The two mares stared down at one another. Sparks could almost be seen flickering between their eyes as they sized one-another up. Each mare took slow breaths, waiting to see who would make the first move. Applejack fingers were twitching, like she was getting ready to pull the trigger on a gun. It irritated her a little that Misty seemed to be so calm, and it was slowly dawning on her who exactly she was fighting. She was a pegasus, naturally she wouldn’t be as strong as her, but she’d be quick and nimble, all she had to do was land one good hit and it would all be over.

Misty cracked her knuckles a little. It was time to get things started, and for this apple bumpkin to see how utterly she had fucked up. Her wings flashed open as she zoomed around and behind Applejack. She would get her in a headlock and choke her out. However, the earth pony’s reflexes were quick, and instead of grabbing the orange mare’s neck, she ended up blocking her high kick. Even with both arms taking the blow, she felt her bones rattle and crack under the force of the strike. She had fought earth ponies before and their natural strength was always something to look out for, but this mare had a kick like a culverin.

“Bloody hell…” the pegasus hissed, fluttering off and putting some distance between them. “Are you on horse pills or something?”

“Nah, I just been kicking trees out of their roots since I was eleven,” the farm mare smirked. “What? Did I shake a few things loose?”

Her legs were dangerous, that much could be said. She’d have to just stay above them. In an instant she burst forward again, hovering a few feet in the air as she smashed into Applejack face with her cranium like a javelin. Misty’s head was ringing but she also heard a satisfying crunch of something breaking. Applejack fell to the ground with Misty on top of her.

“Not so tough on your back, are you dirt mare?” The pegasus yelled as she began a relentless barrage of strikes to the farm mare’s face. AJ kept her guard up for most of it but a few blows managed to break through her arms.

With a snarl of roars, Applejack flicked her legs up and caught her foe by the neck. From there, it was filly’s play to throw Misty off of her and get back to her feet. She was a lot faster than she had thought, and she was regretting listening to Twilight and resolving issues with Rainbow with words rather than violence like a sensible pony. At least then she would have been more prepared to fight a military grade pegesus. She would have to keep her senses sharp if she was going to beat her.

“Just one good hit… just one good hit,” Applejack kept saying to herself. The orange mare started running toward Misty before she could get back onto her feet and drove her knee into her stomach. The powerful blow, nearly punctured the pegasus and broke half of her ribs as Applejack stumbled back to the ground. She watched with sick delight as Misty screamed in agony while clutching her stomach. “Just one good hit,” she repeated.

However, despite how much pain she was in, Misty rolled onto her knees and back to her feet. “You think…” she coughed a little, spitting up a bit of blood. “Think I can’t take a hit?”

“You shouldn’t even be standing…”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me!” She zoomed to the cowpony as she was getting up and kicked her in the side of the head. “Do you have any idea how hard I’ve had to work to get to where I am today?” she said on top of her back and grabbed her hair and started pulling it. “How much I’ve sacrificed and gave up for this dream to become a Wonderbolt? To be famous? To sleep with Soarin’?!” She shoved her face back into the dirt. “There is nothing I won’t do to get what I want!”

“Well then that makes two of us,” Applejack spat, a bunch of dirt had gotten into her mouth and it was grinding between her teeth. “I’m willing to make sacrifices too!” She took a deep breath and butted against her attacker. The back of the earth mare’s head rammed into Misty’s chin, her hand still clutched with AJ’s blonde hair so when she was knocked off, the orange mare felt the terrible sting of getting a tad balder. Thankfully most of the hair had slipped out of her fingers but there still were a few golden locks in the pegasus grasp. “And you think you know me? I’m not some damn bimbo looking for some tail, I’m in this for the long haul! I’ve been dreaming of the day when me and Soarin’ could be together and I’ll eat my hat if I let some pegasus bitch ruin that for me!”

With that, she grabbed the Wonderbolt by the face and picked her up, giving her a few good hooks to the jaw, dazing her for a moment. Applejack pushed her off of her before delivering one final blow to finish this up. Her leg wound up and span around in a devastatingly powerful roundhouse, strong enough to slice a fully grown oak in half. But her kicked missed, hitting nothing but air as Misty ducked underneath it and attempted to tackle Applejack to the ground. How was she able to keep fighting with her injuries?

