Twilight ran all the way home, slammed the door shut and locked it!  She was panting heavily but, but wasn't the least bit tired, adrenaline had seen to that.  This wasn't fair!  So badly Twilight wanted to just run inside her house and hide under the bed forever.  If only that was something you could seriously do.

Twilight had to do something about this like it or not.  Sitting here wouldn’t do any good.  There had to be somewhere she could go!  Somepony who could help!

She bit her lip and turned in a circle.  The only house she could see was Applejack's.  Applejack had been telling the truth the whole time, hadn't she?  Oh, why couldn't Rarity have not been lying?!

Twilight was feeling sick now.  Nothing good could ever be true!  That was how the world was!  

No!  She had to get through this no matter how unfair and sick it was.  Still half in a panic, Twilight ran to Applejack's house, unable to think of anywhere else she might be able to go.

She ran fast.  She couldn't even remember the last time she ran this fast!  Those trees just blurred past her and the house appeared in no time at all.  Twilight pounded on the door, threatening to knock it off its hinges.

The door opened and a very annoyed looking Applejack peeked her head out.

“What in tarnation is-?!  Twilight?”

“Applejack!” Twilight pushed open the door and shoved her way inside.  “Rarity has Fluttershy!  I mean, mentally that is!  Rarity's been controlling Fluttershy with hypnosis for Celestia knows how long!”

“What?  Are you sure?”

“Yes!  Rarity's been teaching me magic and I can detect mental links now,” said Twilight.  “Fluttershy is linked to Rarity just like Rainbow Dash and Pinkie are.  This either means Fluttershy is under her control or secretly one of her vampire minions, which also means she's under Rarity's control!  Do you get it?  The pony investigating the deaths is under Rarity's control!”

“So, I take it this means you believe me now, huh?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

Twilight made an exasperated growl and stamped her hooves repeatedly.  Did she have to be so smarmy about it right now?

“Okay!  Maybe!  Maybe you were right!  But what do we do now?”  Twilight grabbed on to Applejack.  “Oh man!  If I tell Rarity I don't want to be a vampire any more do you think she'd maybe just back off?”

“I think she'd kill you.”  Applejack pushed Twilight off of herself.  “As for what we're gonna do- Applebloom!  Code Red!”

“Code red?!” Applebloom leaned out her window as soon as she heard that.

Applebloom disappeared into her room for a brief moment, then came jumping out of it.  She rolled when she hit the ground, pulling out her squirt gun and firing at Twilight at the end of the roll with impressive skill.

“Die vampire scum!” Applebloom shouted at Twilight.  When she saw the water harmlessly rolling off Twilight, she lowered her gun and gave Applejack a stern look.  “Why ain't she dying?  I think you're not taking code red seriously enough, sis.”

“This is a code red,” said Applejack.  “Twilight here's just realized what a fool she's been.  She's on our side now, which means we got a real chance of getting those bloodsuckers this time.”

“Get them?  Look, I don't want to kill them,” said Twilight.  “I just- actually I have no idea what I want to do!”

“So you're just going to let Rarity keep killing ponies?” Applejack asked.  “You're okay with her using mind control on anypony she decides to?  And those other two aren't ponies anymore, just mindless puppets now, like what Rarity wanted to do to you.”

“Well even if Rarity needs to be stopped the other two are innocent, right?” Twilight asked.  “Even you said so yourself.”

“They still chose to be vampires,” Applejack said.

“Please?” Twilight bowed her head.  “I won't kill them.  I can't!  Isn't there something we can do to free them?  There has to be some way to help.”

Applejack frowned and looked off to the side, thinking hard and not liking whatever it was she was thinking about.  She turned back nodded.

“Yeah,” said Applejack.  “Sure!  There's a way to turn those two back to normal.”

“Really?” Twilight's ears popped back up.  “Why didn't you tell me sooner?

“It's just, uh, kinda hard to pull off,” said Applejack.  “But if it's the only way you'll help-”

“-it is!”

“Then fine.  But we still need to capture all three of them.”

“Um.”  Twilight bit her lip.  Her head was spinning.  This was all going too fast.

“Wait, wait.” Applebloom pushed herself in between the other two.  “I don't remember you sayin nothing about turning a vampire back into a pony.  How does that work again?”

“There's lots of things I haven't told you yet.”  Applejack put a hoof on the back of Applebloom’s head and gave her a push.  “Now be quiet and let the big ponies talk.”

Applebloom growled and muttered something to herself as she stalked into the house.

“Okay,” said Twilight, “well even if I do agree to help you how would we even beat Rarity?  She's insanely powerful!  Maybe you didn't notice that from your last sneak attack?”

“Yeah, I know,” said Applejack.  “What we need to do is lure her to a spot where we'll have an advantage.  They can't enter a house without an invitation, that's something we can work with.  We just need a way to draw them to your house and we'll have a big advantage.  Say we manage to catch one of the other two alone, right?  Then Rarity will have to come get them herself since she can't really go to the police with this.”

“Well- they always send Pinkie out to find me when I'm late or something,” said Twilight.  “I guess if I didn’t show up tonight Pinkie would come to me.  But why would it have to be my house?”

“Great,” said Applejack.  “Applebloom, I need you to get your friends here right away.  Code red!  We’re capturing those three tonight!”

Applebloom saluted and galloped off.

“Whoa whoa!”  Twilight threw out her hooves and crossed.  “I didn’t agree to anything yet!”

Twilight’s heart started pounding.  Already she was regretting coming here so soon.  Maybe she should have stayed under her bed until her head was clearer.

“I mean, now that I think about it maybe there could be another explanation.”  Twilight got up and started trotting back and forth.  “Like maybe Fluttershy is another one of Rarity’s vampires but she just, well, shy about it or-“

“Twilight!”  Applejack grabbed Twilight and held her muzzle to muzzle with her, glaring deep into Twilight’s eyes.  “There ain’t no other explanation, okay?  You’re just clutching at straws.”

“But-“  Twilight faltered.  “Well okay, but I really think I should try talking to Rarity before I try to kill her!  She might have an explanation, or maybe I can make some kind of deal with her.”

“Well of course Rarity's gonna show you why it's a real good idea for her to have Fluttershy under mind control,” said Applejack.  “Just like she had one for Fluttershy.  You go over there and you'll be back under her charm in a second.  Listen to me, Twilight.  I’m telling you the truth.”

