Friendship is Magic

In the days following our battle with the Shadowbolts, we hadn’t heard from Luna, which was a welcomed relief.  But, that doesn’t mean we were idle.  Several more creatures, mutated with Discord jewels, appeared.

However, with the addition of Rainbow, we were a more powerful force.  Her lightning attacks could stun multiple opponents and allow us to gather the jewels at our leisure.

Unfortunately, since that day when we battled the Shadowbolts and Honesty glowed, I’ve made no progress in finding the sixth Bearer.  Whatever connection the jewel found with its Bearer was severed and it remained dark.

I was asleep the morning that the jewel found the connection again.  The light was so bright that it had awoken me from what was actually a rather deep sleep.  I rubbed my eyes and stared at it before turning to the clock on my wall.

“Six.  It’s six in the morning.” I muttered. “Why can’t these things work on a more reasonable scale, like, say, ten.”  I sighed as I climbed out of my warm bed.  “Well, duty calls.  All I can say is Celeste better appreciate the sacrifices I make for her.”

I quickly dressed and fetched my horn.  I took my bicycle and followed the spiritual link that connected the jewel to the Bearer.  It was still very early and the town was quiet, making my journey through the deserted streets easy.  I crossed Ponyville and headed out into the open country, still following the trail and marvelling at the range of the connection.

Eventually, the link deviated from the road and into the trees.  I wasn’t exactly sure where I was, but I knew I was only a few miles outside of town.  Leaving my bicycle by the road, I began to climb the hill.  As I neared the crest, I began to feel a strong presence.  It was difficult to describe, but I believed the Bearer of Honesty was in the clearing just ahead.  What she was doing all the way out here, I hadn’t the foggiest idea.

I crouched just behind some bushes and parted them to see through.  Standing before a stately looking apple tree was a young woman.  She was tall, powerfully-built, very tan, and wore a distinctive brown Stetson.

“There.” she drawled, straightening the massive black ribbon that was wrapped around the tree. “That’s enough for today.  Ah think Ah ought get on now.”

I stared hard, trying to remember where I had seen this woman before.  The build and the voice were so familiar.  I distinctly remembered that battered old stetson being dropped onto my head.

Could she be the final Bearer?

“It is you!” I cried, pushing free of my hiding place.  Startled, the woman turned around to face me, the mask of surprise transforming into one of annoyance.  “You’re that girl!  The one from before!  Applejack, right?”

“What are ya doin’ here?  How did ya find this place?”  She snarled, widening her stance.

“I just came by.  I need to talk to you ab-”

“No!”  She barked.  “Get outta here!  Get lost!”

“Applejack, if I could just have a minute.”

“Ah said leave!  Ah’m busy.  Ah’ll talk to ya later, but ya need to leave now!”

I noticed how she was standing, with her head and shoulders down and her arms and legs spread.  I had seen this kind of behavior before.  She was on the defensive, as if she was protecting the tree.

I thought it best that I did as she said.  “Alright, I’m going, but promise me we’ll speak later.”

“Yeah.  Alright.  Sure, just get movin’.”

“O-okay.”  I mumbled.  I left her to whatever she had been doing, confused as to what I had done to receive such a poor welcome.

x----x

“Faster, Rainbow.  Time’s almost up.”  Fluttershy reported as Rainbow sprinted past her.

“Right!”  Rainbow replied, doubling her speed.

“Hey, Flutters.  Good morning!”  Pinkie called as she arrived.

“Oh, Hi, Pinkie.  How are you?”

Pinkie watched the steadily shrinking figure of Rainbow. “Is this what you two do all day?”

“Yes.  Rainbow usually trains in the afternoons after school, but all of the recent monster attacks have forced us to change up routine.  She trains in the morning, now.”

“Sounds like fun!  I wanna try!”  Pinkie cried as she broke into a sprint and rapidly caught up with Rainbow Dash.  As soon as she was a few paces ahead of the girl, she spun and began sprinting backwards.  “I see you’re having fun without me.”

Slightly startled by Pinkie’s speed, Rainbow managed to recover admirably.  “Fun?  I’m doing some serious training here.”

Pinkie giggled. “I know.  You’re playing seriously or seriously playing.  I have an idea.  Let’s race!  Loser has to clean the winner’s feet with her tongue!”

