“Well, that sucked, and Shane, did you have to egg her on every time she asked a question? Answering ‘that’s what she said’ is not the way to get us out of trouble.”

I chuckled at Cross as the three of us walked away from the crystal castle. Four hours. For four hours book princess had chewed me, and by that extension them, out. Oh, it started with the language, then went into the responsibility we had to show colts and fillies the right way, and how it was irresponsible for us to get drunk.

“What can I say, Cap? I was tired of getting the riot act over something stupid and small.”

Cort rolled his eyes, and Cross just glanced over at me. “Yeah, but you got us yelled at, too.”

I shrugged and gestured. “I am going to go back, shower up, change clothing, and go check on AJ.”

Cross yawned. “I should get back home, I am willing to bet the wife is going to chew my ear too.” he turned off heading for the station as we walked.

Cort looked up. “You mind walking home alone? I am going to…”

I cut him off. “Go see Golden, I get it,” watching him smile and turn off on another small road off the main one. I watched him for a moment then looked back to where I was walking, offering ponies a nod as I walked past, heading for Sweet Apple Acres.

---

I arrived at the hospital feeling a lot more human now. Walking down the hall I gave the guards a nod. One of them kept coughing and gesturing at me, but I didn’t get it. I just gave him a nudge “best get that looked at” as I opened the door.

AJ was sitting up in bed, this is great! Next I noted the other two in the room. One kind of chubby white unicorn, and one chromatic-maned pegasus. All three looked a bit… peeved. I was just pondering turning around and leaving when the door gently clicked behind me. Well, best thing I could hope for now is to not get too hurt. “Jackie, you are sitting up! That’s good. Are you feeling better?”

Her eyes, despite the anger shown in them, grew soft and she gave a nod. “Ah am, or ah was ‘til someone went and taught my little sister a new word.”

I took note of a little surprise in Rarity’s eyes and a bit of a smug grin on Rainbow’s muzzle when I used the name Jackie. I gave a bit of a shrug of my shoulders. “It wasn’t intentional, I was just waking up, I had no clue they were there.”

Dash chimed in then. “Dude, it was majorly uncool of you… but I get where you were.”

Rarity let off a little huff. “I expected you to be the gentlepony!”

“Gentleman,” I interrupted, only to receive a huff once more, which caused AJ to chuckle.

“As I was sayin’ I expect you to apologize to my parents, and to Sweetie Belle.”

I exhaled and gave a nod. “Fair enough. And for what it is worth, I am sorry. I am not saying that because I cursed, I am saying it because I should have watched what I said without looking around first.”

The three looked at each other and back at me again. It was pretty clear to me they were still tweaked, but I was out of danger… for now.

“Well then,” Rarity spoke up, “Perhaps, darling, we should see our way out. I am sure Applejack and Shane have things to talk about.”

Dash perked her ears. “No way, I want to hear all—hey, ouch! Quit pulling!”

I repressed a laugh as Rarity’s magic lit up around Rainbow’s ear and started to tug her to the door.

Once they had left, I turned and set my sights on the orange mare in the bed. Walking over to her, I once more pulled the chair over closer with my foot and sat so she wouldn’t have to look up at me. I could tell based on looks that she was still ticked, but there was more on her mind than just that. “Shane…”

I had to cut her off, lifting my hand up and putting a finger to her lips, shaking my head. “Jackie, we will figure it out, okay? You and I, we will figure it out. It is going to be a wild ride, that is for sure.”

She smiled some. “Long as ya are honest with me, and yerself.”

Applejack grew quiet and eased back on the bed, exhaling some. After a few minutes passed, her ears laid back. “So… are we… special someponies now?”

I blinked and reached up, tugging my hat off and setting it down. Without meaning to, it rested half on top of her ol’ stetson on the table next to the bed. I scratched my head then gave a bit of a nod. “I guess that we are if we are going to try to date and see what becomes of this.”

