Chapter 28

Applejack was working away at her farm, carrying a couple baskets of apples over to the wagon. She was wearing dirty jeans with holes in the knees with a plaid button-up collared shirt. Her hat was on as usual, keeping the sun off of her already tanned face.

Her brother, Big Mac, was on the other side of the barn helping their younger sister move an old water tank which had rotted out and was starting to leak onto the ground.

They typically didn’t work too long on Saturdays and Sundays…usually they just tried to take care of a few things that needed to be looked after that there wasn’t time for during the week.

AJ was in somewhat of a bad mood after they day before. She had a run-in with a client called Filthy Rich, who was blaming them for a skid of product that had gotten damaged in shipping. AJ was shaking her head as she set the baskets on the back of the wagon, swearing under her breath.

She took a moment to look around the farm…the place she grew up at and now ran alongside her siblings. She looked around at the rolling hills, covered with apple trees as far as she could see. Every so often there was a path or a white fence in between the rows, separating the different varieties of apples that they grew there. In the yard, there was an old farm house, where they all lived together. It felt crowded at times, especially after Big Mac got married and his wife, Cheerilee moved in with them. She was a young teacher at the high school who had started fresh out of teacher’s college the year Big Mac graduated. She was a few years older than him, but they seemed to hit it off very well after Apple Bloom had her as a teacher during her freshman year and introduced the two of them.

There was also the big, old red barn…with its one wall just recently repaired after the tractor incident a few weeks ago. It was a pretty easy fix for Applejack, what with having magical super-strength and all, but it caused her to miss the Saturday dinner that week. It turned out to be for the better however, since Fluttershy managed to end up with a good boyfriend out of the ordeal.

AJ suddenly paused as she heard something with a loud engine running in the distance. It wasn’t one of their tractors; in fact, it sounded like it was coming from the road. She turned to look at the long driveway, squinting at a small object making its way along the path, appearing jiggly behind the heat waves in the late-morning sun with a trail of dust billowing up behind it. Whatever it was, it was moving pretty fast.

AJ watched as it got closer, until she was able to see that it was a motorcycle. “Who in tarnation is that?” she wondered. She took off her work gloves and slapped them together, then folded her arms across her chest, letting the gloves stick out under her right arm. She leaned on the wagon and crossed her feet, shaking her head as she saw the stranger park the bike next to the old Ford pickup.

She watched as the person got off of the bike and removed their helmet, revealing a large head of wavy red and yellow hair.

Applejack stood up suddenly. “Oh shit, it’s Sunset Shimmer…what’s she doin out here?” the farm girl wondered as she started walking towards her friend in the driveway.

Sunset appeared to be out of sorts…taking a few steps, looking around, then changing direction and taking a few more steps.

“What is she, on fuckin bath salts or some shit?” AJ mumbled to herself as she walked. “HEY SUNSET! OVER HERE!”

Sunset turned in her direction, scanning around with her eyes until she pinpointed AJ. She broke into a run as soon as she located the farm girl.

AJ watched as Sunset ran the whole way over to her position, finally stopping about ten feet in front of her. The out-of-breath red-head bent down, leaning on her knees with her hands as she tried to catch her breath.

“Sunset? What in the hell’s going on?” Applejack asked.

Sunset stood up, panting. Her wavy red locks were hanging across her sweaty face as she tried to speak. “Applejack…they’re…they’re onto him…agent…don’t text Fluttershy…this is so bad…” her nonsensical words were punctuated by heavy breaths.

Applejack stepped forward, putting her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Whoa there, slow down. Catch yer breath…”

Sunset nodded and let herself settle down for a minute or two. Once she caught her breath and collected her thoughts, she started explaining more coherently what had happened.

“Someone came to Fluttershy’s this morning…looking for Golds.” She started.

“Oh? Who?” AJ asked.

“He was CIA…” Sunset replied, looking at AJ.

Applejack’s eyes went wide. “No shit! Did they find him?” she asked loudly, taking off her hat and slapping her hand onto the top of her head.

Sunset shook her head. “Not yet, but the thing at the bar tipped them off…”

AJ chewed her bottom lip, looking around at the trees in the distance. “Shit…I knew no good would come of that…”

“It gets worse…” Sunset continued. “He bugged Fluttershy’s house. He can hear everything going on in there, plus he can intercept data from cell phones…even after you leave the house.” she said as she held up her phone. “So I can’t use this to warn anyone…I need your help.”

AJ took her phone out of her pocket. “Way ahead of ya, sugarcube.” She said, putting her hat back on and turning on her phone.