“You’re on.  Wait...what?”

“Onetwothreego!”  Pinkie blurted before disappearing in a cloud of dust.

Rainbow stared after her in confusion.  “How the hell did she manage to accelerate like that?”

Fluttershy’s high-pitched scream echoed across the park.  Rainbow skidded to a stop and turned to see her friend pointing at a rapidly-disappearing figure.  “Thief!  She’s got my stopwatch!”

Without thinking, Rainbow took off in pursuit of the thief. who was already half a block away.  Rainbow’s instincts, developed over years of parkour training, kicked in as she began to observe everything around her and calculate distances.  She was one hundred and fifty meters behind the thief and closing the distance at a rate of two meters per second.  Thirty meters away and to her left, a cab was coming towards them.  If it continued on its present course at the same rate of speed, it would intercept the thief in three seconds.

The thief seemed very fast.  Rainbow judged her speed at just over ten kilometers per hour.  If she was taken out by the cab, that was all fine but if she managed to dodge it, that would reduce her speed by about two full kilometers for a few seconds, allowing Rainbow some much needed distance.

One of the things Rainbow noticed was that the thief wasn’t as skilled a runner as she.  While she could angle for a quick wall turn, the thief needed to slow quite a bit to avoid crashing.  Another thing was that while the thief was fast she did not posses Rainbow’s stamina and was beginning to slow.

Through the streets and alleys they ran, each turn allowing Rainbow another chance to close the gap.  The thief’s turns were random, indicating that she was unfamiliar with the layout of the city.  There were even a few instances where Rainbow saw her double back from a bad turn.

The thief made one final blunder.  With Rainbow only a few steps behind, she turned down an alley Rainbow knew to be a dead-end.  She kept back a few paces, blocking the thief’s retreat, but with enough distance to give her time to react if things became violent.  “Alright, punk.  You’ve had your fun.  Hand over the watch and you get to go home without the taste of asphalt in your mouth.”

The thief chuckled.  “I gotta say, Dash, I’m impressed.  You’re certainly not the whiny little kid I remember.”

“Wait a second.  Only one person has ever called me ‘Dash’.”

The thief spun and threw back her hood, revealing a shock of snow-white hair.  Sharp golden eyes narrowed as she glared at Rainbow from over a hawk-ish nose and a smirk.  “It’s been awhile Dash.  How’s it hangin’?”

Rainbow’s jaw fell as she stared back at a face she hadn’t seen in nearly four years, since before she moved to Ponyville. “Gilda?”

x----x

“So you’re telling me that Applejack is the last Bearer of Harmony?”

I leaned against the counter of The Carousel boutique.  I had forgotten that Rarity would be at work.  I didn’t want to bother her, but this was a bit important.  “She seems to be.”

“Well, I must say I am surprised.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about her?”

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but I don’t know much about her.  I do know that she just recently transferred here from somewhere near Appleloosa.  She’s in the same graduating class as I, but we’ve never spoken.  Not the most sociable girl.  But, Twilight dear, if you’re so curious about her why not ask her yourself?”

“I tried that but she just kept telling me to get lost.” I confessed.

“Hmm, yes.  That does sound like her.  Give me just a moment and I’ll see what the school files have on her.”  Rarity pulled out her phone and began to tap rapidly at the screen.

“Aren’t those files confidential?”  I objected.

“Being student body president does have its perks, Twilight.  All the same, I’d prefer this stay between us.”

“Oh, no need to tell me twice.  I’m sorry for bothering you at work.  I had forgotten you would be here.  Are you sure you won’t get into any trouble for this?”

“Not to worry, Twilight.  I’m certainly the best employee here.  Why, I’m always punctual, always committed, and always serve the clients with a smile.”

“Excuse me, miss.  I’d like to purchase this dress.”  A young woman with light blue hair stepped up to the counter, earning a glare from Rarity.

“Excuse me, madame, but I am in the middle of a conversation.  Patience is a virtue.”  She returned her attention to me as the woman set her dress on the counter and hurried out the door. “Twilight, are you certain that Applejack has any interest in becoming our comrade?  She rarely speaks to anyone, unless it’s absolutely necessary and, as far as I know, she has no friends.”