Twilight's heart was gripped by fear once again.  That was true.  If Rarity was lying and Twilight ran back there now there'd be no more chances, she'd end up trapped in her own body just like Applejack said.

“Think of how horrible it'd be.”  Applejack leaned in even closer, her eyes filling Twilight’s entire vision.  “Imagine having no control of your body, you're still fully conscious but can't do anything but sit and watch as Rarity does whatever she wants with it.  Silently screaming, and not just for one lifetime, either.  You'd be stuck like that forever!  You really want to risk that?”

Twilight did feel afraid again.  All the fear Applejack’s words had put into her head came flooding back in full force.  Yet the betrayal of it would be worse than any of the things Applejack listed.

“Well can't we just go to the police?”  Twilight should have done that in the first place!  Stupid!  This was why you didn’t rush into things.  “Then they can just do an investigation and arrest Rarity if-”

“The police aren't going to help.”  Applejack let go of Twilight and trotted away.  “My parents were vampire slayers, remember?  I know about how all this goes.  If Celestia hears there's a vampire killing ponies she'll overreact like you wouldn't believe.  She'll execute more than just the actual vampires, and that'll include you on account of you involving yourself with them.”

Dang it!  Even Rarity said that was basically the case!

“This is our only chance, Twilight.” Applejack stomped her hoof.  “Either you help me now or you lose your chance because I won't be able to trust you again if you go back to her.  You gotta choose what you're going to do right now.”

“R-right now?!”  Twilight took a step back.  “That’s too much pressure!  I need time to-“

Applejack grabbed Twilight again and stared her in the eyes.

“You have to do this Twilight,” said Applejack.  “You don’t have any other choice.”

“But I-  I don’t want to hurt any of them.”

“You’ll be helping them, Twilight!”  Applejack leaned in closer.  “Don’t you want to free Pinkie and Rainbow Dash?”

“I-“  Twilight trembled, holding her breath for a moment.

And then she nodded.

______________________________________________________________

Just a few hours later Twilight found herself standing in the middle of a field in her back yard.  Everything had gone so fast – Big Mac and the Cutie Mark crusaders assembled and armed themselves with silver weapons and holy water.

How the heck did she get here?  Twilight still wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to go through with this, but here she was, going through with it, the others waiting behind their hiding spots ready to pounce.

Applejack had been pushing her really hard, Twilight thought to herself, more so than usual even.  It did make a certain amount of sense, especially when Applejack was actually there talking to her, but when she got a moment alone, and she didn’t have many of those in the past few hours, she started to have second thoughts.

At least she’d have some time being alone for now.  Twilight could sit and think.  She’d have time before Pinkie showed up.  She wasn’t even supposed to be there for another five minutes and fast as Pinkie was she wouldn’t be able to find her in zero seconds.

Twilight sat down and tried to clear her head.

“Twilight you’re late!”

Twilight turned around to see, standing on the top of the hill, next to her house, Pinkie Pie waving down at her.  She had just appeared there, from wherever Pinkie appeared from.

“What?!  Pinkie?!”  Twilight’s heart skipped a beat.  “I’m not late, though!”

“But my Pinkie sense told me you were going to be late!”  Pinkie called down.  “And Dash says that ‘totally counts’ and you lose two points in Scrabble for being late!”

Oh great!  Pinkie had shown up even sooner than Twilight had expected her to!   And in a minute, she’d be right next to Twilight, the others ready to attack!  Twilight was shaking.  She tried to reassure herself that she was helping.

“Hey, Twilight.”  Pinkie came down the hill with a few hops, landing next to Twilight.  “What are you doing standing out here in the wide open?  Feeding yourself to the dreadstalker.”

If there was a dreadstalker.  Twilight gave a nervous chuckle.

“Well, uh-“

“Are you okay?”  Pinkie stopped bouncing and looked at Twilight sideways.  “You look not okay.  You weren’t seriously trying to feed-“

Just then Pinkie’s ears perked up.

“Wait, wait,” said Pinkie.  She shifted her eyes and leaned up close to Twilight to whisper to her.  “I think Applejack is in hiding in the bushes.  She's probably planning the bad kind of surprise if you know what I mean.”

Twilight was sweating now.  Pinkie had already caught on to their trap.

“So let's get out of here!” Pinkie declared in a sudden shift of mood before happily bouncing away.  “Goodbye Applejack!”

She bounced three times before realizing Twilight hadn't moved.  Pinkie turned back with a confused look.  This was it.  

“Twilight?” Pinkie asked.

This was it!  Twilight braced herself and grabbed Pinkie in her magic.

“Now!” Applejack yelled from behind the bush.  She and the cutie mark crusaders jumped out from their hiding spots and opened fire with their squirt guns.

Pinkie, already caught off guard by Twilight grabbing her, was unable to dodge and got hit with all four streams of water.  The water seemed to boil off of her at the moment it touched her fur.  Pinkie reacted as you'd expect a pony who was being sprayed with boiling water to.  She screamed bloody murder and writhed in place, spamming with such force that Twilight could barely hold her.

“AAAAAAAAHHH!” Pinkie screamed.  It was hard listening to her scream with such agony.  

Twilight winced a little at that, but even though it was just a little, he concentration had dropped enough for Pinkie to thrash he way out of Twilight's magic hold.

It was almost like Pinkie hadn't noticed she was free at first, rolling around on the floor and kicking her legs wildly.  She moved quickly, but without direction, keeping the water cannons off of her until she recovered a little.

When she stopped for a moment she pushed herself up with her trembling forelegs and gave a pathetic look to Twilight.  Her eyes were bright red and her fur was singed just a little.

“Twilight, why?” she asked feebly.

Twilight backed up a little, her heart sinking.

“I-it's for your own good, Pinkie!” Twilight promised her.  “I'm going to free you!”

Pinkie winced with pain and shook her head, clasped between her front hooves.

“Enough of this!” Applejack shouted before firing again.

Maybe Pinkie wasn't as badly hurt as she looked, because her wings appeared and threw her backwards, out of the way of Applejack's shot just as she fired.  The cutie mark crusaders also fired after her, but Pinkie dodged every shot as she slowly rose higher into the sky.

It looked like she might actually get away even after all that, but all four of them kept firing until Dinky Hooves finally got a lucky hit.  Pinkie let out another shout and plummeted.  To her misfortune, she fell right down to where Big Mac had been hiding.

He leaped out with the silver chains and threw one end of them at Pinkie, lassoing her and dragging her down to the ground where she landed with a hard thud.  Powerless from the chains, Pinkie laid limp as the apples tied her up.

All the while Twilight had stood perfectly still, biting her lip.

“What did I do?  What did I do?” she chanted to herself nervously, maniacally almost.  She had just put Pinkie through what seemed like excruciating pain and it made her sick.  “I can't do this!  Applejack, I can't do this to them!  The way she was screaming, it's just too much!”

“Ah shut it!” Applejack yelled at her.  “We've already been over this.  She ain't actually feeling pain, Rarity's just making her fake it.  We're helping her.”

“Look, I'm really having second thoughts about this,” said Twilight.  “Maybe we should-”

“It's too late for that.”  Applejack finished tying Pinkie up and threw the earth pony onto her back.  “whatever you were gonna say.  We just hit the beehive and now ain't the time to stop.  The other two are gonna be mad as a rattlesnake in a cookie jar and they're gonna come after us soon.”

“We’re ending this vampire menace tonight!”  Dinky Hooves, of all ponies, came out in front of Twilight and rattled her gun.  “With or without you.”

Applejack nodded.

“Either we go back to the farm and leave you all alone or you come with us.”  Applejack started walking, not waiting for a reply.  

Twilight hesitated for a moment.  What even was her other option?  Go to Rarity and hope for the best?  If she went back with Applejack she’d still get the chance to talk to Rarity again – the only real difference was that she’d have a bunch of other ponies there to defend her if things got ugly.

So it made sense.

“Okay.”  Twilight let out a deep breath.  “Okay.  But if you can’t turn Pinkie and Rainbow Dash back to normal then I’ll-  I dunno what I’ll do but it’ll be horrible.”

“We’re saving the town, Twilight,” Applebloom assured her.  “Vampire or not, Rarity needs to be stopped, right?”

“Maybe,” said Twilight.  “But- look I’ll keep helping if you promise to let me talk to Rarity when she shows up first!”

“Fine,” said Applejack.  “I promise.”

"Alright then."  Twilight trotted alongside the others.  "I just- I feel like I'm being rushed is all."

"Me too."  Applejack sighed.  "Look, I'm sorry about that, but we gotta move fast.  You understand that right?"

"I hope I do."  Twilight lowered her ears and glanced over at Pinkie, tied up.  She was going to help Pinkie!  That's what Applejack said.  Her words echoed in Twilight's head.

_________________________________________________

Later on, they were at Twilight’s house.  The others were preparing the defenses, getting ready to attack if need be.  The rest of them were out in the main room, Twilight could hear the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouting some kind of cheer, getting pumped.  Twilight was decidedly not pumped.

Instead, she was in her bedroom, where Pinkie was being held.

Pinkie seemed to be doing more or less okay.  The silver kept her powers suppressed enough that she could hardly move, but other than that!

She was wrapped from head to toe in silver chains, making muffled noises and trying to talk to Twilight my making wild movements with her eyes.  Twilight couldn’t even begin to make any of them out.

“Sorry Pinkie.”  Twilight shook her head sadly.  “I promise I’ll help you, okay?  And I’m going to talk to the others before- well before we fight.”

Pinkie gave an annoyed ‘Mmph!’  She didn’t look angry at least.  Twilight lowered her head and trotted out into the living room slash kitchen.

Applebloom was filling water tanks and putting them on a strap along her sides.  Dinky Hooves and Scootaloo had both finished setting up water balloon cannons that could fire out any of Twilight’s windows.  Those would be the first line of defense, though Twilight didn’t expect them to do much.  At any rate, those three would take care of pelting them with holy water if it came to that.

Big Mac, meanwhile, was getting some silver boots on.  Apparently, that would make his punches hit hard enough to actually hurt a vampire.  Applejack, meanwhile, would be heroically in the far back, ready with the silver chains like before – the most important job, she assured the others.

Twilight trotted through the room, looking at all of it before her eyes settled on Applejack.

“Why are we doing this at my house again?” Twilight asked.

“Because it’s on top of a hill.”  Applejack took out another Celestia bobble head and placed it in the window sill.  “Smaller too.  Fewer places for them to hide.

Twilight flicked one of the bobble heads.

“You know these don’t work, right?”  she asked Applejack.  “Rainbow Dash was able to-“

“They don’t make vampires burst into flames or nothing, just make them lose some of their power.”  Applejack put finished setting up the last line of them on the window.  “The more the better.  Trust me, we’re gonna need them to even stand a chance against Rarity.”

“How much will it block her powers, exactly?”

“Not enough.  It’s going to be a tough fight.”  Applejack checked her little bobble head box to make sure she got them all before tossing it aside and heading towards the silver lasso.

“Still say we should have brought one of those water crystals,” Applebloom muttered.  “Fight wouldn’t be so tough then!  Lure the vampires in and then fill the house with water!  It’s brilliant!”

“One of us might drown,” Applejack said, placing the bobble heads around the room.

“Tch!  As if we can’t hold our breaths for like five seconds!”  Applebloom rolled her eyes.  “Those things are the absolute best weapon against vampires so why do you never want to use them, huh?”

“Cause they’re also dangerous.”

“I’m pretty sure vampires are more dangerous.”

“It’s too late to go get any of them either way,” said Applejack.  “Now get in your hiding position.”

“Yeesh.  She’s cranky today,”  Applebloom whispered to Scootaloo, but still obeyed Applejack.

Applebloom snuck behind Twilight’s couch, a half dozen water balloons and a squirt gun by her side.  Twilight frowned over at Applebloom, then at Applejack.

“Hey, Applejack- another thing,” said Twilight.  “Look, is it really a good idea to have fillies here?  I mean-“

“Uh oh!”  Dinky hooves shouted out suddenly.  “Incoming!”

A panic went through the room as Dinky fired a dozen or so balloons out the window and the others scrambled into their positions.

“Where are you even aiming Dinky?!”  Scootaloo shouted at her before firing her own shot.

“I don’t know!  But you’re not hitting her either.”

“Let me-!”  Applejack was rushing over to take over one of the water balloon cannons but stopped.

Suddenly there was a knock at the front door.

“Um.  We missed.”  Dinky sheepishly turned around and shrugged.

“What about the booby trap on top of the door?”  Applejack asked.

“Also missed.”  Dinky peeks out the side of the window.  “She looks really mad.”

“Are you gonna open the door or am I going to punch it down, Twilight?!”  Dash shouted.

Applejack made a motion with her head and everypony moved into position, Scootaloo and Dinky off to the far ends of the room and the adults moving towards the door.

Twilight put her hoof on the door and slowly opened it, Applejack and Big Mac ready to attack behind her.  Dash was standing outside, sunglasses off, staring daggers at Twilight.

“Where's Pinkie?” Dash asked without waiting for Twilight to fully open the door.  She took a step forward, forcing Twilight to back up into her house.  “Why is Applejack here?  And what the buck do you think you're doing?!”

Dash flared her bat wings out and gritted her fanged teeth as Twilight fell back onto her haunches.  She had slowly been moving forward up until now and was now all the way inside Twilight's house.  She was the only one Twilight had given permission to come in at any time.  That rule would keep them safe from Rarity, but not from Dash.

“You were just some stupid, bucking dork when we found you,” Dash spat.  “No friends, no money, no nothing!  An idiot!  We did so much for you and offered you so much more!  And you don't even say 'no'?!”

Twilight was paralyzed.  She swallowed hard.

“I-I-!”

“What?!  You’re sorry?”  Dash frowned at her for a moment, then gritted her teeth.  “Listen to me, Twilight!  There’s still time to go back on this, okay?  You’re just a little brainwashed.”

Twilight frowned this was all just happening so fast.

“Brainwashed?  Funny you talking about that.  You’re the ones who go out and out mind controlling ponies!”

“Applejack is just using you, you idiot!”  Dash assured Twilight.  “Don’t you see that she’s-“

Rainbow Dash hesitated.

“That I’m what?”  Applejack brushed Twilight out of the way to look Dash in the eyes, cocking a smile.  “The only one who’s bothering to tell Twilight the truth?”

“Oh that is it you little-!”

Rainbow Dash jumped into the house and punched Applejack hard in the face, knocking her hat off.  She reeled up for a second punch but Big Mac rammed into her from the side then hit her hard.

Twilight doubted it would have done much good normally, but with the silver boots it was enough to clearly hurt Dash.  He punched her hard, knocking her back outside.

“Just a little more and we can get her with the cannons!”  Dinky called out.

But Big Mac didn’t manage even a little more.  He tried another punch, but Dash rolled to the side and hit him again.  Suddenly things were completely reversed, Dash dodging every one of Big Mac’s blows with ease and stunning him with each of her punches.

“Shoot,” said Applejack.  “Bein outside means the bobble heads won’t affect her as much.”

Rainbow Dash lifted Big Mac up, then flew forward, slamming him into the side of Twilight’s house.  He fell to the ground, stunned for the moment.

Dash decided this was enough and charged back inside to tackle Applejack once more.

Applebloom jumped out from behind the couch, squirt gun ready.  Applejack saw this and quickly rolled out of the way.  Dash was almost hit herself, but managed to jump back out of the way.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders attack!”  Applebloom called out and all three of them opened fire.

“Fine!”  Dash shouted and flew up into the air.

The fillies tried to hit her but she was just too fast, whizzing passed their streams without getting touched and landing in front of Applebloom.

She turned and pointed the gun at Rainbow Dash but Dash got there just before she could pull the trigger and the two of them got caught up in a tug of war over the gun, Dash trying to pull it away and Scootaloo clinging to it for dear life.

“Don’t make me hurt you, kid!”  Dash shoved Scootaloo forward pried the gun out of her hooves with more force this time.

As soon as Dash got the gun, though, Applejack came charging at her.  She tackled Dash and went right for the gun.  Now the two of them were struggling over it.

Scootaloo came from behind and shot Dash in the back.  Dash let out a yelp and Applejack managed to rip the gun out of Dashes hooves, then swung it at Dash’s head, narrowly missing as Dash ducked.

“Applejack!”  Applebloom yelled out.  “You’re supposed to shoot the gun not-“

But Applejack was in too much of a whirl to hear.  Applejack swung again and missed again, this time the gun slammed against the wall, the plastic container breaking and the water leaking out.

“-oh great!  And there goes my main weapon.”

“Quite it!”  Dash leaped across the room and stomped down on the barrel of Scootaloo’s gun, shattering it.

Dash glared at Dinky, but she just stumbled back and dropped her weapon.  With those two out of the way, Dash darted back at Applejack again, punching her in the gut, then the face, knocking her off the couch.

“It was a mistake for the boss to be so nice to you!”  Dash growled.  “I don’t care what she’s gonna say- I’m going to beat the truth out of you right now!  Literally!”

Rainbow Dash jumped in the air and came down on Applejack, punching at her with all her might.  Applejack moved her foreleg in to block her face just in time, but it didn’t help much.  The punch landed with so much force that the floor shook and there was a cracking sound.  The floorboards beneath Applejack actually snapped!

“Applejack!”  Applebloom came out of her hiding place and looked over at Applejack with terror.  The fear wasn’t unwarranted either- that wasn’t something you could just walk off.

Applebloom looked relieved a moment later when Applejack sat up a moment later.  Applejack looked around the room before grabbing her left foreleg.

“M-my leg!”  Applejack called out.  “I think it’s broken.”

“Oh please!”   Dash slammed her hoof down on Applejack again, knocking her into the floor.

Applebloom and the rest of the CMC scrambled to find more water balloons.

“Come on!”  Rainbow Dash shouted down at her.  “Get up!  I can hit a lot harder than that!”

Applejack backed up, dragging herself backwards with her good hoof.  Dash just groaned and walked forward until she was right in front of Applejack and punched her hard in the face.  Applejack feel backwards and Dash jumped on top of her and began punching Applejack’s practically limp body over and over.

Big Mac charged in try and knock Rainbow Dash off his sister, but only got bucked hard in the face when he got close.

“Get up!” Dash shouted down at her and stomped her hoof down hard on Applejack’s stomach.  “Get up!  Come on!”

Dash hit Applejack in the face with a brutal punch.  Applejack wasn’t even try to fight back at this point, she was just trying to block her face from Dash’s blow.  And Dash wasn’t slowing down, either, she was punching harder and harder each time.

She was- she was seriously going to kill Applejack at this rate!  Twilight had to do something!

Twilight grabbed onto Dash with her magic and threw her across the room.

“Twilight?!”  Dash looked at Twilight with shock.  “You idiot!”

Just then the CMC came charging back into the room with fresh ammo.  Dash, helpless in the air and caught off guard got hit with a half dozen water balloons, then a half dozen more.  The water burned her and she howled in pain.

A moment later Big Mac jumped on top of her and gave her a much harder punch than before.  The water kept coming, kept burning her.  Now Twilight was eager to stop the abuse against Dash.

Twilight rushed over to the silver chains and picked them up.

“Here!”  Twilight threw them to Big Mac.  “Tie her up!  Fast!”

Once she was soaked and buried in silver Dash couldn’t put up much of a fight.  Before long she was tied up in the silver chains as well.  She kept shouting and struggling, but Big Mac threw her in the bedroom next to Pinkie.

“Yeah!  Two down on to go!”  Applebloom cheered.

“Cutie Mark Crusader vampire hunters!”  Dinky threw a balloon in the air victoriously.

“Careful with those.”

“Twilight!”  Dash shouted from the other room.  “Let us out you traitor!  The boss is gonna be here soon and she's basically invincible.  We're getting out either way so you might as well do this the easy way.”

Applejack came limping into the bedroom.

“We’ll see how invincible Rarity is in a moment.”  Applejack wrapped a scarf around Dash’s mouth, shutting her up.

Dash just rolled her eyes and fell backwards onto the bed.

The doorbell rang just then and Dash made a muffled noise.

“That was fast,” said Applejack.  “What happened to our water cannons?”

“I missed again,” said Dinky.  “Sorry.”

“I didn’t even hear it fire!”

“I missed worse this time!”

Applejack rolled her eyes and started towards the door.

“Get ready everypony.”  Applejack put her hoof on the door.  “On three I open the door and we attack, alright?”

“No!”  Twilight moved in front of her.  “You promised I’d have a chance to talk to her!”

Big Mac shrugged at Applejack, who made a noise of protest but stepped aside.

Twilight braced herself and opened the door to find Rarity on the other side.  Rarity looked at Twilight briefly, then turned towards Applejack.

“Applejack?”  Rarity smiled at her.  “I’m going to hurt you for this.”

“We’ll see who hurts who!”  Applebloom called out, readying her gun to fire.

Rarity just smiled.

“Twilight, darling.  You know I love you.”  Rarity reached her hoof out as if to caress Twilight’s face, but didn’t dare move it passed the threshold of the door.

“I- I’m not sure what to think right now,” said Twilight.

“Really?” Rarity put her hoof on her chin and gave Twilight a curious look.  “Well it isn’t too late for you to change your mind, Twilight.  Come over to me and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

It was so tempting to walk over to Rarity’s side.  Going back to her, to the way things were yesterday was everything in the world Twilight wanted.  If only there were some way to know the truth.

“I-“Twilight hesitated.  “It’s just that Fluttershy was- she’s connected to you mentally.  Like, you had her under control or something.  Why was that.”

“I can’t answer,” Rarity said flatly.

“But-!”

“Twilight, I know it’s hard right now, but I want you to think for a moment,” said Rarity.  “Why would I teach you to see mind control magic if I knew for a fact it would uncover some evil plot of mine, hm?”

“Stop trying to confuse her,” said Applejack.

“You’re smart, Twilight.  Think why I would do that!”  Rarity commanded.

“I’m disappointed.”  Rarity sighed.  “Look, I understand where you’re coming from, Twilight, but I’m not going to let my friends get hurt.  I’m taking them back and you can think about it all you want.”

Rarity ran off, or maybe she just vanished into thin air, it was too fast for twilight to tell.  She realized exactly where Rarity had gone a moment later when there was the sound of a huge crash coming from the bathroom.

“Oh buck!” Twilight's eyes widened.

The bathroom had no doors or windows to the outside, but the wall touched it.  Rarity had just made her own entrance.  And of course, as luck would have it, Applebloom had been hiding in there.

“Help!” Applebloom started screaming but it was muffled.  Big Mac rushed towards the bathroom door straight away, Applejack hesitating to give Twilight a scowl.

“How did she get inside?!” Applejack spat at Twilight.  “You said you didn't invite her!”

“I-I forgot!  I did invite her into the bathroom, but only cause the book said to!”

Applejack shoved Twilight aside and started moving to the bathroom door, Twilight following behind quickly as she could.  As the two mares got there, Big Mac came flying out of the bathroom door and slammed against the adjacent wall.

Inside the bathroom, Rarity had Applebloom held tight with one hoof.

“Well how about a trade, then?” Rarity asked.  “My sisters for yours.  I promise this will be the end of it and we'll never bother you again if you agree.”

“You're foal napping, Rarity?” Twilight shouted at her.

“Oh, shut up,” Rarity said.  “You two did the exact same literally five minutes ago.”

“Applejack,” Applebloom nervously peeked out from Rarity's grip, “maybe we should-”

“No,” said Applejack.  “We can't trust you!  Even if you let her go now you'll just take her again.”

To Applebloom's horror, Applejack went for the squirt gun.

“Really now?” Rarity raised an eyebrow.

All in one motion, Rarity gentle tossed Applebloom outside, through the hole she had made and, with her magic, tore a door off a cabinet in the bathroom and threw it at Applejack.  Of course, this all happened in a blink of an eye and Applejack had the door slam into her face hard before she could fire.

Applejack fell onto her back and clutched her face.  She was bleeding, but conscious.

“Stay outside or you'll get hurt,” Twilight heard Rarity mutter to Applebloom before turning her attention back to the adults.  “Alright!  We seem to be getting progressively more difficult, don't we?  So how about this?”

Twilight felt magic envelope her.  She and the other two adults lifted into the air, along with all of the bobble heads, squirt guns and balloons.  Twilight saw all of their weapons implode just before she felt herself slam into the wall behind her.  Rarity pulled the three of them forward, then slammed them hard into the wall two more times before dropping them to the floor.

Pained coursed through Twilight's limbs.  She was bruised all over and slightly disoriented.  Her front left leg particularly hurt badly, it had to have been sprained at least.

“Stay down,” said Rarity.

Twilight’s head was spinning.  She didn’t have much choice but to obey.  Applejack seemed to be even worse off, wincing badly in pain, unable to get off the floor.  It must have been her leg or something.

Big Mac immediately disobeyed.  Being the biggest of the three, the blow probably hit him the least so he was able to get right back up.  Yet as soon as he did, Rarity tore the door to the bathroom of its hinges and slammed it into Big Mac's head so hard it actually broke!

Big Mac managed to shrug that off with his amazingly hard head and close the gap with Rarity.  He gave Rarity a hard buck in the face, one that would easily knock out a normal pony in a single blow.  It had even dealt a good amount of damage to Rainbow Dash.  But against Rarity?

It didn’t even make her stumble – not even with the silver and all the bobble heads.  Really it looked like Big Mac had merely slapped her.  Her head turned slightly, but other than that and putting a dangerous look on Rarity’s face his kick did nothing.

Big Mac looked stunned, but quickly regained his composure.  He kicked her again with all his might, Rarity just letting the blow hit her on the chest where it did nothing.  He reeled up for a third kick, but before this one connected, Rarity put her hoof up and grabbed his hind leg, stopping the force.

Big Mac tried and tried to pull his leg out of her grip, but couldn’t gain an inch.  While he started panicking, Rarity just continued to glare at him with an unamused look.

After a few seconds, after Rarity felt she’d made her point, she lifted Big Mac into the air with one hoof, swung her around and slammed him into the ground behind her.  She didn’t stop there, lifting him into the air again immediately after.  This time she threw him out the hole in the bathroom wall.  Big Mac went sailing off into the distance, landing all the way at the bottom of the hill with a thud.  He didn’t get back up.

“Well so much for your muscle.”  Rarity rolled her eyes and turned back to the mares.  “I’m really not sure how much more obvious it can get that you’re on the wrong side, Twilight.”

Everypony was stunned.  They had expected Rarity to be strong but this?  This was just too much!

“Okay, this is way more intense than I thought I’d be!”  Scootaloo dropped her gun and grabbed onto Dinky, who squeezed back.  “I don’t want to be vampire hunters anymore!”

“Me neither!”  Dinky agreed.  “I think we should try basket weaving instead next time!”

“I think you fillies should leave now,” Rarity gave them a very stern look.  “And yes I mean all three of you, Applebloom.  The two of you inside, go join her.”

The two fillies inside made and eep sound, then quickly scurried into the bathroom, trembling as they passed Rarity, and stood next to Applebloom.

“Good.”   Rarity gave them a stern look.  “Now run.”

The three of them didn’t need to be told twice.  The cutie mark crusaders screamed and ran out into the night.  Twilight had no idea where they were headed.

This was getting too intense.  Twilight had to fight now!  Without getting off the floor, Twilight shot multiple bursts of magic at Rarity, but she, with her supernatural speed, effortlessly sidestepped them all, leaving them to singe the floor and shatter the sink.

Rarity returned fire, a single shot that didn't miss.  Twilight felt the impact, but it hurt much less than she would have suspected.  It probably just didn't register yet, because now Twilight was seeing stars.  She was lying on her side, her vision blurred to the point of near-blindness, he body refusing to move.

Twilight didn't see the next part, but she heard a loud crash coming from the bathroom.  A moment passed as Twilight's vision began to come back to normal, then she heard a voice.

“Rarity!” Pinkie called.  “I knew you'd save us!  But did you really have to hit them so hard?”

“Apparently,” said Rarity.  “When I finish untying you I need you to help Rainbow out.  I know it will be painful but my magic won't work on silver.”

Twilight could kind of see what had happened now.  Rarity had smashed a hole in the wall between the bathroom and bedroom.  She was concentrating hard, presumably freeing Pinkie Pie with significant difficulty.

If she freed the two of them, and Applejack was right, then Twilight could very well be dead soon.  She should be doing something, desperately trying to get back up, but all she could think of was that half of her bathroom, the sink and cabinet was in her bedroom now.

And that gave Twilight an idea.  It was completely insane and stupid, but in times like these that was all anyone could really hope for.

Rarity was distracted, focused on freeing Pinkie.  Twilight could get a hit in, but it wouldn't stop her.  Twilight could use the opportunity for something else, though.

“Applejack,” she whispered.

Applejack had finally recovered herself and looked like she was about to get up.  She didn’t seem to hear Twilight at first, scrambling to get back on her legs and lowering herself like she was about to pounce on Rarity.

“No,” said Twilight.  “I know your leg is hurt, but ram into that wall instead.”

Applejack gave Twilight a confused look.

“Trust me,” she whispered.

In all honesty, Twilight didn't even trust herself, but Applejack did.  Without hesitation, she charged to the wall and bucked it hard, putting yet another large hole in it.  Rarity raised an eyebrow at her as she faltered, then bucked the wall again, making the hole even larger.

At the same time, Twilight gathered her strength and stood up.  She fired a blast of magic into the bathroom, not at Rarity, but at her bathtub, which exploded on contact, creating a third stream of water.

“What are you even-?” Rarity began, but Twilight didn't let her finish.

Twilight grabbed the mattress in the next room with her magic and pulled it into the bathroom as hard as she could.  Moving it into the other room took significant effort but Twilight gave it everything she had.

“That's not!” Twilight shouted just as she was throwing the bed.  “The bathroom!  Anymore!”

And to Twilight's amazement, that actually, bucking worked.

How it worked, she would never have even the slightest idea.  On a biological or even magical level it made absolutely no sense, but neither did the invitations thing in general.

Rarity screamed and burst into flames.  Unlike the movies, these flames could actually burn things, namely the mattress that was on top of her.  The flames spread so quickly, too, and soon there was a blazing fire inside the bathroom.

It was also filled with water, which was probably why her house didn't burn down instantly.

“Rarity!” Pinkie screamed.  “No!”

And Rarity was screaming too, and so were at least one of the fillies.  The mattress had mostly burned up and Rarity continued to scream and flail and roll around the floor uncontrollably.  She was going to burn down the house after all!

Twilight tried to redirect the streams of water coming from the pipes to douse the fire.  It put out everything else, but Rarity just kept burning.  Was she going to die?  Murder wasn't part of the plan!

Applejack looked relieved but Twilight's heart was still racing.  She couldn't seriously leave Rarity burning like that, thrashing around and screaming.  She just couldn’t take it.

“Rarity,” said Twilight, “you're invited to my house.  Just for today, though.”

And just like that, the fire died down.  Applejack staggered backwards, but calmed down when she saw that Rarity wasn't getting up.

“Why did you do that?!”  Applejack spat at Twilight.

“I-I couldn’t kill her!”  Twilight was taken aback by the anger.  “You said we were just going to capture them!  That you could turn them back!”

Applejack ignored Twilight, trotting outside in a huff to check on Big Mac.  She muttered something about him being unconscious and stormed her way back into the house.

That was when Twilight noticed something was off.  Applejack was walking perfectly fine.

“Y-your hoof,” Twilight said breathlessly.  “I thought you broke your-“

Twilight’s eyes opened wide.  That wasn’t the only odd thing about Applejack.  The fur on her hooves and belly, where she touched the soaked carpet were singed slightly.  She used the last little bit of her magic to pick up a piece of cloth, soaked from all the holy water and threw it at Applejack.

Applejack reeled as it hit her and burned her just a little.

A lot of things suddenly made sense.  What her friends had been trying to warn her about, why she could never get the things Applejack said out of her head, why- why almost everything!

“You’re a vampire.”  Twilight stared unblinkingly at Applejack.

“You’re too smart for your own good, Twilight.”  Applejack gave Twilight a deadly look.  “But not smart enough for your own good neither.  That’s a dangerous thing.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes, took a step forward and spread her wings.

Why- all the why’s made sense.  All of them but one.

“Why?!”  Twilight shouted at Applejack.  “What are you- why are you doing this?!”

“You don’t understand, Twilight!  Killing Rarity is the only way I can go back to normal, the only way I can stop being a monster!  I need to-“

“-you!  You were the one using mind control on me!”  Twilight shouted at her.  “You were using me just so you could kill them?!  You’re the monster!”

“I am not!”  Applejack punched Twilight hard in the face.

Applejack gritted her teeth and scowled at Twilight.

“Look, Twilight.  I’ll admit to lots of things that maybe I shouldn’t have done,” said Applejack.  “I hypnotized you and Thunderlane and a bunch of other ponies too.  I used you to try and lure them into a trap.  I’ve been lying to you about how vampires work and my own family about myself for years.  I’m not proud of any of that, but Rarity?  Rarity is seriously a murderer, Twilight.”

Applejack gave a deadly look down at Rarity.

“I was just gonna let her live, you know,” said Applejack.  “But when she started killing ponies around town- well I figured someone had to bring her to justice and I might as well use her to get back to normal too.”

“I-is that how you justify it?” Twilight ask.

“Shut up.”  Applejack scowled.  “I didn’t expect you’d understand.”

Twilight tried to get up but she couldn’t manage it.

“You could have just walked away from this, you know.  But now it’s too late.”

“B-buck you!”

Oh sweet Celestia, was Applejack going to kill her now?  Applejack kicked Twilight again, then picked her up with a single hoof, holding her by the withers and stared deep into her eyes.  Twilight tried to close her but Applejack just pinned her against the wall and pried Twilight’s eyes open.

“Now listen, I ain’t gonna kill you, but-“

Applejack was interrupted when a rush of air blew through the room.  It wasn’t just wind, either, Twilight felt something – some kind of powerful spell being cast.

“What was that?”  Applejack looked around the room in a panic.  Neither her nor Twilight saw anything.  “What did you do?!  What spell was that?!”

“I didn’t-“  Twilight began before realizing what had happened herself.  “No...”

“No what?!”  Applejack didn’t look happy about the fear on Twilight’s face.

Or at least Twilight was fairly sure she knew what just happened.  Twilight carefully watched the room, seeing a few objects getting tossed around at random – as if something large but invisible was in the room.

“It’s the dreadstalker,” Twilight whispered.  “It teleported behind you.”

“What?!”  Applejack dropped Twilight and stumbled backwards.  “But that’s impossible!  There wasn’t any-!”

The dreadstalker let out a hideous trilling sound and suddenly burst into motion.

Dozens of quills shot out in Applejack’s general direction.  Most of them dug into Twilight’s walls and what was left of her furniture, but one managed to hit Applejack in the foreleg, digging deep into her.

Twilight opened her mouth to yell for Applejack to not try fighting it, but only managed to cough.  A moment later the dreadstalker was lunging at Applejack.  Applejack moved to dodge its lunges, but granted the thing was invisible there was no way to really react to it.  She managed to clumsily run around the room, trying to get to a door or a window but the spider was just too fast.  Before she got long, Applejack was pinned by some invisible force, the furniture about her being thrown around her.

The dreadstalker clearly had its fangs, normally used for tearing its prey wide open, logged in Applejacks’ forelegs.  It seemed to be going for the rip-open motion, pulling Applejack’s legs apart, but Applejack managed to keep them together somehow.  There was no doubt this thing would have torn the arms of a normal pony clean off by now, but a vampire seemed to be able to hold her own against it.

Applejack glanced around the room, uncertain of what to even do in this situation.  Before she could get any ideas, she fell out of midair, the dreadstalker apparently retracting its fangs.  Twilight had no idea what it did next, but Applejack was knocked across the room, landing on her back, then the air was knocked out of her as if something heavy had landed next to her.

The spider was probably right on top of Applejack now.  This could seriously be the end of her.

Applejack must have remembered how dreadstalkers killed just in time, because she threw her forelegs in front of her chest.  A moment later, two deep gashes, no doubt the fangs of the spider, dug their way deep into her arms.

Now Applejack was struggling against some unseen force trying to pry them apart.  The dreadstalker could have easily torn the forelegs off a normal pony, but Applejack seemed strong enough to just barely hold on.  The dreadstalker began making a high-pitched screeching noise while Applejack kicked her hind legs around haphazardly, hoping to get lucky and hit her invisible enemy somewhere, anywhere.

Twilight sat there watching it, wondering if she should be rooting for the dreadstalker or Applejack.  She honestly didn’t know which of them would be more likely to let her just walk away that this point.  Maybe Twilight could play dead if the thing ate Applejack?  Did that work on Dreadstalkers?

If nothing else, closing her eyes would spare her from seeing whatever was about to happen to Applejack.  She was pinned now and scratches were starting to appear on her, the dreadstalker cutting her with its sharp leg tips.

But as soon as Twilight closed her eyes, she heard a crash coming from the front door.  Twilight turned her eyes to see the door knocked off its hinges and charging in from the other side came Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gave a panicked look through the room, her eyes finally settling on Applejack, realizing what happened, that the dreadstalker was finally right in front of her.  Her expression turned more solemn as she approached it.

Well that was something.  Twilight wasn’t sure how big a deal that was – Fluttershy really, really didn’t seem to be the type that could handle a dreadstalker.  Then again, she was an animal expert.

Fluttershy stood inches away from the dreadstalker and bowed her head sorrowfully.

“I’m sorry,” she said to the spider.  Twilight had no doubt she meant it.

In a blink of an eye Fluttershy reached forward and, apparently, ripped on of its legs right off!

The black, spiked leg appeared in Fluttershy’s hoof, becoming visible now that it was dead and green blood came oozing out of where the leg had once been attached.  The spider screamed even louder than before and stumbled letting go of Applejack.

The Dreadstalker knocked around all manner of things as it stumbled, wildly spraying its remaining quills through the room.  Applejack tried to get up only to be hid by one, being forced to the ground.  Twilight, down low, managed to remain unscathed.

Fluttershy just stayed very still, watching the dreadstalker intently, letting one or two of the spikes hit her but acting as if they were mere splinters.  It tried spraying its acid next, but that seemed to be exactly what Fluttershy was waiting for.  Now certain of where the head was, Fluttershy jumped up into the air and spike the leg down into the dreadstalker’s brain.

It became visible in a second, dying instantly and falling limp to the ground.  And that was it.  Fluttershy had just effortlessly killed one of the deadliest monsters in the world.

She didn’t look happy about it, though.  She bent her head down against the spider solemnly.

“You won’t have to hurt anymore,” Fluttershy whispered to it.

“Fluttershy?”  Twilight blinked in amazement.  It was technically possible she was just hallucinating this, you know.  “I-I had no idea you were such a badass!”

Fluttershy turned to Twilight, her sorrow fading in an instant to one of pure hatred.  Fluttershy got up and practically stomped her way to Twilight.

“Twilight, can I ask you something?”  Fluttershy looked down at Twilight.

“Um.  Wh-wha-”

“Are you retarded?!”

“Wuh?”

“Why do you think everypony welcomed you with open hooves?  Why you got to go to all those parties?  Why you got all those favors?  Why money just started showing up out of nowhere?  Why they even gave you even gave you a chance to begin with?  It's because I said you were cool.  Because I thought you might want a place in our family.”

“Wait.  Your family?  You? Oh Sweet Celestia!  Rarity wasn't the head vampire fruit bat pony, was she?”

Fluttershy's eyes flashed and all the Celestia bobble heads in the room instantly burst into flames.  Her eyes didn't return to normal, but to the slitted glow of a bat pony.  Her body shifted, growing fangs, ear tufts and bat like wings.  There was no questioning it now.

“I'm not the head vampire,” said Fluttershy.  “I am the original vampire fruit bat pony.  Born fifty thousand years ago in the howling madness of the pre-Celestian era!”

“Why does this keep happening today?” Twilight moaned to herself.

“You could have had anything you wanted, Twilight,” said Fluttershy.  “Heck, you could have just said 'no' and I would have understood.  But instead you spit in my face and try to capture my children?!”

“I- I-!”  Twilight felt tears begin to stream down her face.  “Sorry?”

Fluttershy’s expression softened just a little.

“If you don’t want to be a vampire then just say ‘no thank you, I don’t want to be a vampire,” said Fluttershy.  She only waited a second before leaning down to get in Twilights face.  “Well?!”

“I-I don’t want to be a vampire.”

“There.”  Fluttershy pulled back in a huff.  “Was that hard?”

“N-

“Was it?!”

“No!”

“There.”  Fluttershy gave a flick of her wing and turned away.  “That’s all you had to do!  You didn’t need to go arming your house like some kind of sociopath.”

Fluttershy shook her head, dismissing Twilight before she looked the room over again, gasping when she saw the burnt mattress.

“Rarity!”  Fluttershy ran over to the mattress and pulled it off or Rarity.  “Don’t worry!  Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.  Here.”

Fluttershy cradled Rarity in her forelegs and looked around the room for a moment.

“Just give me a second.”  Fluttershy said before heading off into Twilight’s room.

Twilight couldn’t turn her head to see what was happening in there, but Rainbow Dash came out a moment later.  She gave Twilight a look of disgust before turning her attention to Rarity, wrapping her up in a blanket and picking her up.

“Are you okay, Twilight?”  Pinkie asked.

“Don’t talk to her,” Dash groaned.

“But-“ Pinkie frowned at Dash then smiled at Twilight.  “Twilight!  I know Fluttershy seems angry but if you just say you’re really, really sorry I’m sure she’ll forgive you!  She’s just like our mom, you know?  So…”

And then Fluttershy came out of the room.

“That’s enough, Pinkie,” said Fluttershy.

“Is Rarity going to be okay?”  Twilight managed to speak up.

“That’s none of your business,” said Fluttershy.  “Look Twilight, we did like you, but I think you should mind your own business from now on.  You can keep the money I sent you, though.  You’re uh… probably going to need it.”

“But Mom!”  Pinkie pleaded.  “I think you’re being too hard on Twilight!  Applejack tricked her!”

“Twilight made her decision.”  Fluttershy didn’t even look at Twilight.  “And we’re leaving in just a minute.”

Pinkie didn’t seem to be willing to stand up to Fluttershy.   Her ears just fell flat and her mane deflated a little.  She gave Twilight an apologetic look but stayed where she was.

Now it was Applejack’s turn.  Fluttershy trotted over to where she was lying, bleeding badly on Twilight’s carpet, stunned and dejected.

“There really was a dreadstalker.”  Applejack said more to herself.

“Yes.”  Fluttershy gestured over to the dead monster.  “It’s right there.  This is why vigilantism is illegal.”

Applejack just lowered her head and said nothing.

“Applejack.”  Fluttershy looked down at Applejack, now hurt for real.  “I know what happened to you is terrible and I give everypony a second chance so I’ll let you go this time.  You’ll never see me again unless you come looking, but I have something I want to say before I go.”

Fluttershy leaned down, stared Applejack right in the eye, giving her a deadly glare.

“I dare you to try this again!”

And with that Fluttershy stood up and turned her back on Applejack and Twilight both before walking off, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie walking at her side.

“Can we get ice-cream on the way home?”  Pinkie asked as they disappeared.  “I think ice cream would help.”

“For the last time, Pinkie, I’m not your mom,” said Fluttershy.  “But yeah, we can get ice cream.”

And then they were gone, Applejack and Twilight were alone again.

“Twilight!  I seriously thought that Rarity was-“ Applejack stammered.  “I was certain!”

Twilight just kept staring blankly at Applejack.

“I’m sorry,” said Applejack.

Twilight just stared back.

Applejack slowly got up and trotted away, head hung low in defeat, without another word.

And then Twilight was alone.