Jack

by AppleJared

Rating: teen
Tags: Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 6105

One mare is all it takes to make a difference. Sometimes that difference is life or death.

Simple things have the biggest tendency to go awry. Habits have the biggest chance of being interrupted. "Jack" has a business meeting like any other quarter-year, yet it does not go as it always does. History has a funny way of repeating itself as she is reminded of her high school days during the predicament.

(There are other characters in this story but I don't want to ruin the surprise.)

Published 2013-09-12 00:00:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-12 00:00:03 UTC

One Night in Canterlot

The city of Canterlot was a wonderful sight to see during the day, especially on the weekends. The radiant sun beamed down swells that mingled joy and livelihood. A breeze would come by as soon as the exhausted needed one. During the afternoon hours, the streets would occupy themselves with the hoofsteps of their equine tenants. Small foals could be heard playfully screaming and yelling in the midst of an innocent game of tag. Royal guardsmen were posted around certain areas of the shops for reasons of keeping tradition rather than keeping the peace. “No one stole anything in Canterlot” was often the motto of the Guards of the Day. The mares would dabble in their food with their besties and the busybodies gave their needless gossip. More often than not, young stallions who did not have the burden of work would passively hunt the mares in hopes of a date; or a boost of self-confidence: either one was desperately needed. The older stallions would sit in chairs and discuss sporting events while their wives went off to deplete the couple’s bank account. The younger stallions would often get frustrated at the fact that the husbands would allow this, but their elders knew that it was a small price to pay for continuing the family name.

As the sun neared the horizon, shops would start the process of closing down, passively issuing their last customers towards the door. Wives would go home and start preparing dinner for the family. Tired foals would make their way back to their homes and the successful young stallions would walk home with the promise of a new date. Those who lived near the castle on the north side of the city stayed out to watch the sunset.

Those who lived on the south side never did any such thing.

During the sunset, the changing of the guard occurred. Those who watched the day left with relief as the night-guards suited up. Unlike their daytime counterparts, night-guards were the special forces of the divisions. They excelled in urban combat and had a much larger skill set than the day-guards. Rumors were told about how the night-guards were all ex-convicts given a second chance by the Princess herself, but those rumors were never proven. During the nights on the south side, the gangs would awake from their opiated sleep and prowl the streets. Often groups could be seen sitting on the sidewalk or posted outside a house. Others would be seemingly going somewhere. Either way, anyone out at night in south Canterlot was armed to their teeth. It was an unwritten rule of the terrain.

There was one exception to the rule. One mare never brought a weapon. She wasn’t a call girl, nor did she belong to the gangs of the ’Lot. She didn’t come by too often; but when she did, she stirred up quite the commotion. Out of the three rival gangs that resided in the city, none of them dared touch her. They were not only afraid of what would happen to them if they tried to harm her, but they needed what she had to offer. She was a dealer.

She had her business back home but she never had the time to expand to Canterlot. She decided to franchise. Once every three months, she would make the journey to the big city and have a meeting with the leaders of the three gangs. There was an understood truce between the groups during this meeting. She would decide who was getting her product this quarter and she would usually take the highest bidder. As demand for the product increased, so did the bids for her business. On a good quarter, she could rack up 50,000 bits just for signing with the winning gang. That didn’t even include her chunk when they sold it.

Tonight was just like any start of a new quarter. As she arrived with some papers in her saddlebags, the leaders stood out of their chairs and gave her a respectful nod. They had been waiting for her. She asked them to be seated and relax. The building they were in was the meeting building, dubbed “Meat”. It was bought by the three gangs and it lay square on the border of each gang’s territory. Located in the heart of the nastiest part of the south ‘Lot, it was the neutral zone. As grizzled and tough as the night-guards were, they didn’t dare go to that part of town. The house itself was a small one, emptied with the exception of the very middle room. This room had a large table in the middle with a small chandelier hanging in the center. It had four chairs exactly and an electronic key card was needed to get past the sliding steel doors and into the room. Only four cards were ever made. Outside the house, a plethora of guards from each gang protected their triangular position of the house. Two members from each gang would compile together and guard the front door. One guard from each gang in unison would guard the back door. Every window had a guard on it and snipers were on the roof.

