applejack heard Rainbow say over the sound of her throbbing heartbeat. The tomboy cleared her throat. “Well, uh… I’ll pay for any messes the tortoise might make and stuff.” Another pause. “Look, we already crossed the street, and I can’t leave this thing alone. It’s sick. Can we just get in the truck, please? This is getting awkward, and someone might see us.”

Applejack didn’t remove the hat from her face when she asked through gritted teeth, “Twi, just how long are we gonna watch this place for?”

“Two or three hours, depending on what we see. Right, Rainbow?”

“Right!” Rainbow said with gusto.

The cowgirl leaned on the car hood and groaned. She’d need a whole new pack of cigarettes after this.

“Have you got any snacks?” Rainbow asked from the far end of the truck seat.

“No, I ain’t got no snacks,” Applejack muttered.

The athlete scowled and slouched in her seat, her arms hugging around the tortoise. It had retreated into its shell to sleep, she supposed.

They were parked outside of Tambelon with AJ behind the wheel, Twilight in the middle, and Rainbow next to the passenger door. As it turned out, the place they were spying on was your typical theme pub. It looked like something you’d find out in the European countryside, not an American city. But though it stuck out from the other businesses on the block, it was more for its anachronism than any loud sort of presence.

The sign was simple: a rectangular wood cut thing with Olde English style writing and gilded letters. The front windows were wide, frosted and unlit, preventing any clear line of sight as to what was happening inside. The double-doored entrance was solid and heavy, and was always kept closed. The most interesting thing they’d seen in the hour and a half they’d been sitting there was a heavily inebriated man get tossed out. Apart from that, only the occasional customer exited or entered the pub. Rainbow Dash craned her head, leaning over a complaining Twilight every time the door opened, hoping to see something. But like many bars, the interior was dimly lit.

To say this was boring would have been an understatement. This was downright dullsville.

“So Applejack, how have you been?” Twilight asked out of the blue. Somehow, despite the lack of anything happening, she remained the most alert and chipper of them. Even the tortoise seemed fed up with the lack of action, his scaly eyes falling shut sleepily.

Applejack looked at Twilight with drowsy surprise. Now that she thought about it… Rainbow thought her eyes looked a bit sunken in.

“Uh… Been all right. Ain’t nothing too interesting happened since we last saw each other. Just… y’know. School. Chores. That sorta thing.” She rubbed at one eye as she leaned on her door’s armrest. “What about you, Twi?”

Twilight grinned, apparently delighted that some kind of interaction was happening. “I’ve been good! Sunset and I started working on our project together. We’re exploring how we can make contact with the bosonization method, and obtain an alternative proof for the equivalence between bosonic and fermionic Fock spaces.” Her smile flared as she bounced in her seat.

Rainbow and Applejack stared at her. They briefly exchanged looks.

“That sounds… real interesting?” AJ said with a scratch of her head. Then she added with what sounded like reluctance, “And you, Rainbow?”

Rainbow Dash fidgeted in her seat. She hated small talk. “Training and stuff mostly. The match with Griffonstone is next weekend.”

“Oh.”

Should I say it? Rainbow wondered as she drummed her fingers on the tortoise’s shell. It’s good news, and I already told Twilight… She shrugged in her mind. Sure, why not?

“Fluttershy and me are gonna start dating,” Rainbow said nonchalantly, her eyes casting out of the passenger window to the empty sidewalk. Just dropping a bombshell. No biggie.

Nothing was said in reply. Not even by Twilight.

It wasn’t so much the silence that took Rainbow by surprise, as it was the tension that immediately seemed to fill the truck’s carriage.

She turned to look at her companions with a frown. Twilight had her eyes squeezed shut and her teeth bared like she’d dropped a porcelain plate. Applejack was staring at her steering wheel, her face a blank mask.

“Is that so?” she said finally, her lips barely moving.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Um. Yeah? That’s so. Is something wrong with that?” she asked in a genuinely confused tone.

Applejack puckered her lips and shook her head mechanically, her eyes still fixed on the steering wheel. “Nope. I’m happy for ya’ll.”

Now Rainbow’s brow tensed. “You don’t sound happy.”

“Well, I am. Just got a lot on my mind right now.” Applejack opened the truck door, her hand reaching for something in her back pocket. “S’cuse me a sec. I think I need to stretch my legs.” The blonde pulled her hat down over her eyes and stalked away, down the street. The item she had produced from her pocket was white, small, and squarish, but in the flurry of movement and the poor lighting of the street, Rainbow wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

She stared after Applejack. “What’s her problem?”