“All the more reason to show her that we want her to be with us.  I’m confident that once she and I have had a chance to talk and she sees that we’re genuine, she’ll come around.”

x----x

“I can’t believe you came all the way from Siberia just to see me.”  Rainbow exclaimed as she sat down next to Gilda on the boardwalk overlooking the shore.

“Did you forget my promise, Dash?  I said I’d find you again and I meant it.  It took a long time before I was able to leave my home, but I’m here now.”  Gilda turned to Pinkie and Fluttershy, who were standing about, looking awkward, a short distance away.  “By the way, Dash, who are they?”

“Oh.  That’s my gal pal, Pinkie.  We met just a few days ago and that’s Fluttershy.  She’s been my friend for a few years now.”

“Pleased to meet you, Gilda.”

Pinkie took a few steps towards the pair. “Rainbow, how long have you known Gilda.”

“We met in Siberia when I was about six and hit it off right away.  We always competed against each other in various sports.”

“And I always won.”  Gilda boasted.

“As if!  You had me beat in endurance but I kicked your butt in speed.”

“Okay but don’t forget that you always needed my help whenever you got into trouble.”

“Did you protect her a lot?”  Fluttershy asked.

“All the time.  Dash was so shy and such a crybaby.”

“Liar!  I wasn’t a crybaby!  Don’t listen to anything she says.”

“So you were just like Fluttershy.”  Pinkie pointed out. “A shy crybaby.”

“Yes!”  Fluttershy agreed.  “Wait.  I’m not a crybaby.”

“But you look a hella lot tougher, Dash.  Don’t care for that rainbow hair of yours.  You tryin’ to look like a clown?”

“Don’t joke like that.  I’m solely devoted to parkour now and just wanted to change up my style some.”

“Is that it?  I do a lot of free-climbing now.”

“Seriously?!  Tell me what you’ve been up to.”

“Great to see ya, Dash.  We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Pinkie blinked in confusion. “Did they forget we’re here?”

Fluttershy hushed her. “Don’t worry about it.  Rainbow’s reunited with an old friend and is just really excited.  She hasn’t forgotten about us.”

x----x

Rarity showed me the map on her phone.  “There it is.”

“She lives there?”

“Yes.  It’s just on the outskirts of town, not far from where you met her this morning.  There’s a bus that runs out there.”

“To buy all of that land must have cost a fortune.”

She gave me a sidelong glance. “You really don’t know who Applejack is, do you?”

“Well, if I did, I wouldn’t be asking you so many questions, would I?”

Rarity nodded. “True.  Applejack’s family owns Apple Acres.  It’s one of the largest agricultural enterprises in the world and is recognized internationally.”

“And that means what to me?”  I prompted.

“She and her family are multi-millionaires.  They’re incredibly wealthy.”

A few hours later found me standing outside of one of the largest houses I had ever seen, the way to the door barred by a huge iron gate.  I stared at the house, hoping Applejack would give me the time of day and that she wouldn’t think I was trying to gain her friendship for her money.

I couldn’t see a way around the gate.  The wall surrounding the property was taller than I was so climbing that wasn’t an option. “I’ll just have to climb the gate.”  I concluded, gripping the topmost bar and trying to pull myself up.  I should have brought Rainbow with me.  She’d be better at this than I.

“Hey.  What’re ya tryin’ to do there?”  A low voice behind me asked.

I replied without turning around.  “I need to get in and speak to Applejack.”

“Maybe ya’ll should try ringin’ the doorbell.  It’s right there on your left.”

“A doorbell?  Yeah, that would probably work better.”  I released my grip on the gate and dropped to the ground.

“Make ya look better, too.  Less like a troublemaker.”

“Yeah.  You’re probably right.” I responded, pressing the button to the side of the gate.

“‘Course, ya could just wait for me to open the gate.”

“Oh, do you work here?”

“Nah.  Ah live here.”

I finally turned around to see a massive mountain of a man standing directly behind me.  He was all tan skin and rippling muscle under a messy mop of reddish-gold hair.

“Howdy.  I’m Macintosh, Applejack’s brother.  Everyone calls me ‘Big Mac’.”

I could feel sweat trickle down my back and my face felt suddenly hot. “You don’t say.”