“I need you to text everyone, except me and Fluttershy.” Sunset instructed. “And we need to stop Golds from coming home from work at noon. The agent is staking out Fluttershy’s for the next two weeks. If Golds comes home, he’ll run right into this guy…it won’t be good…and neither me or Fluttershy can warn him not to come home because of the bug.”

AJ shrugged her shoulders. “How is it a trap? Won’t Golds just kick the livin shit out of this guy?”

“No…that’s a bad idea.” Sunset shook her head. “He’s supposed to report back to headquarters after the two weeks to go on another assignment, if he doesn’t show up, they’ll come looking for him.”

“How would they even know where to look?” AJ asked, looking at her phone as she spoke.

“He’s got someone on the inside who’s helping him. If he didn’t come back, that person would know exactly where to look.” Sunset answered.

“Why would he need someone on the inside of his own organization?” AJ asked, scrolling through her contacts.

“Because he’s acting alone…this isn’t a mission they sent him on. It doesn’t matter, anyway. We have to keep Golds away from Fluttershy’s, no matter what. If Agent Cody sees him and gets word back to his people, there’ll be more of them showing up…it’ll be bad.”

AJ shook her head in disbelief. “Wait…this fuckin guy told you all this?”

Sunset shut her eyes while shaking her head. “No no, I managed to get a read on his mind. I know everything he’s doing…he’s not supposed to be here. He’s obsessed with finding Golds. The CIA isn’t even actively looking for him. And that person he has on the inside is the one who got him the bug…”

AJ looked confused. “Wait, if the CIA isn’t looking for him, why would they send more people if this Cody guy finds Golds?”

“Because there is another organisation that IS looking for him. No one even knows they exist, but they use CIA people, like Agent Cody, to do some of their field work. They tell the CIA what they want done, then the CIA tells Agent Cody what to do. That’s how they keep themselves anonymous from the people working for them, in case they get captured and interrogated or something…”

AJ frowned. “So this Cody guy doesn’t even know who he’s actually working for?”

“No.” Sunset replied. “But he’s trying to get on their good side by finding Golds. He really wants to work for them directly so he won’t have to be out in the field anymore. That’s why he’s out here on his own right now.”

Applejack looked up at her friend, shaking her head. “This is big…” she mumbled.

“Yeah.” Sunset said, staring at the ground.

AJ smiled at her friend. “It’s a good thing you were there, Sunset. That was good thinking, using your magic on him. You really saved Fluttershy’s bacon.”

“Yeah, Flutters would have been caught by now if I hadn’t been there…” Sunset said, looking around the farm. “She wouldn’t have known about the bug and she would have texted Golds to warn him. This Agent is slick…I didn’t even see him plant the bug under the chair.”

Applejack looked at Sunset with a smirk. “Not slick enough to go up against a mind-reader…” she said, then she frowned. “Hey wait, if you know where that bug is, why don’t you just get rid of it?”

Sunset shook her head. “We can’t…it will look suspicious, he’ll know we found it if we take it down. Flutters needs to look innocent, like she doesn’t know anything about Golds.”

AJ shook her head. “Dang, you’re right.” She said, going through her phone, collecting the names to send a group text to. Then she looked up at Sunset. “What were you doing there so early on a Saturday?”

Sunset stopped for a second…her pupils shrank at the question. “Uh, I was just visiting Fluttershy…to see how she was doing.”

AJ stared at the red-head for a few seconds, then her eyes went wide when she thought of something else. “How did Fluttershy handle that agent being there in her house? She must have been scared shitless…”

Sunset looked at the farm girl. “She was, I honestly thought she might crack…that guy was intense…but she actually did OK.”

AJ looked back at her phone to continue what she was doing. “Fluttershy can be pretty tough sometimes… when she wants to be.” she said.

Sunset nodded, folding her arms as she looked at the barn in the distance. “Yeah…I’m really worried about her though…having that guy watching her house…if he finds out that she’s indestructible just like Golds he might try to take her too…”

AJ stopped, then looked up at Sunset. “What did you just say?” she asked, eyes wide.

Sunset froze. “Oh shit…” She turned slowly towards Applejack, eyes open wide with pupils like pinpoints. AJ was looking up from her phone at Sunset with a shocked look on her face.

“Uhh…” Sunset started.

“What was that about Fluttershy? Did you just say she’s just like Golds now?” AJ asked.

Sunset cringed. ”Um…yeah?”

AJ dropped her phone on the ground and slapped her hands on top of her hat, flattening it down. “Holy shit! When did that happen??”

“SHHHH! I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone yet!” Sunset cried, putting her hands out to AJ. “It happened a couple weeks ago…”

“How?” AJ shouted.

“APPLEJACK! I’ll tell you later!…You need to finish sending those messages right now!” Sunset pleaded, pointing at AJ’s phone on the ground.

“Aw shit…OK…” AJ bent down to pick up the phone, then finished sending the text to everyone. “OK, it’s sent.”

Sunset nodded. “Good, now send one to Golds. Tell him to stay at work and not to text Fluttershy.”

“I ain't got his number, d’you?” AJ said, looking at Sunset.

“Yeah, I’ve got it” Sunset said. She pulled her phone out and read my number off, then deleted my contact and her text conversations with me.

Sunset told AJ what to say in the text, telling me not to come home and that she was going to meet me at work to explain everything.

When AJ finished sending the text, Sunset spoke again. “OK, I just have to find out where he works…do you know where it is?”

AJ put her phone in her pocket. “Yeah, I know the place. But I told him I was going to see him.”

“What? Why did you do that??” Sunset asked frantically, pulling her hair.

“Cuz you’re pulling yer hair right now, Sunset. You need a break. Besides, you should get to town before the stores close so you can get yerself another phone.” AJ explained as she started walking towards the old Ford truck.

“Right…OK.” Sunset sighed as she followed AJ to the driveway.

The two of them made a few more plans as they walked. AJ decided to have the Saturday dinner at her farm…it had been a long time since she hosted anyway. It was obvious that they couldn’t do it at Fluttershy’s as usual. Once they were all there, they would explain the situation to everyone…and AJ insisted that Fluttershy told everyone her secret.

After a quick shout towards the house, telling her Granny that she had to head out, Applejack got in her truck and headed for my work. Sunset hopped on her bike and headed for town.

*****

I was at work, standing under a pickup truck that was raised into the air on the hoist, in the middle of replacing the clutch. I only had a couple more bolts to remove in order to take the transmission out. I hadn’t had time to check my phone, so I didn’t know about AJ’s text yet.

It was almost noon, I was just going to get the clutch out of the truck and call it a day. The flywheel would have to be sent out for machining anyway and the machine shop was closed, so it would have to wait for Monday.

“Hey Golds!” my boss shouted, walking into the shop. He was wearing his work pants and a black golf shirt with the shop name on the left side of the chest. He had a big stomach that hung over his belt, thin gray hair and walked with a waddle. His knees and back gave him a lot of trouble in his old age after years of working on cars. “There’s someone here to see you.”

I turned around to see someone walking with him I didn’t expect.

Applejack.

She looked like something was wrong.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said, using the impact wrench to remove the last bolt from the bell housing. I set the tool down on my service cart, keeping the other hand on the transmission to keep it in place. I reached up with my other hand, grabbed the bell housing and pulled the transmission out, bent down and gently set it down on the floor.

My boss looked nervously at the girl who just saw what I did. “Uh, hey shouldn’t you be using a tranny jack for that?” He said, trying in vain to cover it up.

I chuckled. “It’s OK, Gord. She knows.”

The old man’s bushy eyebrows went up. “Oh OK, carry on then, tough guy.”

“Hey there, sugarcube.” AJ finally said timidly.

I looked at her, getting a sense that something was definitely wrong. “Is everything alright?”

“Uh, well…” AJ rubbed the back of her neck. “You’d better not go home after work.”

My boss and I both stopped.

“Why?” I asked…thinking it had something to do with Rarity, even thought AJ shouldn’t know about any of that.

“Someone from the CIA was there today…” she explained.

My boss and I looked blankly at each other.

I let my hands down from what I was doing and shook my head. “Damn…” I whispered to myself.

“He planted a bug in Fluttershy’s house…it picks up voices in the house and cell phone messages…so you can’t text her neither. And don’t text Sunset…she was there with Fluttershy, so her phone got bugged too.” AJ explained.

I looked at AJ. “Sunset was there?”

She nodded. “It’s a darn good thing too, she managed to read him and figure out what he was doing. Don’t worry, she’s on top of it.”

“Did she tell you anything about this guy?” I asked, wiping my hands off with a shop rag.

“She said he’s there alone…apparently he’s got a big hard-on for finding you.” AJ replied.

I looked at Applejack, chewing my bottom lip as I thought. “Is it Cody?” I finally asked.

AJ looked surprised for a moment, then she nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. How'd you know?”