Twilight sighed and looked at Rainbow sidelong. “Rainbow…it’s my fault. I should’ve told you to hold off on the news about you and Fluttershy.”

The athlete turned a heated gaze on her. “Why?”

Twilight bit her lip before answering. “Y-you see… Applejack. She, um…” Twilight winced and said in a rush, “She has feelings for Fluttershy!”

Rainbow Dash’s face went slack. Her head whipped around to stare at Applejack through her window. The cowgirl was still walking away, her hands cupped to her face. Rainbow turned back to Twilight Sparkle. “AJ likes Fluttershy? As in likes likes her?”

Twilight nodded with a look of unease. She took off her glasses and began to wipe them with her sweater, her eyes focused on her task. Her chin seemed tucked in more than was necessary. “It’s been a few years now…” she mumbled.

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “And you knew the whole time?” her voice took on a note of betrayal.

Twilight looked up at her in alarm. “Well, yes! I did know! B-but I didn’t think it was right to expose Applejack’s feelings! It was the same kind of courtesy we tried to show Fluttershy about her crush on you!”

“Even if that’s true, I still coulda used the heads up before you let me open my big fat mouth!” Rainbow snapped. Then a thought occurred to her, and she put her forehead on the tortoise’s shell. “Aw, man.” Her shoulders tightened. “Damn it!”

It all made sense now. The attitude. The distance. The constant criticism. Didn’t Pinkie Pie tell her that all their friends knew about her and Fluttershy being inevitable?

Applejack was jealous.

Rainbow ground her teeth. No wonder we haven’t been getting along! While Fluttershy was crushing on me, AJ was stuck in the friendzone!

She sighed and straightened, her hand slapping onto the passenger door handle. “That’s it. We gotta talk this out.”

Twilight grabbed her arm. “Woah! Okay, normally I would absolutely be for that, but one: you just crushed all of AJ’s hopes of ever having a chance with Shy. Two: we’re on a stakeout! Aren’t we supposed to be keeping a low profile? What’s so subtle about two girls hashing out their relationship problems on a street corner?” The bookworm glanced at the tortoise and added wryly, “With a reptile?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Then we’re calling this thing off! We’ve been here forever, and nothing has happened! Either we go inside the bar, or we leave. Otherwise, there’s something I can actually do with what’s left of the night!” Rainbow then promptly hopped out of the truck and shut the door in Twilight’s alarmed face.

“R-Rainbow! Rainbow Dash, wait!” the other girl exclaimed as she tumbled out of the truck through the same door.

Rainbow marched quickly after Applejack, the tortoise on her hip. Applejack was almost to the street corner. “Hey! AJ! We gotta talk!” Applejack looked back as if startled, and Rainbow’s eyes went wide at what was pinched in her mouth. “You’re smoking now!?”

The country girl drew hard on the cigarette, then ripped it out of her mouth with a harsh breath. “Aw, geez, here we go!” she grumbled.

Rainbow Dash’s lip curled as she jogged to her old friend’s side. “Applejack what the heck, dude? Does your family know about this?”

A groan and another puff. Applejack refused to look at the sporty girl again. “Shoot, Dashie, it’s just a cigarette! S’not like I shaved my head and changed my name!”

“I’m serious!” Rainbow pressed obstinately. “This isn’t like you!”

They reached the street corner. Applejack stopped and turned to look Rainbow dead in the eye. “Not like me? Not like me?” She pulled hard on her cigarette, her cheeks sucked in, the tip glowing an angry orange that lit up her green eyes. When she exhaled, the smoke streamed toward the tomboy like a dragon’s noxious breath. Rainbow Dash grimaced and tried to wave the smoke away, but jerked in surprise when AJ suddenly broke through the webbed cloud, her face harder than the girl could ever recall it being.

“Lemme ask you something, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack hissed, smoke still slipping through her teeth. She jabbed a finger into the other girl’s chest. “What do you know about me? Huh? What version of me have you got in your noggin’ that I’m apparently betraying so atrociously?” She spread her arms wide and backed into the golden glow of the street light. “Is it the one where I bust my back for those I love but find no peace for it? Granny Smith mind’s still turning into applesauce. Apple Bloom can’t seem to stay out of trouble for more’n a minute. Big Mac ain’t got no mind for the money end of the family business, ‘specially not with him drinking all the time, so that leaves most of everything to me. And now...” Applejack pinched her mouth closed and turned away.