As soon as her papers were on the table, a shot outside was fired; then the war erupted.

The four ponies got underneath the table and the cursing began. When the mare said something, the three were silent.

“What in the hell is goin’ on?” she asked.

The other three looked at each other. One of them spoke up.

“I don’t know. None of our guards would do that. The only thing I can think of is: There is a small, new gang that is trying to move in the city. We scouted them out a week ago and they only had a few dozen members. Nothing to even get stirred up about. If this is them, they’ve got some real balls. Either this will be over quick or they have some secret weapon we don’t know about.”

Something about that made the mare laugh.

She got picked on in school. Not because she was ugly or even because of the way she talked. She was the only filly who did physical labor outside of school. They teased her with the stallion name of Jack. She could tolerate that much while people were watching but sometimes when they were extra mean, she would go home and cry. As her muscles started to show more, she realized she could take out most anyone in her class if the time came. She knew better than to start something, but she would finish it if provoked.

After the summer of her freshman year of school, Jack came back in the fall not as an awkward looking filly with an asymmetrical body figure; but a beautiful mare who grew her long, flowing hair that was only topped with her favorite hat. No one knew where the hat came from, but Jack always knew. Her body had formed into something desirable in all areas. A new colt from Manehattan never got to know Jack before he cornered her between classes. This colt, hell-bent on feeling up some fresh cutie mark demanded that Jack let him touch hers right in front of everyone. Jack half-closed her eyes in focus and quietly said “Ah don’t think so.”

Before his hoof even brushed Jack’s quarters, she flipped around and did an apple-buck square on his face. His shriek and crying told the crowd she had broken several bones. She hawked one up and spit on his broken face, leaving him with “Better luck next time.”

After that day, everyone called her by her real name: Applejack, in hopes she wouldn’t do the same to them.

That was a long time ago. After a few weeks, people noticed that she was still very nice. Jack never used her strength for her own gain. She would only stand up for herself and defend those who couldn’t protect their own hide. People looked up to Jack, even some older stallions. She never participated in many social events, mainly due to farm work. Occasionally she would be able to make it to a party or a sleep-over with the mares but it was a rarity. Things like school dances were always during harvest season so she never got to attend. When the mares would talk about the dances and their dates, Jack would go home and imagine herself in a dress, hoping for what she knew was impossible. Her attendance was impossible, until her last year of school. Mac caught wind of her wanting to go while she still had a chance. In accordance, Mac worked extra hard so she could attend.

He wanted to keep it a surprise, so there was work to do outside of the farm as well. He had to find Jack’s dress size, so he got one of his friends Cheer to spend the night with Jack to find out. He sent the size off to the dressmaker and had Cheer pick one out as well. Next was the date situation. Mac knew all too well that there were some real asses in Jack’s class so he had to think hard on who would be suitable. He remembered Jack occasionally talking about a certain colt during dinner. She never once gave hints that she liked him, but Mac remembered what it was like to be her age. He found the stallion at the market the next day and talked to him a while. Soarin turned out to be a nice guy. After discussing a few things, Mac got right down to business.

“Whatcha think ‘bout mah sister?”

“I like Applejack. She’s pretty but she’s not floozy. I can appreciate a hard-working mare. I’d date her if she ever let me.”

Mac pretended to be upset. “An’ why would ya wanna date her anyway??”

“She’s a beautiful mare. AJ is more than anything I have ever deserved in a date. I would never shame her by asking for anything physical, but I would defend her in a fight, if I had to. I guess it’s kinda obvious that I really like her. Oh well.”

“He sure got a pair” thought Mac, “sayin’ all of this to me right now.”