I shook my head, turning away from them. “That fucking guy…I knew I should have killed him.” I said aloud to myself.

Both AJ and my boss looked stunned by what I said.

I looked back at them, then sighed. “About ten years ago I had a run-in with a team of CIA agents who were trying to re-acquire me. They failed, obviously…but Cody was part of that team. He was just a rookie…I didn’t feel right about killing him, so I let him think he got away. I thought he seemed like a sensible guy and that he might just let it go, but he ended up becoming obsessed with me.”

“That sounds about right…Sunset said he’s there on his own. The good news is that he’s gone after two weeks. He’s expected back at the CIA headquarters, but he’s staking out Fluttershy’s until then.” AJ explained.

I shook my head. “Fuck…I let him live and this is how he re-pays me.” I looked at AJ as I continued. “Of course he’s alone, the CIA isn’t that interested in me anymore. There’s a new generation of guys in there these days, and they all think I’m just a myth. Except for Cody…he’s the only one who saw me that day and lived to tell about it.”

Applejack folded her arms, shaking her head. “Sunset says there’s another group looking for you…someone higher up and more secretive than the CIA…and this Cody guy is hoping to impress them.”

I looked at AJ for a minute, chewing the inside of my cheek. “Shit.” I finally said, looking down at the floor. This wasn’t something that I was aware of.

“So…” AJ started. “I take it this Agent Cody ain’t no rookie anymore?”

I shook my head. “No, he’d be a fully trained field agent by now. Not someone you guys wanna tangle with.”

“We’ve got our magic…” AJ said.

“No!’ I said quickly. “Don’t let him find out you guys have powers or they’ll be after all of you.”

AJ hung her head, wishing this situation hadn’t happened upon us. After a few moments of thought, she finally spoke. “Well anyway, Sunset wants Fluttershy to just stay there and keep quiet. She said not to take the bug down or that guy will be onto her.” she said.

I nodded. “Yeah…no, don’t take the bug down. It’s best if she just stays quiet and looks as inconspicuous as possible until he leaves.”

“Well, if anyone is good at staying quiet, it’s Fluttershy.” AJ chuckled.

“You got that right.” I said, smiling at AJ. “That Sunset Shimmer is sharp as a tack, eh?”

“Yeah,” AJ replied. “Thank god she was there or Fluttershy would have been screwed…I guarantee she would have texted you right away, warning you not to come home and that Cody guy woulda been all over it. We definitely don’t want her having a run-in with him…we can’t have him finding out that she’s like you…”

There was a jolt in my chest when AJ said this. I looked at her with wide-eyes.

She smiled. “Yeah, I know about her, sugarcube. Sunset accidently blabbed to me about it this morning.”

I sighed. “Yeah. It was kind of unexpected…that it happened.”

“It’s OK. I think it’s great.” She said, adjusting her hat. “Anyway…I just came to warn you not to go home and not to call or text anyone.”

I nodded to AJ, then looked at my boss. “Sorry Gord.“ I said, shaking my head. “Looks like I’ve gotta disappear for a while. I can’t be in the area with him around.”

He looked sombre as he nodded back. “It’s OK, tough guy. I can get Jim to look after this clutch on Monday. You go.” And with that, he turned and waddled back to the front office.

I felt bad for the old man. I’m sure at that moment he wasn’t expecting to see me ever again.

“Where are you gonna go?” AJ asked.

“Don’t worry. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to disappear. And the less you know, the better.” I said, going to my tool box and getting my keys and phone out of the top drawer.

Applejack and I walked outside to our trucks. I put my stuff in the cab of mine and started it up to let the engine warm up for a minute.

I turned to AJ. “Can you tell Fluttershy that I love her?”

"You sure you don't wanna come do dinner before you go? It's at my place this weekend...then you can tell her yerself." AJ offered.

I shook my head. "It's too close to her place...believe me, I'd like to...but if he happens to see me in the area then it's going to cause a lot of shit for us. It's not worth the risk."

Applejack nodded. “OK. You got it then, sugarcube. I'll tell her for you. And don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her.” AJ said.

I nodded. “Thanks…for everything. All of you. You guys made my life liveable again.” I said.

She smiled, then stepped closer, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. I hugged her back, feeling the sadness well up in my chest at the thought that I wasn’t even going to see Fluttershy one more time before I left. No goodbyes, no nothing…she was going to be gone from my life for two weeks, maybe longer if things decided to go bad.

I got in my truck, giving AJ a final nod before I drove off towards Canterlot, intending to pass though the town and continue up north.