Applejack was quite immovable though, Misty hadn’t been able to gain any momentum to attack her this time and it left her vulnerable. The farm mare grabbed the Wonderbolt’s wings and started to pull on them. As she expected, it caused the pegasus to be thrown into a panic and she let go of the earth pony to shake free and get some air. Applejack saw this coming and grabbed her by her floating ankle before Misty could get too high in the air and slammed her back down to earth. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, AJ kicked her while she was down, and made preparations to dig her foot in her face.

Misty reached around the ground desperately, clawing up a fistful of dirt and flinging it into Applejack’s face. It was a dirty trick but it worked like a charm. The cowpony coughed a little while trying to get the dirt out of her eyes, and she didn’t see the pegasus coming. The Wonderbolt continued with her dirty tactics and dug her teeth deep into Applejack’s arm like a feral animal. She was getting tired, and that meant she was getting desperate. The beast was out now, with snarling fangs and sharpened claws, and said claws dug into Applejack’s skin, and then to her face. The farm mare covered herself with her hand and she could feel them being slashed at, like she was trying to tunnel her way through her flesh.

All Applejack wanted to do was rough her up a little for running her mouth and trying to steal her stallion, but Misty had completely lost it. She was out for blood now, and no move was too low for the crazed mare. “I’m going to kill you!” Misty roared in a way that almost didn’t sound normal. “I’ll gut you like the fucking pig you are!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Within a split second Applejack felt the pegasus lifted off of her, and peeking through her watery, irritated eyes she saw Soarin’ standing over her, Misty Sky squirming in his grasp. The stallion had her by the neck. “This isn’t the battlefield, Misty! And I can’t stand by and watch you kill the love of my life.”

Applejack coughed a little. “Soarin’ I had it under control. Y’all shouldn’t have stepped in.”

“Really?” Soarin’ said in a new tone of voice. Not playful or jokey it was dead serious. His smile had disappeared, leaving a stern look of a stallion that had seen the horrors of war and murder firsthand. His other hand reached to something that was in Misty’s hands. It was something short and shined like silver. Applejack was half blind but even she could noticed the gleam of the knife the blue mare had clutched in her fist. “I must be losing my edge. I didn’t notice she was concealing a knife in the back of her jeans. If I hadn’t stepped in when I did you would be breathing through a new hole in your neck.” He flicked his wrist, twisting Misty Sky’s own wrist, causing her to scream and drop her weapon.

The cowpony rubbed her eyes, looking up at the knife that would have ended her life. Her heart dropped in her chest as she looked with horror at the sharpened killing tool. Soarin’ had saved her life… she would be dead right now choking on her own blood if he wasn’t there, watching over her, protecting her. ‘I know you don’t need a stallion to take care of you, none of the Apple mares ever had, but it’s always nice to know there’s one just in case.’ The words her grandmother had spoken to her before she had left on this little adventure crept back into her head. How right Granny Smith was in that moment.

Soarin’ threw Misty to the ground, the mare coughing a bit as she was able to breathe again. She glared up to Soarin’, gritting her teeth with anger. Soarin’ just sighed. “I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done. A little catfight I can look away from but a knife? You’ve just committed career suicide, Misty. First thing Monday morning I’ll see to it you’re relieved from duty and thrown in prison where you belong.”

“Prison huh?” Misty groaned, still lying on the ground. “And I guess conjugal visits are out of the question?” She laughed a bit, clearing her throat as she slowly started to pull herself up onto her knees as Soarin’ got closer. “So you’re really choosing that hick over me, huh?” There was no answer from the stallion, but his silence spoke loudly. “Well fine…” She said, looking up to the stallion she had once worshipped. “But I think you were right about one thing.”

“And what was that?” Soarin’ asked.

“You’re losing your edge,” the blue mare whispered as she lunged at him, having pulled out a second knife hidden in her boot. He hadn’t seen her pull it out when she was getting up. The blade drilled through the air and was aimed right for his heart and Soarin’ was still startled. She would have hit her target if it had not been for some outside intervention. Misty Sky went skyrocketing sideways as a large foot collided with the side of her head. While Soarin’ hadn’t seen the knife, Applejack did and when the orange mare had gotten herself composed again she pounded that last nail in Misty’s coffin.

Misty Sky’s head slammed into a tree trunk and smashed into it with a hard thunk. She laid there motionlessly, blood trickling from both of her ears. Granny Smith wobbled over to the downed mare bent down, seemingly listening to her before turning to the rest of the group. “Well she’s still breathing, I reckon that’s a good thing. All life is precious and all that hooey.”