Seeing her nod, I leaned back in the chair. “So, what did the doc say? How long before you can come home?” Some little part of me deep inside, if it had eyes, it would have blinked. Did I just call the farm, home?

The earth pony emanated a snort. “Darn fool said ah have to stay here fer another few days. Said the stitches need to be cleaned and checked, then a bunch of stuff ah didn’t right understand, but ah guess he knows his job.”

She reached out and I took her hoof in hand. We didn’t talk, rather we just looked at each other and enjoyed the peaceful moment while we had it.

---

The next few days were long and filled with meetings. Most of them were with Mayor Mare, as well as Twilight. The purple book pony was still quite miffed at me, but she would get over it. I learned that for now the temporary station was to be in the basement of the crystal castle. In the meantime, the mayor had found a spot near city hall for the substation to be built. A few old abandoned and for-sale buildings would be torn down and the new one put up in their place.

The gryphons captured gave us nothing new and were now under heavy guard being transferred by train up to Canterlot. Seems the one I had shot,was the ring leader and never told the others who their contact was, or even hinted at where the money came from. The only thing we had was the fact that the contact was a unicorn. Well, great, that narrowed it down to about a third of the population.

I was sitting down at the small desk in the temp station with a pad of paper in front of me. On it was a list of names and titles; I wanted to get my thoughts down in writing along with a few notes, so I started a list of who might dislike the Apple family this much.

Nobles: Disliked the Apples for getting involved in politics again. Most are unicorns. Smart enough to know even if they got rid of a few, other apples would stand up and take their place.

Gryphons: Hired guns, no direct connection found at this time.

Other ranchers/farmers: Can’t see this being a remote possibility. The Apples seem well liked even among other crop farmers.

I sat there, scrutinizing the short list. I had next to nothing in the way of notes, information, evidence, nothing! The pencil snapped in half as I flexed my hand into a fist. Frowning, I lay the two halves on the desk. “I am missing something,” I uttered out loud, fingers on my temples. “Who had to gain from this attack? Who would profit from it?”

The door behind me opened, so I turned to look. Walking in, Twilight gave me a half smile, and in her magic’s glow, she carried a folder. “Shane, I got the report back on the bits found with the gryphons,” she said as she sat it on the desk and opened it. “Nothing unusual, but…”

I lifted an eyebrow. “But?”

She waved her hoof. “One bit, a single bit. It was very odd.”

I kept myself from rolling my eyes. “Odd, how, Twi?” gesturing with my hand for her to continue.

She sat down and flipped a few pages, turning one around so I could read it. “The magical signature of one bit was Luna’s.”

I blinked. “All right, let’s play pretend Shane knows jack sh—crud about magic.”

She frowned, but went back to explaining without further question. “Okay, as you know everything as a magical signature here, you call it um, background radiation.”

She tapped the page. “So, when a unicorn creates something—even if it is just using the magic to stamp something out—some of that magical signature, unique to the pony, is imbued on the item.” I nodded in acknowledgement as I listened further. “So that means, while all the rest of the coins were minted at the royal mint, this one coin, was minted by Luna herself.”

I frowned a bit and looked at the paper. “So… I am not sure I get the significance of this, Twilight.”

She again tapped it. “Shane, Luna has not minted coins in over a thousand years! I checked with her. All of the coins minted in that era have been long pulled from circulation and sit in the royal vault as part of Equestria’s strategic reserves.”

The purple alicorn of friendship had my full attention now. “So, the coin had to come from the Royal vault, or…”

She finished my sentence for me. “Someone’s private vault or collection.”

I tapped my finger on the table thinking about things for a bit as I looked at the papers, then over at my notes. “Twilight, can I request research to be done?”

Her eyes lit up. “Of course! What are you thinking, Shane?”

I grabbed the half pencil and started to jot down notes. “Okay, we need to look at any thefts in Canterlot or the major cities of bit collections, private large vaults, or safes in the last… oh say, five years?”