That was all Mac needed to hear. He filled in Soarin with the plans and gave specific instructions on what was going to happen over the next few days. Mac worried about Soarin and his sister for many hours. He finally came to the conclusion that they would just go to the dance and they probably wouldn’t be in a relationship afterwards. In the end, Jack was her own mare and she could make her own decisions as well. Mac left it at that.

It was the day before the big dance. Jack had just finished her last class and started the walk back to the farm. After bidding her friends goodbye earlier, she had realized how excited they were about the dance. They practically begged her to go, but she gave them the same excuse she had for the past 3 years. “Sorry girls, Farm comes first.”

The humidity outside was appalling. It felt as though if you breathed too hard you would drown. The sun was bearing down an uncomfortable punishment for the clouds raining the day previous. Even a working mare like herself would be sweating before she reached the barn doors. The mud had been choked of moisture to the point that it morphed into hardened clay. In short, it was like any other day in the post-summer, pre-rainy season farmlands.

Except when Jack arrived at the orchards, she found every tree already harvested. Every last one of them. She raced to the barn to find Mac pulling in the last wagon-load of apples. She almost yelled when she asked. “What in hell are you doin’?”

“Workin’”

“But how did you already harvest the fields?!” she asked.

“Worked.”

“Why did you do that Mac? You know I help every year. Been that way since Paw left us.”

“Ah got a surprise for ya AJ. Jest go inside; you’ll figure it out soon enough,” Mac said with a big grin on his face. As he turned to face his younger sister, she caught his deep, black circles under his eyes. He looked terrible. “He mustn’t have sleep good last night” thought Jack.

Jack went inside and sat down in the living room of the country house she called home. It felt weird not working during harvest season. Mac had never done anything like this before and it made Jack uneasy about what might happen next. She wasn’t a mathematician but she figured Mac must have worked all night for 2 nights just to get that done. “Maybe he hadn’t slept at all last night…”

Under the table, the four ponies waited. Three of them were content to wait until the shooting stopped. One of them was not.

“Any you boys got somethin’ Ah can shoot with?”

They looked to the back wall of the room and one of them pressed a button that had been in his suit pocket. The walls opened up to an arsenal of weapons. Jack grabbed an automatic rifle and grabbed a few clips. She then took three other guns and threw them to the leaders.

“Ah don’t expect y’all to grow a pair, so jest sit here and don’t die.”

Jack decided five minutes ago that she wasn’t going to die sitting under a table. As she exited the room, she went to a small window to the side to peek out at the situation. So far most of the friendlies were still alive but a few bodies were already on the street; clearly ones who tried a charge. She saw a truck about 50 yards away from the house that was producing fire at them. Some of the enemies were behind the truck, others in it; all were shooting. Jack yelled out to the guards outside, “Y’all got any heavy weapons??”

“No ma’am, just a few grenades and some autos.”

Paw always said to work with what you got. “Gimme the ‘nades.”

One guard had a satchel and ran into the house. He gave her the satchel full of grenades, and asked, “Anything I can do to help?”

“Yeah”, she responded, “Take a few and cover back.”

As the stallion quickly took 3 guards with him, the rest that guarded the front looked at her. She ran outside behind cover where the rest were as well. She looked at the most grizzled one of the bunch and simply asked “Bulletproof?”

The guard silently understood and answered “Yes ma’am.”

“Y’all stand back now. Here’s something Ah learned at the farm.”

Jack stepped outside of cover just long enough to take the pin out of a grenade and throw it into the air about 3 feet. Before it was on its way back to the ground she had about-faced and got into apple-bucking position. Timing it just right, she kicked the ‘nade square in its center and sent it flying. The enemies didn’t even see it coming as it flew right into the back window of the truck. Before it could be thrown back the truck exploded; killing not only the enemies in the truck, but around the truck as well.

“Bullseye.”

Jack was getting sick of laying on the couch for her surprise. It had been 20 minutes since Mac had told to her wait in the living room and still nothing had happen.

