The sleepy summer seemed to show its splendor once again. Despite the big autumn clouds in the sky. The Equestrian Plain spread out in front of the three ponies. Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie headed straight for the mountains. They followed the same path that Twilight and her friends had once followed to chase a smoking dragon from the mountain. Till this day no smoke was in sight. Still, there were rumors that sometimes music was heard. For Starlight it will be an interesting trip anyway.

The ponies were sweating, but the fresh breeze felt good. Only Trixie was exhausted and fell back a little. “Whew, Can we take a little break maybe, please?” she wheezed.

Starlight turned around and waited for her the fifth time, “We’ve just made the halfway point and you’re already tiered? You used to pull your magic wagon all the time.”

Trixie approached her step by step gasping, “Those… were… different… times!”

“We should repeat the trip to Saddle Arabia. Maybe that would boost you up again,” laughed Starlight and continued the way.

Trixie yelled at her from behind, “Don’t mention this vacation again. It nearly killed my nerves.

Sunburst looked at the map and spoke, “Well, this march will do us good.”

Starlight turned her head thoughtfully towards the mountains. “I’d love to know what's up there,” she told the others.

“A treasure maybe?” guessed Sunburst. “The mountain is said to have belonged to a dragon.”

“What if he’s back,” Trixie asked in an unsettled voice. Starlight giggled, “Trust me, we would have noticed that already.”

After a few meters they slowly felt thirst and hunger. It was time to take a little rest. They walked past a small, narrow stream, which they could easily jump over. Behind there was a resting place. Four stone stools circled an old fireplace. Here they rested. Starlight unpacked her sandwiches for her friends and herself. So they lingered, ate and drank with pleasure. Then Starlight emptied some drinking water over her right hoof. It had started hurting again. She was sure this thing was alive. Sometimes she felt it gliding and twitching through her veins.

Trixie watched her with a mixture of curiosity and concern. “I wonder what this wither pony infused into your arm. It seems possessed somehow,” she said.

Sunburst looked up at the azure blue sky above their heads. The clouds passed peacefully over them. “Wither ponies are revived bodies with a captured spirit, supposedly from Tartarus or afterlife. Legends said it should punish the user. But, as you saw in the barn, it seems that wither ponies obedience has been discovered.”

Trixie was astonished. “Wow, just like a golem?”

Starlight curiously raised her head, “You know golems?”

“I traveled with nomads once. They had one with them. He was very friendly to foals.”

Sunburst seemed to be interested, but stayed on topic. “Only wither ponies aren’t as nice. I think the ghost is angry because they trapped it in this hollow shell. And to answer your question, I think the ghosts can split up and spread the curse.”

With a dry throat Starlight stared to the ground and said, “They summon something just to serve them unwillingly. I kind of understand why those poor bastards are so furious.” Then she took another pull from the bottle.

After the meal, they marched on. Slowly the path became more stony and uneven. From here the ponies could see how steep this mountain really was. But there had to be another way, which Sunburst found right away. “Well, we can take the more dangerous but shorter path or the safe longer and one. I say we should take the safe one.”

Starlight looked up. She would like going faster and thought about unpacking her climbing equipment. Trixie looked at her. She shook her head. After this signal, Starlight moaned, as she realized she had been outvoted without another word. “All right, let’s take the long way.”

The long way was not less dangerous, but much more relaxed. It meandered along the cliff rising up. The cliffs were overgrown with single dry bushes. The wind howled; probably the music. Their hoof noises echoed against the walls, like a whole caravan was marching up the mountain.

Starlight was glad to have her scarf on and also put her purple wool cap. Suspiciously she looked up to the cliffs. They seemed very unstable. The slightest bump could trigger a rock slide. In the distance she heard a soft metallic click. It came from above and at regular intervals. “Do you hear that?” she asked.

The other two listened. Their ears turned to the direction from which the bright sound came.

“Yes!” Trixie confirmed, “Sounds like a hammer and chisel.”

They followed the sound. The path led them directly to the first cliff of the mountain. The beats became louder and soon they saw its source. A gray earth pony struck a rock, which must have fallen down from above. The three recognized this mare. “Maud Pie!”

The earth pony in the blue-gray worker’s robe turned around and looked at them. Starlight ran to her and hugged her old friend. Maud asked without emotion in her voice, “Hello, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Starlight laughed.

Maud continued her work on the rock. Its surface glittered in the sunlight. “I am looking for gems. A commission from the jeweler in Ponyville,” she explained.