Applejack gave a small sigh of relief. “Well that’s good. She’s a bitch but I ain’t stooping to her level. Is somepony going to call the PPD?”

“I dialed them the second I saw that knife,” Apple Bloom said, running to Soarin’ and Applejack and giving both of them a big hug. “I’m just so glad that you two are all right!” She cried, squeezing her sister and her sister’s boyfriend closely to her. “I hope they throw that mare into Tartarus for what she’s done.”

“I think that might be a bit extreme,” Soarin’ said, his tone becoming more playful again. “I mean, she’s no Tirek.”

“She tried to kill my sister and her boyfriend! She’s a million times worse than Tirek.” Tears were rolling down her face as she continued to sob uncontrollably with no end in sight. Applejack tried to comfort the mare but there seemed to be little they could do to calm her down. At least the two were alive to fail in calming down the young mare, and not bleeding to death in the mud.

A few minutes later, when everything and everypony finally calmed down, Applejack and Soarin’ had another issue to address. They turned to Cumulus, who had just stood there looking terrified this whole time in silence. The two had a few questions for this pegasus.

“How much of this did you know, kid?” Soarin’ asked. “Did you know that something like this could happen?”

“Look man, I’ve had a pretty crappy weekend,” the dark stallion said, a tinge of fear in his voice. “I paid good money for this mare and all she did was boss me around and drag me all the way here for you. She didn’t do anything I said like I was promised and wouldn’t shut up about either of you. I knew that she had planned on getting you by any means necessary, but I didn’t think she was going to kill somepony over it!”

Everyone turned to AJ, the pony lie detector. “He ain’t fibbing from what I can tell. I think he’s just a dumbass that’s lacking a backbone and got ripped off because of it.”

“Still… you’re probably going to want to tell the same thing to the police once they get here… ah! Speak of the devil,” Applejack said, seeing the flashing lights of red and blue pull up at the gate of the orchard. “Ok, let’s get this unpleasant business finished.”

It didn’t take too long to explain everything to the cops once they got up to the ranch house. Everypony told the truth in great detail as to the exact events that transpired that evening. An ambulance was called to pick up the unconscious Wonderbolt, she would be sent to the hospital to have her wounds treated but the primary analysis said that she had several broken bones and torn muscles, the worst of which was the fact that her skull had actually split in two, and that she was even lucky to be alive. It was however on that account that something unexpected happened.

“What the hell do you mean you’re taking me in?!” Applejack roared as the officer placed extra strength handcuffs around her wrists. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“You nearly killed a mare, and you openly admitted to provoking and accepting the fight. That’s attempted murder of the second degree and assault charges.”

“But she was protecting me!” Soarin’ said. “Or did you not hear the whole ‘Misty tried to stab me and her bit’?”

The police officer sighed. “Look sir, I’m just doing my job. To be completely honest, there’s outstanding testimony that Miss Sky here is in the wrong but the fact remains that Applejack did agree to the fight, which is illegal in Ponyville. Unless you can pay her bail she’ll be spending the night in the drunk tank.”

Soarin’ growled. This was such horse shit as he reached into his pants and pulled out his wallet, grabbing a wad of bits and shoving it in the cop’s face. “Here, that’s about two thousand bits in bills. Now let her go.”

The cop looked at the money and back at Soarin’, raising an eyebrow. “Sir, are you trying to bribe me?”

“What? No! It’s Applejack’s bail money!”

“Then why are you giving it to me?”

“So you can take it to the police station,” Soarin’ said bluntly.

“So you are trying to bribe me,” the police officer said angrily, pulling out his handcuffs. “Sir, you are under arrest for attempting to bribe an officer of the law. Hold out your hands.”

“WHAT?!” Soarin’ screamed, his eye twitching a little. “I wasn’t bribing you!”

“Sir, calm down and stop resisting arrest!” the cop shouted. “I won’t ask you again.”

“I am calm!” the pegasus yelled, resulting him in getting a swift Taser strike to the stomach. The pegasus fell to the ground in spasms, barely able to form a full sentence as the whole world went black for the stallion.

*****

When Soarin’ woke up again he wasn’t on the farm anymore. He was lying on a cold concrete floor that felt like it hadn’t been cleaned in over a decade. Above him was a crappy light that buzzed like a hornet nest and gave off a white glare. He pulled himself up a bit and noticed that he was in a prison cell. The cold steel bars surrounded him with black rust and he staggered to the front of the bars.