“He sure has been actin’ all funny for the past few days” thought Jack.

Applebloom had yet to come home, which was normal due to her usual crusading. Granny was upstairs doing something which was actually a tad bit unusual but nothing too off. Just when Jack went back to figuring out how Mac did the harvest himself there was a knock on the door. Jack got up to answer the door and called out, “I don’ know why you’re knockin’ Mac. ‘S your home too, ya know.”

“Well I figured I’d knock since I’m not Mac”, answered Soarin at the door.

As soon as Jack got that door opened and saw who was there, she took a pause. This ain’t real. Ah’m dreamin’ right now. Jest need to wake up ‘fore Ah embarrass mahself. “Hey AJ”, Soarin said, waking Jack out if her train of thought, “could I come in or do I have to stand at the door?” Soarin’s cheeky question and confident smile hit Jack like a ton of bricks as her embarrassment poured red all over her cheeks and lit fire to her face. “S-Sure! C’mon in Soarin! Wh—What can I do ya for? Wanna drink or somethin’?”

“A drink sounds nice AJ. Some water would be awesome.” Soarin stood politely until Jack left the room. After making his own way to the couch, he sat down thinking that this would be harder than what he thought. She was being way more cute than usual.

Back in the kitchen, Jack was fumbling through some cups trying to get a simple glass of water. Good gravy, girl. Look at yourself, you’re nervous as a cat! Jest get him a glass of water. Ah don’t know why he’s here either but don’t make a fool of yourself in front’a him.

It was strange, really. Jack had always gone to school with Soarin. They had been decent friends since kindergarten. When high school popped around, they didn’t hang out as much anymore. Soarin was easily the fastest flyer in their class and was already getting scouted for the Wonderbolts. Jack was still just a farmer, if not a beautiful one. While she always kinda liked Soarin from afar, she was never nervous about it because she knew it would never work out.

This was different. Soarin had no business here on the farm; he was a flying pony, not a work horse. Something was definitely going on. Jack grabbed every bit of confidence she could muster up with one hoof and the glass of water with the other and made her way to the living room. Upon approach, Soarin was spotted making himself comfy on the family couch. As Jack neared him in the room she said, “So what’s a flyin’ pony like yourself doin’ all tha way out here?”

Soarin stood up and walked over to Jack. He looked her in the eyes and with every amount of swagger the athlete possessed, he grabbed her hoof. “Well AJ, I’m out here to ask you if you would go to the school dance with me.”

There was a lull after the truck exploded in part by no one was shooting at the moment. It was mostly because everyone saw what the mare had just done to a platoon of enemy gang members. No one had ever seen a block’s worth of gang members get blown up like that by one pony, let alone one of the female persuasion. Younger members sat in wonder why they couldn’t do such things to suppress their enemy; the elders quickly knew who to pledge their allegiance to if things got hairy. Both demographics were not used to this hands-on leadership. Sure, their bosses were one of them and did the same things the foot soldiers used to do; but when the suits come on you just don’t do the dirty work anymore. It had been months since most of the low-level members even saw their leaders. How ironic they didn’t see them now in the firefight.

Jack had been in this kind of situation before. Maybe not as many guns, but it was all the same. After about a moment’s rest, one of the elder guards approached and asked her, “What can we do?” With every member of the three gangs as an audience, Jack looked at him as if she had just woken up and answered, “Get ready for round two.” He looked surprised, then turned around and screamed “YOU HEARD HER, LOCK AND LOAD!”

Oh no, Jack knew better than to think it was over. This kind of cocky, headstrong attitude by a group of ponies would never just give up after losing a fight. They would be back for more, and soon. The problem was, no one could guess what they would bring for round two. More soldiers? Armored vehicles? Explosives? It was anyone’s guess. Whatever the near future had prepared for the house and its occupants, they would be prepared as possible.