Twilight tilted her head as she seemed to think that over then I saw the idea dawning on her. Her eyes widened and she gave a nod. “I... I think I see what you are going for here. If we can trace where the bit came from, because it is so rare. With a bit of luck...”

It was now my turn to finish her words. “Then we can follow the path back to the person who used it to pay the gryphons.”

She lit up bright and flared her wings with glee. “That is brilliant, Shane! Where did you get the idea?”

I smiled. “An old cops trick, follow the money.”

She tucked her wings back in. “I will send a note right away to Celestia and to Captain Crossed Swords. I am sure we can get resources started on this right away! I will let Golden know to start coordinating with the Police and Guard outposts in Manehattan and Fillydelphia.”

With a blinding flash, she was gone. I rubbed my eyes and waited for the spots to disappear again. “I really wish she would warn me before she does that.”

---

After that I made it to the hospital just in time to help get Applejack into a wagon. A big Apple stallion by the name of Fireside Apple had ventured in from Appleloosa to help on the farm until Big Mac’s leg was finished healing up.

“Ah can walk just fine!” the stubborn mare stomped her hoof, a big bandage still around her barrel and a smaller one around her head near her right ear to keep the stitches clean. Her black eye had faded quite a bit, but her eye was still a little bloodshot.

I cleared my throat. “I seem to remember telling you the same thing.”

She spun her head looking at me even as Fireside and Granny Smith started to chuckle. “Now what in the hay does that have to do with…” she cut herself off and just stood there, eyeballing me.

I smirked at her. “Yeah?”

She stomped her hoof, scowling. “Shut up, Shane. Okay, ah get it. Ah will ride in the wagon but ah ain’t gonna be happy about it none.”

Once we were under way, the big off-yellow stallion pulling the wagon spoke in a thick drawl. “Ranger, ah was wonder’n. Ah get why you are walking with us, but why is cousin Cortland up there in front of us with his crossbow, an why is there two guards walking back a ways pacing us?”

I admit, perhaps I was a bit overboard. I had the old coach gun in my hands aimed up in the air, and my peacemaker on my hip. I glanced over at him and back around watching as we walked. “Fireside, because we don’t know who sent the gryphons yet, and I will be damned if I am going to let my guard down until I find them.”

He glanced over at me, then back to his pulling. “Cousin AJ, ah think you got yerself a keeper.”

I saw her blushing hard as can be out of the corner of my eye, even before Granny Smith started to chuckle some.

---

Life started to return to normal at long last, apart from the fact that AJ had cried when she found out Winnona had lost one front leg in the attack, though Fluttershy and the vet in Ponyville had saved the dog's life. She was already up and hobbling around, starting to learn to walk and move on three legs as dogs will do.

The following two weeks were quite for the most part. A lot more meetings, working to get things settled in. Swift Note had sent down a folder of names and profiles for me to look over. She was serious about getting the messenger corps up and going fast. I had spoken with Cross last week about that, and he suggested I take the lead in picking one or two for the Ponyville substation. After all, I would be working very closely in tandem with them.

Of the five in the folder, one caught my eye. A name I remembered from the show, so I had asked Rainbow to come meet me in private. The mare showed up in her wonderbolt uniform, explaining she had flown right from training; kind of smelled like it, too, but, can’t fault her loyalty.

“So, I wanted to ask you about someone,” her ear lifted as I slid a file over the small desk to her, watching her reach out and flip the folder open. She looked a little shocked before recovering and flipping a few pages.

“You know who this is, right? I mean the show and all, you saw that right?” her raspy voice spoke.

I gave a nod. “Keep reading, and yes I am well aware of who that is.”

A few silent minutes passed and she closed the folder. “Wow, I didn’t know she had it so rough after being thrown out. If I’d have known sooner, I would have tried to pull a few strings to get her someplace.”

I sighed out. “I want the truth, you think she can be given a second chance?”