“Great”, said Starlight, then she pointed upwards, “We’re hiking to the top of the mountain. Something is up there that the map table has showed us.”

Maud looked up, then again at the three travelers. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why?” Starlight asked surprised.

Maud knocked on the stone again. “Something caused an avalanche.”

Sunburst trimmed. “An avalanche? What?”

Maud put the tools aside and took cover under the cliff. “There is it again.”

The others didn’t saw any upcoming danger. The sky was blue. The wind not so strong and nothing looked in the slightest like an imminent threat. Nevertheless, they followed Maud’s advice and hid under the cliff.

Suddenly they heard a shrill sound. The scream of a guitar swept through the mountains like an electrically charged storm. The birds took off. The ponies covered their ears, crouching down. The echoing noise tore a massive rock out of the wall, which rumbled directly on the travelers.

Maud jumped up and round-house kicked against the rock. It cracked in two pieces. The halves fell to the ground one after the other. And Maud landed deftly right in front of it.

Trixie’s jaw dropped. Starlight was not surprised and closed her friend’s mouth again. She already knew that from Maud. Nevertheless, she had to thank her. “Way to go, Maud!”

The noise ended with a slight aftershock. The earth pony stepped towards the split rock. It was full of precious stones. “Now I have everything I need,” Maud said calmly and began to mine the gems.

It had become quiet again. Only the wind rushed past the cliffs. After they had overcome the shock, everyone dared to get out and looked up again. Starlight pulled her scarf a little looser. “What was that? It sounded like an electric guitar! Who in Celestia’s name plays Heavy Metal in the mountains?”

She unpacked her hiking equipment. She fastened the climbing claws to her hooves, which could attach themselves to the rock like paws of a dragon.

Trixie watched her. “Couldn’t you just use your magic to lift yourself up?”

Starlight smiled at the justified question. “Yes, but I’d rather save my strength. I’ll use a crystal shield in case another quake occurs.”

The others also unpacked their climbing gear. They connected themselves with a rope and fastened it with the help of compound anchors, which Starlight rammed with her magic into the surface. After most of the unstable rock had come down, climbing should have become a little safer.

Maud watched them silently, her luggage filled with gems. After a blink, she decided to walk with her hooves over the rock face.

While Trixie, Sunburst and Starlight climbed with great effort, Maud simply walked past them. Their faces looked like a toad having a fly escaped from its mouth. But actually it was clear. She was the sister of the notorious Pinkie Pie after all.

Maud made it up first and secured Starlight’s anchors. Then she helped the other ponies. When they were all up, they took off their climbing claws and stood in front of the cliff. The view was amazing. Sunburst took a deep breath as a fresh breeze blew against his face. Their robes and manes fluttered in the wind. Starlight joined them and looked at the view for a moment.

“So we have come this far,” said Starlight in amazement. “And so did Twilight and her friends. I wonder if they enjoyed the view as much as we do now.”

“Perhaps,” Sunburst said, “but now it’s our turn.” He smiled at Starlight and she grinned back. The mare suddenly thought of things she wanted to tell him but just didn’t dare.

She took a side step towards him. Sunburst kept staring at the view. Starlight had to blush and giggles like a schoolgirl. It annoyed her that she couldn’t control such feelings. Carefully, she tried putting her left hoof very close to his so that they almost touched.

Sunburst lifted his hoof and pointed straight ahead. “Look, there’s Ponyville!”

Starlight laughed playfully, but inside she screamed out of frustration. “Ah! Yeah, you’re right. Really great!”

Again they remained silent and watched a passing eagle circling and looking for prey. Starlight tried again, this time a little more offensive. She lifted her hoof to put it over his shoulder as if it was something natural. She whistled a bit. Then Trixie shouted, “Look at that!”

Sunburst turned around. Starlight missed the hug and fell. Thoughtfully she lay on the floor. “Well, maybe some other time…”

Trixie pointed to a rock face. It was marked with faint but recognizable patterns. “Aren’t those the symbols from the map?”

Maud approached and sniffed. “That was Pinkie Pie.”

“How do you know that?” Trixie asked astounded. Maud pointed to the signs. “Because she scratched, “Here was Pinkie Pie” in these rocks, it’s a little illegible, can happen.”

“Oh!” Trixie gasped when she noticed on the second look.

The ponies continued the ever narrowing path. They found a gorge. Their destination was to reach the other side.

Starlight pointed out a small lead, they could easily hop over. Bit by bit they skipped the gorge. Trixie was last. She looked down. “That’s a very long way down,” she murmured.

Starlight on the other side encouraged her, “Come on! It’s only a short jump!”

Trixie took a run-up and swallowed all her courage. Then she spurred off. She jumped over. It wasn’t really that difficult. But because she was carrying so much, gravity pulled her down. The landing was hard.

“Ouch!” The ground sank in beneath her. The impact broke the ledge off the cliff. Trixie opened her mouth to catch breath for a scream. The rock under her plunged into the depths, meters below her.

Trixie was barely caught by Starlight’s magic. But she lost some of her luggage. Among them was her climbing equipment. “Damn it! They weren’t cheap,” she shouted.

“But still cheaper than your life,” gasped Starlight and levitated her friend to her.

She stood again and cleaned the dust off her cape. “That was close. Thanks, Starlight! I can really count on you.”

The ponies looked back at the gorge. It had become much wider. A jump would still have been possible, but with their luggage they weren’t sure if they would succeed. Worries they had to take care of later.

The air felt thinner, the fresh mountain air blew under her hooves. Thanks to the eternal march, their bodies produced their own warmth. Sunburst looked at the map once more. He found a mistake. “This path no longer exists.”

He looked up. There was actually a high pile of earth in front of the travelers. A rock avalanche had come down here, too. A long, long time ago. There was only one way. They had to climb over it. Luckily, no equipment was necessary, although Trixie was already moaning, “More obstacles? Oh, this mountain really doesn’t like us!”

Starlight climbed, the others followed and were faster. Something was draining her strength. “I hope this horrible shredding of this electric guitar doesn’t come in the meantime,” she puffed.

In the next moment, when everyone was standing on the earth pile, it started again.

The shrill guitar solo was much louder than before. The ponies covered their ears. Maud lost her grip and slid down the pile with Sunburst and Trixie. Starlight clung on and wished she had kept her mouth shut.

Then she heard a loud noise. A huge rock rumbled towards the mare. She reared up. Her horn glowed. Then she built up a big arched crystal shield. The rock crashed against it so that it cracked. But that made the stone stop.

Starlight blew in her cheeks as she levitated up this massive boulder. Her brain throbbed with effort. Her horn felt like a burning torch. She threw it over her shoulder into the deep. Then she looked down at her friends, who stared at her with open mouths, heavily impressed by her magical power. Then suddenly everything blurred and black surrounded her. “I need a break,” she cried and fell down.

When Starlight woke up again, she was lying on Trixie’s mat. Her friends looked down her with concern. Starlight immediately felt her aching hoof as she tried to stand up. She realized she had passed out. All her strength was gone. That surprised her. Starlight had rarely exhausted herself, the she knew her limits. Casting a shield and levitating a mighty rock were not even half of her mana.

She looked at her leg. Under the bandage the dark spots showed up. Her half foreleg was cursed. Some spots attacked her healthy skin. What at first glance looked like a cool tattoo was in reality a painful wound.

“This damn wither pony!” she cried and slapped her hooves over her face. In her mind, she killed this monster again.

Sunburst offered her a water bottle. Starlight grabbed it and directly poured it over her hoof. She sighted in relief as the pain subsided. Then she took a big sip to calm down.

“You shouldn’t use your magic anymore,” Sunburst warned.

Starlight grumbled, “I noticed that too. But what else could I have done? Let myself get flattened?”

Sunburst pressed his lips together and stepped silent. Starlight also said nothing more and snorted. Slowly she stood up and stomped ahead. Trixie rolled up her mat. Without further ado, the ponies followed the disgruntled mare. Maud caught up with Trixie and asked, “Is that why you came here?”

“Yes, and we hope it can help us, “she sighed. Maud’s neutral gaze remained silently directed at Starlight.

Tempest escorted Rainbow Dash and Applejack to the carriage at the town hall. “We won’t keep the princess waiting,” Tempest said, “On the way, I’ll tell you how these assassination attempts happened.”

They entered the chariot, pulled by two Pegasus stallions. Tempest sat down and gave the order to leave. The pegasi snorted at the run up and galloped with flapping wings over the road mile. Pedestrians made way so the carriage could take off unhindered.

They flew over the thatched roofs of the village, gaining more and more height. The inmates saw the train station below them. A train stopped there, which was also on its way to Canterlot. They knew, however, that they would be faster with the carriage.

Before them they saw the mountain of Canterlot, surrounded by fluffy clouds. Behind the fog, the fir trees on the cliffs looked like shadowy figures that guarded the mountain.

The rough wind whistled over their manes. Rainbow Dash leaned against the edge of the carriage and watched the area. Applejack asked Tempest, “Do we actually know anything about this assassin?”

Tempest also stared at the clouds. “Nothing that could help us. He was familiar with black magic and could dress up in any pony. He had imitated Trixie and fooled us quite a bit.”

Two black contrails slowly caught up with the carriage. The clouds moved by themselves and were certainly not made by stunt flyers enjoying their free time. Rainbow Dash looked up and shouted at Tempest in disquiet, while keeping an eye on the possible threat. “Ahem! I don’t wanna be the bad weather mare, but this looks like trouble!”

Tempest leaned over the railing of the carriage. She also recognized the stripes and slowly became queasy about it. Promptly she cocked her head back and shouted to the train ponies, “Guards! We are being followed!”

The Pegasi shouted, “Yes, Captain!”

And the carriage picked up pace. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were pushed back. But it was too late. One of the smoke-trails shot past their heads. Out of the cloud appeared the head of a light gray unicorn with a red mane and several braids. He sneered at the mares. “Where are you going, ladies?” His voice was gentle and deep.

Then he fired a blue beam in Applejacks direction. He lost her balance and fell. Screaming, the earth pony kicked with her hooves. Rainbow had no choice. She rushed after her. Her wings whizzed as fast as she could. Before Applejack shattered on the sharp rock edges, the blue Pegasus caught her.

“Woohee! Ever get that feeling of déjà vu?” The farmer pony shouted.

“Way too much!” Rainbow growled. Applejack couldn’t help but grin about this answer.

A second cloud dashed at them. The head of a gray-blue stallion with short beige hair protruded. He fired at Rainbow with purple rays. But the mare was a well-trained Wonderbolt. She was able to swerve, even though Applejack’s weight was bothering her. “Urgh, why do earth ponies have to be so heavy?”

“These are ma well-built muscles for apple bucking, gettin’ it?” Applejack shouted. But Rainbow had to drop her off somewhere. The train to Canterlot rattled past them. Rainbow took the chance to land on the cars, before she slipped out of her hooves.

Applejack rolled over the long wooden roof and gave Rainbow Dash a well-earned break, landing panting behind her. The two clouds flew toward her. The farmer ducked, ready to fight.

The two figures split up and each landed rearward of the mares. The light gray stallion with the plaits ended up behind Applejack and the gray-blue behind Rainbow Dash. Both assassins were wrapped in dark robes. Both mares lined up back to back. Rainbow Dash spurred at the stallion in front of her, “Do you want to feel my left or my right first?”

The gray-blue laughed and charged his horn, “We prefer our magic!”

He fired his beam. The mares crouched. The shot bounced off a magic shield of the other assassin.

“Damn it, Quartus! Watch where you’re aiming!” roared the light-grey stallion.

“Not my fault if you stand in the way, Septimus!” the other replied casually. This made his face blush with rage. He decided to vent his anger on Applejack and attacked her with punches. Applejack blocked each time.

Quartus also started attacking. He pulled a small dagger which circled elegantly around his body. Rainbow evaded his blade.

“You’re too slow!” Rainbow sneered and kicked him in the face. Quartus fell onto the roof in an inelegant screw. Angrily, he threw his dagger at her and barely cut her colorful mane.

“Hah! Missed,” laughed Rainbow. But the stallion put on a big grin. As if from nowhere, the dagger flew back and whizzed past Rainbows’ legs. She fell and stared in surprise at her new bleeding cut.

The stallion raised his laugh and held his dagger under her chin. “Now you’re not so cocky anymore!”

“Quartus, you know we need them alive. So don’t hurt her too much,” Septimus said who wrestled with Applejack. He conjured two blue claws from his horn that grabbed the farmer’s chest fur. She struggled against this spell. His eyes lighted up like two glowing sapphires. “Now you will learn the true world of magic, earth pony!” he said confident of victory.

A large object flew alongside the train. Tempest stood in the carriage and glared at the assassins. Blue lightning flashed around her broken horn as she shouted, “The storm is coming, you brainiacs!”

Tempest gave free rein to her uncontrolled magic. A blazing lightning bolt shot across the stallions, who were completely irritated by this show. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were thus able to break free. Tempest grabbed two weapons from a drawer in the carriage. A slightly curved sky blade and a rope. These were the items the mares had brought along for their journey. She threw the weapons to them. They caught them with a jump.

Even though both mares had been hurt a little, their fighting spirit was still alive. Rainbow, who attached the popular Wonderbolt sword to her foreleg, had suffered a few cuts. Applejack with a rope in her mouth was covered with dents and bruises.

Rainbow Dash parried every attack of Quartus’ magical dagger, and Applejack was to hold her own with rope, whipping Septimus’ horn each time and subduing his spells.

“Not bad! But can you prevent that?” shouted Septimus. His hooves lighted up in a blue magic aura. He waved wildly as if he had seen too many martial arts flicks. Applejack waited for an attack. He punched from the right. She dodged out to the back and swung the rope. She wrapped Septimus up and threw him back in a single turn. He flew at his comrade who had been busy with Rainbow.

The rainbow mare turned around in surprise. “Hey! That guy was mine!”

The two stallions pulled themselves together again and attacked with the dagger and magic fists. Applejack and Rainbow Dash also teamed up jumped in lockstep towards their opponents.

Suddenly Tempest yelled to the mares, “Hey! Duck!”

Applejack and Rainbow looked up briefly, then to a tunnel behind them. The farmer lay flat.

Quartus hindered Rainbow for doing so because he swung his dagger upwards. If she had been lying down, she would have jumped right into the knife. Instead, she just flew away.

She dashed along the steep rock face, watching for the train. The stallions pursued her in their smoke form. Like two greedy vultures out for their prey, they pounced on the mare. They shrouded her in fog while Rainbow propelled her way through with her sky blade. But she can’t hit these unicorns in this form. Rainbow managed to break away from them and flew on. Eventually, she reached the rails again and the train howled.

Applejack was still on the train straightened up. She groped for her hat. It sat firmly on her head. In front of her, the landscape passed by, and a rainbow fighting against two dark clouds.

A light blue unicorn mare sat in car number five. She read a magazine of the famous fashion designer Rarity. Her name was Sassy Saddles and was a respected colleague. The mare had just returned from vacation and planned to open her boutique in Canterlot tomorrow. She was so absorbed in the magazine that she didn’t notice the fight at the window to her left. A foal drew her attention to it. “Look, Mom! There’s Rainbow Dash!”

Sassy looked out. In fact she watched as the famous Wonderbolt battled against two clouds. An impressive but bizarre spectacle. The other passengers noticed it too and stared out.

These aggressive clouds seemed as if they wanted to devour the mare. They circled her and tried everything to disturb her in flight.

Rainbow took a dramatic-looking dive and escaped the pursuers. Then Tempest shot past with her flying carriage and grabbed the mare. The cap ran over Quartus, who disappeared into thin air and showed up again somewhere else.

Septimus lifted his head out of the cloud and fired a blue beam at the carriage. Tempest turned her head and responded with a glaring lightning orb. Both projectiles collided and deflected each other. Septimus’ shot flew into the sky and evaporated. But Tempest’s shot flew towards a long bridge.

What happened then could haunt the Captain for a long time. The lightning struck right at the end of the bridge. It destroyed the scaffolding that should support the rails. Several fragments hailed down the cliffs and a hellish noise resounded from the craggy mountain.

Applejack noticed the rolling disaster and ran with the rope in her mouth. She jumped into the driver’s cabin. There sat a yellow earth pony stallion, completely in shock. When she landed beside him, he seemed to his senses again.

“Applejack? Is that really you?” shouted in surprise.

But the earth pony mare came straight to the point. “Stop the train!”

The conductor was still shaking all over his body and staring at Applejack with big eyes as if he had suddenly forgotten his job.

“Do it! NOW!”

Still trembling, the driver cranked the cover of the oven shut and tore the emergency air brake around. The train began to screech.

All passengers in the cars were almost thrown forward. Sassy Saddle’s mane fell over her face. The train lost speed, but they inevitably rolled towards the destroyed end of the bridge.

Applejack took her hat off and grabbed another rope that lay in the cabin around. Then she climbed out of the cab and worked her way to the top of the locomotive. The brakes suffered under her. The screaming sound tortured her ears. She finally managed to stand on both hind legs in front of the train. She quickly lassoed both ropes and swung them forward. She hit both rail carriers. Applejack gritted her teeth. It was insane, shier desperate madness. She wrapped both loops around her hooves so that she didn’t lose the ropes when the jerk came. The abyss and the tension came closer. She stared straight ahead. There was no turning back.