Rainbow set the tortoise down on the sidewalk and crossed her arms. “Now…what? Now I’m dating your crush? Is it really that bad?”

She could see, even in the warm lighting, how Applejack paled. She glared over Rainbow’s shoulder. “You told?”

Rainbow Dash turned to see Twilight behind her. She was hugging herself, her eyes wide behind her glasses. “Applejack, I had to! I couldn’t keep it a secret anymore! Not when—”

Applejack threw the cigarette down on the sidewalk and stomped on it, yelling, “That wasn’t your business to tell, Twilight Sparkle!”

Rainbow instinctively placed herself between the shrinking Twi and the furious AJ. “Cool it, Applejack! Twilight was just trying to be a good friend!”

AJ scoffed. “Good friend, huh… Rainbow, you tell me honestly how being ‘good friends’ means kicking out your pal’s secrets of the past when you haven’t even been around t’hear the things ailin’ their hearts in the present? Hmm? What’s so good about that?” She started to pace, her boots clicking sharply on the concrete as she hooked her thumbs into her front pockets. “As a matter of fact, you wanna tell me how you managed to trick Fluttershy into being your new sweetheart when you been treatin’ her like horse manure for the last year or so?”

“I didn’t treat her that bad!” Rainbow Dash shot back defensively. Then her nostrils flared and she took a step forward. “And what do you mean, ‘trick?’ I didn’t trick Shy into anything! She wanted to be with me!” She willfully ignored the unpleasant squirming in her gut as she said this.

Twilight appeared at their sides, her trembling hands held up. “Uh… g-girls?”

“Yeah. Like all your other girlfriends wanted to be with you,” Applejack said snidely.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes snapped wide and she clenched her fists. “It’s not my fault Fluttershy isn’t into country hicks!”

AJ just chuckled blackly at the barb. “Dashie, I bet you make her cry a’fore the week is through. I give you two weeks, tops, before you break her heart en-tirely.”

Twilight took a small step forward, her hands waving. “Woah, woah! Okay, let’s just—”

“That’s rich, coming from someone who was too afraid to even come out of the closet to begin with! What’s the matter, AJ? Couldn’t boss up?” Rainbow jeered.

Applejack took off her hat and gestured agitatedly at the athlete with it. “See that’s what really gets under my skin about you, Rainbow. Ya think I didn’t wanna tell her? You think I didn’t have the guts to? Well when your friend comes to you looking for comfort, if you give a damn about a person, the last thing you wanna do is make them feel like they can’t relax around ya. Can you say that? When’s the last time Fluttershy came to cry on your shoulder? When’s the last time she needed help and she called you first?”

She flashed a sarcastic smile as she threw up her hands. “And ex-cuse me if I actually stop to think about what coming out of the closet would do to my family when all the people we do business with are conservatives who think two girls together is about as great as sin on a baby!” AJ sucked in air as she pulled a look of mock surprise and covered her mouth. “Oops! That’s right! Rainbow only cares about herself!” Her expression darkened as she looked the other girl up and down and gave a disgusted snort. “Just like your daddy…”

Rainbow Dash literally snarled, her hands reaching out like claws as she launched forward to grab Applejack by the front of her shirt. Twilight Sparkle just managed to jump in front of her, making them bump.

“Rainbow, Rainbow don’t!” Twilight squeaked as she caught her balance and held on to her glasses.

“Bring up my dad one more time, AJ, and you’re gonna be tasting the street!” the tomboy yelled over Twilight’s shoulder.

Applejack smirked at her coolly and crossed her arms, making sure to flex the full strength of her upper body—which was nothing to take lightly. The cowgirl easily looked like she belonged in some MMA federation’s woman’s featherweight division. “Rainbow, a tussle between you and me would be over quicker’n a knife fight in a phone booth.”

Rainbow started to rip off her jean jacket. “All right, hotshot. Let’s see how much of a favor those cigs have done for you when I wreck you ten different ways!”

Twilight looked between them with panic writ across her face. “Girls, please! We shouldn’t do this! Not just because fighting is wrong, but also because we’re totally in a bad place to do it anyway!”

Applejack tossed her hat to Twilight and roughly unbuttoned the top of her plaid shirt. “Nothin’ doin’, Twi,” she said with a thin mouth. “Rainbow wants something? It’s gotta happen her way on account of she’s selfish. Now I gotta show ‘er that you should be careful what you wish for!”