“Well look who’s finally up.” A voice spoke from behind him. He turned around to see Applejack lying down on the bench. It looked like they were the only two ponies in the jail cell. “You got knocked out pretty good. I thought you pegasi types could take a little shock, what handling lightning bolts and all that.”

“Not the same thing…” He groaned, feeling his sore still bare chest. They couldn’t even throw him something to cover himself up. “So what the hell is up with those cops? Are they morons or something?”

Applejack shook her head, pulling her hat up from her eyes. “Nah, they’re just… bored. Something like this hardly ever happens around here and the police didn’t know how to handle it. I’m sure somepony will be down here tomorrow first thing to get us out and clear this mess up.”

“Tomorrow? Why not right now?”

“Take a look around, cowboy,” Applejack said, making a motion around the room. There wasn’t a single pony in the station. “It’s nighttime, and all the ponies went home.”

“Really? There’s not even a night shift or something? A janitor… anypony?”

“This is the PPD, Soarin’,” Applejack muttered. “Unlike most police departments… I’m learning that they’re dumber than a stack of soggy straw. I kind of realize now why Mayor Mare had always asked me and the rest of the girls to solve every crisis that rolls into town.”

“Damn, that’s incompetent…” Soarin’ said, scratching his head. “So… we’re really stuck in here for the night?”

Applejack smiled a little, getting up from her bench and walking to the bars of the cell. “Doubt it,” she said before turning sideways and sticking her arm through it. The orange mare then proceeded to squeeze through the bars. It was a snug fit about halfway through because of her boobs but once she pushed past the bars she was successfully on the other side of the jail cell. “Bars are too wide, this jail cell couldn’t hold anypony.”

“Wow… just wow…” The Wonderbolt said surprisingly. “These are the worst cops I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah, they really are,” the cowpony said, grabbing the jailer’s key loop from the hook on the wall. She went to the door of the jail cell and unlocked it for the stallion. “Well, we just performed a prison break, can scratch that off the bucket list.”

“Yeah… do you think that they’d understand if we left some bail money and a note?”

“Nah… they’d just think a ghost left it there or something, or think it was a bribe,” the orange mare sighed. “We’re not actually going to leave the police station, Soarin’. I just wanted to get some coffee while we wait for morning so we can get bail properly.” She walked to the break room of the police station and started to warm up some coffee. Applejack gave a little displeasing moan. This wasn’t how she expected her last night with Soarin’ to go, getting in a huge fight with a Wonderbolt, being arrested, and having shitty cop coffee for dinner. It nearly brought a tear to her eye.

“Hey,” Soarin’ said, knocking on the door from outside the break room. “Everything cool in here, Jackie?” He said. “You seem a little upset.”

“Of course I’m upset!” Applejack said with a shrilled laugh that nearly sounded like crying. “This whole day has been one big twister in the pig pin. We nearly died today, Soarin’… like I’ve fought against diabolical monsters and dictators and I was always a bit scared… but I never felt like I was going to die. But today… holy crap. We almost died!”

“Yeah, it’s a shitty feeling, isn’t it?” Soarin’ said.

“Oh right… military pony,” Applejack said, feeling a little embarrassed. “You’ve probably been shot and slashed at more times than you care to remember.”

“Yeah, and that’s just from the crazy fans,” Soarin’ said, smiling. “But I’ve learned it’s not healthy to linger on it too much. Just be happy that we’re still alive, and not afraid that we nearly got stabbed by a crazy chick.” He looked at the earth pony, but she still didn’t seem to be convinced. “Hey, look at me.” He said, taking a step closer to Applejack who turned her head. She really did look like she was going to cry. “It’s going to be OK. I ain’t going to let anything hurt you know. There’s no way in hell I’m finding another mare like you in this world. So you dying is not something I’m ever going to let happen.” He placed his hands on each of her shoulders, pulling her in closer, making her look into his eyes. “You got it?”

Applejack got lost in those green irises of his. She felt less tense, and her breathing was starting to slow down and go back to normal. “You know…” The mare said, sniffling a bit. “I don’t need somepony to protect me.”