Rainbow looked over at me, then smiled. “Everypony deserves a second chance, Shane.”

There was a knock at the door, then one of the Twilight guards poked his head in. “Guest to see you, Ranger McDonald.”

I nodded in acknowledgement, then glanced at Rainbow as her ears pinned down. “I am glad you feel that way, Dash, just remember your own words.”

In walked a blueish green mare with a two tone yellow-and-gold mane. She saw me and her jaw opened some in shock. Then her eyes drifted to Rainbow and she did a double take.

“R-Rainbow Dash, what, who, why are you here, what is that thing!” I could easily discern the panic starting to rise in her tone.

I cleared my throat. “First off Miss Dust, I am not a thing, my name is Ranger Shane McDonald, and I am a human.” I paused. “Do... you not read the papers?”

Rainbow had a frown on her face and she gave a little grunt. “Lighting Dust, seen any tornadoes lately?”

I saw the instant fall on the greenish mares face and I snapped at Dash. “Rainbow, stop that! No one is here to dig up the past.”

Rainbows ears flattened and I watched her sigh. “No, you are right, Shane,” looking up again. “I am sorry, Lightning, that was really uncool of me. How about we try this again?” I saw her smile come back. “Hey. How you been, Dust?”

Poor Lightning Dust looked just overwhelmed as her rear fell with a thud on the hard crystal floor. Her eyes flicked from me to Rainbow, then back again. Finally, she muttered very quietly. “I-I have no clue what is going on, I just was trying to get a job as a messenger.”

That comment I smiled at and glanced at the two mares across the desk from me. “Miss Dust—”

She cut me off and laid her ears back once more. “Lightning is fine. Uh, Ranger?”

I gave a nod. “Shane, please, and very well, Lightning. I think you and Rainbow here have a lot to talk about. Dash, could you take her upstairs, ask Spike to pull out all the articles since my arrival and have her read them?” I paused again. “Might be a good time for you two to catch up.”

The multi-hue-maned mare blinked, then nodded as she understood what I was driving at. “Oh, uh, sure, Shane. Come on, LD, let's get you up to speed,” she said, gently nudging her old comrade with her elbow.

They rose and turned, walking out the door. I exhaled. I knew I could trust Rainbow Dash to give me a valid view of the pegasus mare, and if she could be trusted.

---

Three hours later, there was knock on my door. Lifting my head, I called out, “Come in.”

Lightning walked in first, followed by Rainbow who was out of her flight suit now and looked like she had taken a shower. Both mares strode over and sat up in the chairs on the other side of the desk from me. Before I could say a thing, the golden maned mare said, “I just have to ask, why me? Why am I here?”

I smiled at that. “Because you are fast, because your delivery history is spotless, because your boss wrote a glowing review of your delivering meds to help a sick foal last winter and suffering a broken wing from it.”

I watched her blush some, and Rainbow smirk a bit. “Everyone deserves a second chance, Lightning, a good friend of mine told me that.” Lightning shot a smile over at Rainbow Dash, who winked back at her.

She looked to her right then back to me again. “S… so, what would I be doing?”

I produced a folder out of the drawer and slid it across to her. “Basic duty, you would be a sworn but not badge-carrying officer of the Canterlot Rangers. You do basic paperwork, you help clean, you do everything we all do, plus, you would go in the field with our officers and be the fast bridge between them and the dispatch. You might be doing boring admission paperwork, or you might be flying for your life to bring aid to an officer who is down.”

I let that sink in, then continued. “I need someone I can trust, Lightning Dust, someone who knows what it it is like to have everything on the line and keep pushing even when the world is crushing them.”

She looked at me for a time then she gave a firm nod of her head. “If you are offering, I will do it.”

Rainbow’s lips curled into a wide grin and she nodded, then I returned a nod to both of them, offering out my hand across the desk. “Welcome to the Canterlot Rangers, Lightning Dust.”