Rainbow Dash tossed her jacket onto the tortoise, who had peeked his head out of his shell to blink drowsily at them. “It’s not me who’s gonna regret this, Applejack!”

Applejack squinted her eyes like she was lining up a shot on her rifle. “Yeah? We’ll see.”

Twilight’s gaze was snapping back and forth between them with distress. She stopped abruptly when her eyes halted on something across the intersection. Her face tensed. “Uh… Girls?”

Rainbow shook her head as she cracked her knuckles. “This is so stupid. We shouldn’t even be doing this, but since you have to be such a sore loser—”

AJ rolled her shoulders, her lip curling as her fists balled tightly. “Can’t lose if you don’t play, Dashie, and fact is things would be totally different if I had bothered!” she hissed.

Rainbow slid a leg back, her heart loud in her ears as her vision honed in on Applejack’s scowling face. Her body coiled. “At the end of the day, Fluttershy made her choice, AJ. I’m not apologizing for that!”

“But you still wanna punch my face in, don’tcha?”

Rainbow’s nostrils flared as she balled her fists. “You’re damn right I do!”

Twilight blindly began reaching for Rainbow Dash, her eyes still focused on whatever it was across the street. “Girls? I think maybe—”

“Lemme guess,” Applejack spat, another sarcastic smile crossing her freckled face. “No hits to the face? On account of that would bruise it up for your ‘adoring’ fans on campus?” She chuckled dryly. “Rainbow, you got your nose so high in the air you could drown in a rainstorm.”

“Yak it up, Cancerjack.” Rainbow took a step toward Applejack, but was stopped again by Twilight. “You’re gonna regret the day you decided to tango with a star athlete!”

“Girls!” Twilight said, clutching now at both their shirts and tugging frantically. Rainbow pushed her hand away without even looking at her.

Applejack took a step forward as well, crowding Twilight. “Oh puh-lease—!”

“GIRLS!” Twilight shouted with glasses askew, a loose lock of her hair swinging over her harried violet eyes. Before they could react to the interruption, she pointed excitedly across the intersection. “Look!”

Rainbow Dash turned her gaze up in annoyance but did as she was told.

There were two people on a street corner. A man and a woman, by the looks of it. The woman had dark hair and dark clothes with her back to them. The man, dressed in a simple gray suit, had his arms around her waist. The tomboy squinted her eyes, her mind not registering what was so remarkable about them. They weren’t close to a streetlight, so their features weren’t easy to pick out. “Twi, what—?” Her lips stilled as the woman turned around and the man slumped to the sidewalk on his knees. His companion turned to see his vacant smile over her shoulder, her melodic voice floating across the street:

“Now don’t you feel better, darling? Why trouble yourself with such brutish behavior when you can live so much more splendidly instead?”

Applejack and Rainbow said the name at the same time.

“Rarity!?”

The fashionista turned toward them. She stepped closer to the street corner, moving under the glow of a street light, and Rainbow Dash could see that it was indeed Rarity. Just like the previous night, she was dressed in a modern but functional outfit. She waved at the stunned trio merrily, as if they’d just run into each other at one of her soirees.

“Why hello there! Fancy seeing you girls here!” she greeted with a radiant smile.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle looked at each other before crossing the street to their mutual friend.

“Sugarcube, what in the hay are you doing here at this time of night?” Applejack asked Rarity.

She received a giggle in response. “I could ask you the same thing, dear!” Rares put her hands on her hips and looked at them all, completely unconcerned about the strange smiling man still on his knees behind her. “Are you three simply enjoying the nightlife this fine Saturday evening?”

Twilight Sparkle approached the stranger. Her eyes widened with horror. “Rarity, what did you do to this man? His… his eyes are glowing!”

Rainbow Dash looked from Twilight to Rarity in surprise. “Woah, what? Rares, you used magic? Why would you do that?”

“Magic?” Rarity’s smile turned a little bemused as she glanced at the man. “On him?” The fashionista began to giggle, a fast and high sound that made Rainbow’s hairs stand on end. Something wasn’t right here…

Rarity delicately wiped at one eye and managed to titter, “Goodness me, what a ridiculous notion! I didn’t use magic!”

Twilight sighed with what seemed relief. “Oh! Good. So what happened, then?”

The fashionista’s smile widened and her eyes flared a bright blue from her inner power. Rainbow’s heart went cold.

“Why, I just gave the poor dear what he’d been yearning for,” Rarity said with chilling serenity. She leaned in and widened her eyes meaningfully. “Happiness.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Uh…” she looked sidelong at her companions.