“I know that,” the blue pegasus nodded. “You’re a hero of Equestria, you kick down trees for a living, there’s probably nothing you can’t do. But I’m still going to be there regardless of how you feel on the matter. So you can be stubborn about it or you can just accept that I care about you and won’t let you fall to harm—“

“You can’t promise that, Soarin’,” Applejack sniffed. “Nopony can.”

“Oh come on, Jackie!” The Wonderbolt snapped at her, lightly placing his hands on both of her shoulders. “That’s not fair. Sure maybe it’s not true, but damn it I’m going to try and make it true. It doesn’t even make any sense that you’re so spooked all of a sudden…” That’s when it dawned on him. “Applejack, what is this really about?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no way in hell you didn’t think you were going to die when you fought all those gods and monsters. A knife swipe might have you scared but you’re a strong mare. There’s something else bothering you, so what is it?”

Applejack bit her lips, refusing to admit what was really on her mind. “It’s nothing… just something stupid.”

“Nothing you do is stupid,” Soarin’ said. “So please, tell me so I can help you.”

The orange mare let out a long, pitiful sigh. “Fine… you want the truth? I’m terrified that I was nearly stabbed by some winged nut job, but I’m more upset that well… this is how it all ends for us.” She turned her head a little, not wanting to look Soarin’ in the eyes. “I had a big night planned for the two of us to give you a proper send off, and then Misty comes in and fucks it all up! Because this is it after tonight. You’re going back to the Wonderbolts where we’ll maybe keep in touch but what happens if you find some new piece of tail and forget about that farm girl from that one weekend? I just wouldn’t want this to be the way this ends.”

“Wow…” Soarin’ said. He could not believe what he was hearing. “That… has to be the stupidest thing you’ve ever said, Applejack.” The mare gave him a weird look, not thrilled to have been called an idiot. “Sorry… but it’s true, or have you already forgotten all the stuff I’ve done to try and find you? Do you really think after years of searching I’m just going to let you go? Hell no! I’m sorry but we’re stuck together until the day we die… I mean not in a creepy way!” He had to mention. “I mean if you really want to break up I’m not going to resent you for it—but I mean I don’t want that to happen… although maybe it’s not really my place to say—“

“Soarin’.”

“There’s certain laws that we both have to respect as well if we were to get married one day—“

“Soarin’.”

“And I’m pretty adventurous, but I’d rather not jam anything up my butt so if that’s a deal breaker then—”

“Soarin’!” Applejack yelled. “Just shut up, you big moron.” The farm pony closed the gap between him and her, pressing their lips up against one another. She felt his arms wrap around the small of her back, pushing her ever closer until she was pressed up against him. It was a short kiss, but it did get him to stop yammering. “You don’t have to explain yourself for me. I get it. The two of us, it was fated that we’d end up meeting after all those years, and for the record, you’re the one stuck with me.”

“We’re stuck with each other,” Soarin’ smiled, giving the orange mare a quick peck on her forehead. He glanced over at the clock ticking away on the wall, sighing when he saw that the night was already reaching its conclusion. In a few hours it would be Monday, and this weekend that felt like a year in a fortnight would be over. He would have to leave and start working on a schedule so he could visit Applejack as often as possible, and of course try and talk to the higher ups to downplay his Casanova factor now that he was a taken stallion. Last thing he wanted was his new marefriend getting jealous over a misunderstanding and putting some poor girl in the hospital…

Applejack gave a loud yawn and a stretch. She felt like she had barely gotten any sleep this weekend. A fair assumption when half of it was spent lying awake procrastinating and the other half between Soarin’s legs. “Well I don’t know about you, but I think I’m ready to get some well needed shuteye. Should we got back to the cell?”

“Aww? Already,” the pegasus moped. “I’m not even sleepy yet.”

“Doesn’t matter because I am, cowboy,” Applejack said. “I think my body finally just hit the wall.”

“Fine,” Soarin’ said, rolling his eyes playfully. There was probably no winning with her this exhausted. Besides, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world for them to get some sleep.

And with that, Applejack and Soarin’ walked back to their cell, passing through the stupidly spaced bars and took a seat on the tiny and rather uncomfortable bed. Tonight wouldn’t be the finale that they were hoping for, no last big ho-rah between the two of them, but perhaps they found something better than sex. They found comfort in one another, safety in each other’s arms. A pony they could trust with anything, even their life. They found true love.

Author's Note

This took far too long to write... I got to focus up and try and get one project done at a time.