Rainbow Dash rushed towards the happening. Meanwhile, the stallions resumed their pursuit. But they were repeatedly heckled by Tempest, who took them under fire. Rainbow Dash was able to gain a huge lead. She noticed what Applejack was up to and scrunched her nose at this reckless plan. But there was no time. Despite the braking locomotive and ropes, it would literally tear the earth pony to pieces.

“Applejack! Are you crazy?” cried the Pegasus.

Applejack screamed through the noise of the brakes, “Rainbow! We have to stop it!”

“You’ll get yourself killed,” the rainbow mare shouted back.

Sassy Saddles opened the window. She saw the broken bridge. In spite of the brakes, they would all crash down. At this sight, her heart stopped. She hurriedly pulled her head back and thought. She hat to do something. All passengers were tense and silent. What would Rarity do in such a situation?

Finally, she stood up and lifted her front legs to address everyone in the train, “Listen up, everypony! At any moment the train will stop. But in front of us is an obstacle that will reach soon. The conductor is doing his best, but he needs our fullest support. Unicorns and everyone who can use magic, listen to my command! Let us stop the train!”

The unicorns, which formed the majority, stood up. With their combined magic power, they could save the train. A single magic caster would never have been able to do this. But the more individuals, that participated in an object, the stronger the effect of the active magic. There were as well a few kirins in the train, also spell caster. The message spread through the other cars and every creature was willing to do their part.

Everyone took each other in their arms and began to capture the whole train. The whole carriage began to shimmer like a rainbow. The Pegasi, earth ponies and other creatures wanted to help. They grabbed them by the shoulder and cheered the group on mentally. It worked. The train slowed down. But not slow enough.

Applejack saw that they had just passed the tied up rail stakes. Both she and Rainbow Dash prayed for an immediate stop.

Suddenly the ropes pulled Applejack vainly against the locomotive. An immense pain flashed through her shoulders. She cried out. The abyss, the destroyed bridge gaped right before her eyes. The locomotive reached walking speed. Then the ropes snapped and the farmer fell forward. Rainbow Dash quickly caught her, before she dropped under the wheels. Both ponies clasped each other and screamed together toward the end. The first two rail wheels left the tracks. The vehicle mad one last “choo-choo” and the train finally stopped. Only the Rainbow Dash and Applejack kept screaming until the mares realized that they didn’t have to do that anymore.

Quartus and Septimus soared down on the two ponies. Since they were so weakened, they were easy prey. But then a blue carriage rushed onto them. Tempest charged her horn. She released a tremendous energy and fired the dark clouds away. The beam sent them toward the horizon. Celestia knows where. At least far away from Canterlot.

A few hours later soldiers were standing everywhere on the tracks. A lot of airships floated to the bridge to collect the ponies. Sassy Saddles also flew up to Canterlot. She and ponies could see the damage from outside. They all realized how close they escaped a deadly catastrophe.

Captain Tempest brought the two heroines of the day into the carriage. A doctor was present to tend Applejack’s injuries. Both shoulders were dislocated. She needed medical help to fix them. She cried in pain, but Rainbow Dash held her in her arms. This calmed her a lot when a friend was by her side.

They flew to the capital directly to the Canterlot Hospital, a large building complex with purple roof tiles.

After landing, they placed Applejack on a stretcher and carried her to the emergency surgery. Her glassy green eyes were illuminated each time by passing corridor lights.

The doctors stormed into the surgery room. A unicorn doctor used his magic to reset the joints. Applejack moaned during the procedure. But she was quite relieved afterwards. The joints were back where they belonged and her nerves were frazzled.

Later she lay bandaged in the patient room. She was sweating and said harshly to Rainbow, “Please don’t let Apple Bloom and Big Mac know about this.” Her voice sounded much older than before.

Rainbow’s voice also sounded as if it had aged decades in these breif hours. “If the newspapers are printed, they’ll know it sooner or later.”

Applejack turned disappointed her head to the side, ashamed to have taken such a reckless action. After all, it was over and they were still alive. Her look turned very gloomy, then she growled, “Those filthy coyotes!”

Rainbow smiled with a touch of schadenfreude. “Don’t worry, AJ! Tempest blew them away.”

But somehow Applejack couldn’t laugh about it. She looked at her friend again and said, “Ah’m startin’ to realize, what the fuss is all about. Twilight needs us more than ever.”

Rainbow Dash turned serious again and nodded. There was no question that the princess would hear about it soon.