As soon as the last guard got his gun ready, the sound of footsteps in unison was heard down the streets. There were about 50 of them coming down in columns of three and others down side streets as well. A younger soldier asked Jack if he should wait until he sees the whites of their eyes to shoot. Jack responded, “Naw, jest wait ‘til you can hit ‘em.” Jack grabbed the neared rifle and put a banana clip in it. As soon as she got the sights in on what looked to be a platoon leader, she fired. As her target fell immediately, the rest of the guards open fired. This was getting hairy pretty fast.

“WH-wHat?”

“Applejack, would you be my date to the dance tomorrow night?”

Now, usually Jack would say no without hesitation. She always had to work to do during the dance, so going to the dance would never happen. But Mac had somehow finished all of the work and as Mac stood outside in sight of Jack, he gave a knowing nod and a big smile. It all made sense to Jack now. Mac did all of this for her, and Jack was so happy she could barely stand it. She would pay him back for this eventually.

“Ya know, Ah’d love ta be your date, Soarin.”

“Sweet! I’ll be here tomorrow at 7 to pick you up. We’re going to Chateau Nourriture with the rest of our friends.” As Soarin made his way back towards the door, he gave himself a proverbial pat on the back. He kept it short and sweet, which was his M.O.. Even with it being Applejack, he couldn’t have anyone know how he felt about her. It was painfully obvious to his friends, but no one outside the circle could ever know. Everyone in their class knew Jack was special, except Jack. After the first few rejections, stallions in Jack’s class got tired of the disappointment and quit asking. It wasn’t that Jack didn’t want a date, she was always too busy working to have time to date. There was always something that needed to be done at the farm. Some nights, Jack would silently curse the farm for making her so lonely; for taking all of her time. But at the end of it all, the farm made it possible to earn money and go to school in the first place. It gave her purpose, it gave her pride, it gave her life. After some time, she began to think that many didn’t like her because of the circumstances, because of the rejections. Every stallion in the whole school would have killed for just one date with her, but that always flew over her radar.

Earlier in high school, Soarin never asked Jack out. He dated any other mare he wanted in the class and there were plenty to go around in Ponyville. He wouldn’t even chase them either, they would present themselves to him and if they were lucky, he would ask them over to a party or something. It was a staple of popularity for the mares to be seen with Soarin in public. Some mares even went to the point of thinking about herd lifestyle. Going back to multiple mares and one stallion living together as a household was strange and looked down upon by the legalists, but some wanted Soarin that badly. Parents would wish that their daughter would be lucky enough to marry Soarin and have his foals.

But Soarin had changed since early high school. Sure, he used to go with chicks that would give him a little something in return; but that was all in the past. He learned from his mistakes and got some morals along the way. He was something he was proud of now. He liked the changed stallion he was, and the types of mares he liked changed as well. He hadn’t dated in about 6 months prior to the dance. He knew he liked Jack, but he also knew the answer he would get if he asked. So he stood his ground and stuck to his beliefs and morals. If he couldn’t have the mare he wanted, he wouldn’t settle for less. Three days before the school dance, his patience was rewarded. Jack’s brother allowed him to take his crush to the dance.

So while Soarin neared the exit of Jack’s house, he knew he did a good job. He didn’t let on to his feelings for her, but that might come in time. He did, however, strap in the hottest date any stallion could ever get, and this dance would be one for the ages. He turned to see her before he left and casually said, “Hey AJ, don’t look too pretty. Wouldn’t want to make the other mares TOO jealous!” and with his staple smirk he left the premises. It’s a good thing too; Jack’s cheeks were redder than Big Mac’s behind.

The opposing troops would definitely give Jack a run for her money, but the trucks with mounted guns proved to be the real problem. Jack’s side was behind a concrete wall outside the house itself which was built for just such an occasion. It was about 2 feet thick so it could protect its occupants from rifle fire, but machine gun fire was different and by the sound of it, Jack guessed those trucks sported .50’s. The trucks themselves were out of range for her grenade kick and they seemed to have bulletproof doors and windows. These guys were not beginners and they weren’t cheap either.

After assessing the situation, Jack called some of the elite of her group and ordered them to follow. She went back around the house and behind an alleyway to flank one of the trucks. After taking out the bogies outside the truck, she dipped a nade underneath the truck next to the fuel tank. After a large explosion, Jack figured “One down.” The second truck out of the three that were giving her guys problems was on the other side of the street. Jack took her men down a block and crossed behind the enemies. While it seemed like they would go unnoticed, one of her guards tripped and broke his ankle right before getting across. The middle truck’s soldiers heard him scream and turned the mounted and fired right at him before he could move. After a few seconds of fire, there was little left of him. The rest of the group including Jack had already made it to the other side of the street and was protected by the building wall by the time they heard his screams. Jack and the rest of her group looked on helpless to do anything. “Let’s go”, she said, “nothin’ we can do now.”

The more the guards were with Jack, the more they thought of her as some kind of grizzled warrior. She seemed the least phased out of the group by the massacre of their comrade and still seemed confident of their ability to succeed. As she gave her order, the stallions followed without delay. It was clear who was really in charge of this situation and it clearly was not their gang bosses. As they rounded the building, the end of the alleyway presented the second truck on the sidewalk of the main street. Jack ordered two guards to take out the soldiers on their side of the truck. She would do the rest.

As the second truck exploded, the defending guards gave a war cry that seemed to shake the surrounding blocks. No one would have believed a few hours ago that a country mare would lead the gang of stallions to a victory, but no stallion in the group would deny it now. They had turned from enemies, to allies within a few minutes to defend themselves, and a lone mare would give them their victory. It was certainly one for the ages.

But the battle was not over yet. The third truck was sitting there, firing at the guards at the house. It was now severely outnumbered and the enemies outside of the truck were now all dead. Logically, Jack knew it should be buggin’ out; but it wasn’t. It stayed there and kept firing. It wasn’t a valiant effort anymore, that truck was staying to die. A kamikaze of some sort. The question was why.

“Somethin’ ain’t right here.”

Everything was perfect. Perfection was attained from her dress, to make-up, to how her hair actually worked with her for a change, to when Soarin arrived at her house. Everything was according to Jack’s plan. What was not according to Jack’s plan was the hot ride Soarin picked her up in. Not too many ponies in Ponyville had cars, but when Soarin signed onto the Canterlot University for a competitive flying scholarship they gave him a new car to boot. Most other ponies would be walking to the dance with their dates, but neither Soarin nor Jack were most other ponies.

“Why hell, Soarin. Ah’ve never seen such a thing! It looks amazin’!”

“Thanks AJ, I’ve never had much use for it until now.” He gently put his hoof on her face and said, “I couldn’t have a pretty thing like you walk to the dance, now could I?”

Jack shied her face away in embarrassment and tried her best to hide the eruption of color on her face. “Well Soarin, shoot, ya really didn’t have to. But Ah appreciate it anyway.” She smiled even more when he opened the door for her to his wheels and hopped in his side afterwards.

When they arrived at the restaurant, he once again got out of his car and opened her door. When they neared the restaurant door, he grabbed her hoof with his own and they walked in together. If only Jack knew how much confidence Soarin had to work up to do that. Then again, Soarin had no clue how glad she was he did it. When Jack saw a table that occupied hers and Soarin’s friends, she knew the night would be perfect. The squees and squeals from Jack’s friends at their table was almost louder than the hoots and hollers from Soarin’s friends. They took the two unoccupied seats next to each other and the conversations began. Both parties asked their friends how Jack and Soarin got together, but most left it up to fate. They were immediately a class favorite. Not to mention each other’s favorite.

The ride to the dance was filled with laughter and smiles from both dates. During a lull in the conversation, Soarin decided to get something off of his chest. “AJ, you know what I like about you the most?”

With a playful smile, AJ responded “If ya say mah flanks, Ah’ll hit ya.”

A bout of laughter later, Soarin answered, “Nah. I mean, I do like your flanks but not as much as this. I like your eyes. I’ve never seen such deep green eyes in my entire life. I’d say your eyes have an element of… honesty. They have an honest beauty about them, which reflects upon the rest of you very well.”

After dropping that bomb, Soarin decided it best to wait for her to say something and she took her time with doing that. Finally she said, “Well sakes Soarin, Ah’d say that’s the sweetest thing someone ever told me.” She undid her seat belt and scooted closer to him, arriving to the dance hall with her arms around him.

The dance went better than expected for both of them. Jack hadn’t the slightest clue on how to dance, but Soarin gave her a crash course and she improvised the rest. The fun wasn’t found with the dancing however, or even being crowned the King and Queen of the dance. It was found in each other’s presence. In the middle of the last slow dance, Soarin asked Jack very quietly and in her ear, “Maybe you’d like to do this again sometime?”

“Maybe I would.”

Jack gave orders to make a perimeter around the Meat. No one was to leave the house itself without her permission. As she busted the front door down, her worst suspicions were proved correct. This entire attack was not aimed at flexing towards the major gangs in the city, but to kill their leaders. Enemies had snuck in the building from the back when the guards moved to the front to defend the Meat. There were two right next to Jack when she got in and she took them out before they could even react. Before she could move to the next hallway toward the conference room, there was a deafening explosion on the other side of the house. She swiped her card to get in, only to find the leaders still under a table and someone she already knew pointing a revolver towards them.

He exclaimed, “Why hello there country bumbkin! It’s been quite some time now hasn’t it?”

“Filthy Rich, Ah see you’re still a shithead.”

“Now, now Applejack, let’s not start on the wrong hoof here. I don’t have any quarrel with you, just don’t get in my way.”

“These fellers haven’t done a thing to ya, Filthy. Leave ‘em alone.”

“I prefer Rich, but I’m sure you already knew that. If you leave now, I won’t have to harm you.”

“As long as you got that gun pointed towards them stallions, Ah ain’t goin’ nowheres.”

With an evil grin, and a snarl in his voice, Filthy responded, “Well then maybe I’ll just have to get what I wanted from you all those years ago, JACK .” As Filthy walked over to her, he pointed the gun at her face with one hoof, and worked his other hoof towards her cutie mark. Before he could touch her, she ducked down underneath his arm and kicked right at the elbow joint. The loud crack sent a shockwave into the room; it was obvious the bone had broken. As he screamed in pain, he fell to the floor. Jack grabbed his revolver and put two into the head of the only stallion in the room that deserved it.

Jack looked to the gang leaders, who were astounded that she could do something like that.

“Guess he won’t be comin’ back fer more.”

As the sun was beginning to show on the horizon, one mare was walking on a country road. Her steps were slow but with purpose. At the end of her journey, she was promised rest. She treaded on towards her goal. As she neared the door to what she called home, a stallion from the inside opened it for her and greeted her.

“How was your night honey?”

“Twas fine. I got the sale.”

“Any problems with the transaction?”

“Had a couple, but it all worked out well.”

“Well I’m glad, babe. I knew you’d be tired so I got the bed all made for you.”

He wrapped his arms around her as she collapsed tiredly into his and he said, “I love you AJ.”

“Ah love you too Soarin.”

Author's Note

This was extremely fun to write. I couldn't find an editor to work on this fast enough and after 3 weeks of having it sit as unpublished, I decided to go ahead and submit it anyways. I tried to keep the nonsense to a minimum but if I made any big errors let me know. I took about an hour and a half to edit it myself. BUT I'M TERRIBLE AT IT.

If you liked it, I'd appreciate a follow or whatever the hell it's called on here.

Also, Mind of a Princess is still a work in progress. Editor is held up with backlog.

Also Also, Why are there so few fics where AJ is shown with 100% badassery? More of that pls.