Twilight’s mouth was dropped wide open in shock. Applejack whistled and crammed her hat back onto her head. “Ladies n’ gentlemen, I believe the train has left the station.”

“Hey! Flatfoot!” said a loud male voice.

The girls jumped and looked further up the street to see two men approaching them. They were large and burly, dressed in suits like their apparent friend, but not immaculately. As they neared, they began to slow down, one man putting an arm on his companion like he sensed something was off. “Flatfoot?”

The stranger behind Rarity gurgled and slumped over onto the ground.

Twilight Sparkle whimpered as she backed away. “This isn’t good!”

Rainbow Dash grabbed a still smiling Rarity and began to pull her along as they all backed up into the street. “Ya think!?” she snapped.

The two men hurried to their friend. While one checked his vitals, the other glared at them. “What did you do to him?!”

“Nothing!” Twilight laughed nervously. “H-he was like that when we found him!”

Rarity turned to frown at her. “He most certainly was not!”

Rainbow jerked her arm hard. “Not… helping!” she hissed at her friend.

The approaching man’s face darkened as he began to reach into his coat. “You four better start talking, or there’s gonna be hell to pay!”

“We don’t want no quarrel, mister,” Applejack said with hands raised. Her eyes were wide and her voice quavered a little. “I’m sure your friend’s just fine!”

“The fuck he is!” the man shouted.

Twilight swallowed loudly. “Girls, I think there’s only one thing we can do…”

The large stranger sneered at her. “Smart kid.”

Twilight turned on her heel and fled across the street toward AJ’s truck. “Run!” she screamed.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed, with the latter pulling an objecting Rarity behind her.

“H-hey!” They heard the thug give chase.

Rainbow bared her teeth in frustration. We could totally take these goons if our team just had stiffer spines!

“Oof!”

Halfway down the sidewalk toward the truck, Rainbow looked back to see the thug had tripped over something. Her eyes bugged out.

She had left the reptile on the street corner, still under her jean jacket… and the man had just fallen over it, face-planting into the sidewalk.

“Crap! I forgot the tortoise!” She skidded to a halt and shouted to AJ, “Applejack, take Rarity! I gotta get that critter!”

Applejack stumbled to a halt, her eyes large with incredulity. “Say what—?”

“Just do it!” Rainbow Dash shoved Rarity toward her.

Rarity gasped with insult. “Oh! How rude!”

Applejack rolled her eyes and grabbed her elbow, pulling her along. “Yeah, yeah! Git along, you!”

Sweat began to bead on Rainbow’s skin as she charged back the way she had come. For one wild second, she considered ponying up, but there were too many eyes, and she still couldn’t control the strength of her sonic rainbooms. They had already exposed themselves enough already, the last thing they needed was to reveal their magic on top of it all. If it hadn’t been revealed already...

Rainbow Dash reached the tortoise just as the man stirred from his painful stupor on the ground.

Whoops. Can’t have that, can we?

Pulling back a foot, Rainbow kicked him in the head with a good crack—not in such a way as to actually break anything, but certainly hard enough to put him out for a good few minutes. With him unconscious, she was able to roll him over and snatch up her jacket and the tortoise in one go. The reptile had retreated into his shell when the man tripped over him, but he peeked his head out to gaze up at Rainbow Dash with his dark little eyes.

“You all right buddy?” she asked breathlessly.

There was a loud crack.

The athlete flinched, her heart doing a somersault in her chest as she instinctively ducked. The thug that had stayed with ‘Flatfoot’ across the street had pulled out a gun and was firing at her.

“Crap, crap, crap!” she rasped as she tucked the tortoise under her arm and ran for AJ’s truck. The vehicle was running, the others having crammed inside. Applejack was thumping the back of the seat, her face panicked and her hat askew as she looked at Rainbow through the back window.

“Come on, Dashie! Come on!” she yelled.

The doors to Tambelon burst open. Rainbow was aware that more people had emerged from the pub, but she didn’t pause to see who. She all but dove into the bed of the truck, and while laying low, pounded on the rear window. “Go, go!” she screamed hoarsely.

Another gunshot. It pinged off the truck’s steel body as Applejack slammed on the gas, tires squealing.

They peeled out of the street with angry voices chasing after them in the night breeze.

Thanks to Cynewulf for the extra help!

EDIT 12/15/19: What's up with AJ? Get a closer look in this new one-shot spinoff: