Quest for Harmony-EDIT IN PROGRESS (Note: changing story to present tense)

The first thing Twilight noticed in the morning was the smell.

It was a delectable smell, rich with the crisp tang of apples, the wheaty aroma of bread, and even the faint scent of fresh green celery.

It was also a very odd smell, seeing as the last time Twilight had had that sort of breakfast meal was when she had gone home for Hearth’s Warming break two years ago.

Applejack!

Twilight leapt out of bed and hurried down the stairs. The scents only got stronger as she went, and by the time she reached the kitchen her mouth was watering almost beyond belief.

She poked her head into the kitchen and saw that Applejack was indeed at the stove, making breakfast.

“Oh my goodness… Applejack, you really didn’t need to do this―”

Applejack looked up.

“Oh, mornin’, Twilight.” She grabbed a spatula off of the counter and began to serve up a plate. “Sit yerself down, Ah’m almost done.”

“Applejack―”

“Sit.”

Twilight made her way over to the table and sat.

Applejack finished serving up the plate and carried it over to the table. Twilight looked down at it and saw a fresh-baked loaf of bread, a generous portion of still-warm apple crumble, and a small celery tart.

The smell was having a merciless effect on Twilight’s willpower.

“Al…right…” she muttered, staring at the food. “Fine.” She looked up again to see Applejack standing next to the stove, watching her. “But you’re eating with me.” A section of apple crumble levitated off of the stovetop and onto a spare plate, along with a second tart and a half-loaf of bread. The plate then lifted off of the counter and landed neatly in the space across from Twilight.

Applejack trotted over and sat down, though she had an extremely uncomfortable look on her face.

They sat in silence for a while, both wolfing down the delectable food. Twilight was two-thirds of the way through her meal when a sudden thought dropped into her mind.

“Erm, Applejack―where did you sleep last night?”

The earth pony shrugged. “Over there.” She pointed to a small corner at the far end of the now-spotless library. A pillow and a blanket had been dragged over and arranged into a sort of makeshift bed.

Twilight’s eyes widened.

“You cleaned the whole library and then slept in the corner?”

Applejack just shrugged again.

“There’s an extra bed upstairs,” Twilight said. “That’s where you sleep from now on―and if you need anything else, tell me, alright?”

Applejack nodded her head and took another bite of apple crumble.

“Alright―”

She was cut off by a fierce whinny from outside.

Twilight leaped from her kitchen, followed closely by Applejack.

“Stay back, AJ!” she whispered. “This could be dangerous!”

“Which is exactly why ah ain’t about to let ya go it alone,” replied the earth pony.

Again, Twilight remembered how stubborn Applejack was.

“All right, Applejack, you can follow if you like. But please, I beg you, stay out of danger.”

“Now look here, miss,” said Applejack, “Ah’m in your debt and ah refuse to let you get hurt.”

Twilight shook her head and trotted outside, the gold-orange pony following.

Strangely enough, there was no one nearby. The unicorn was about to head back inside, but then she felt something hard and sharp against her neck.

“Make one move or try to scream, and you’re dead…” hissed a harsh female voice.

“Lay off’a my master!” snapped Applejack, intent on charging the cloaked attacker.

“Applejack, no!” gasped Twilight.

The farm mare didn’t listen, but the cloaked pony threw off her hood rather than attack, revealing sky-blue fur and a rainbow-colored mane.

“Stay out of this, Applejack,” warned the blue pony. “It’s not your fight.”

“Rainbow Dash?” gasped Applejack, freezing in her tracks. The farm mare’s green eyes grew wide. “Since when do you go around killin’ folk?”

Twilight heard wingbeats above her.

“AJ- run!” said the blue mare. “It’ll be ok, trust me!”

Though still very mistrustful, Applejack stood back, though she kept her gaze on Rainbow.

Three pegasi landed next to Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“So you haven’t turned traitor?” said the leader. She was cloaked, but Twilight could see her face: yellow fur and a fire colored mane.

“Of course not, Spitfire. I was about to take care of this wingless wimp when you interrupted.”

“You seem to have missed another wingless wimp over there,” said Spitfire, pointing at Applejack. “I’ll just take care of her for you…”

She swooped toward Applejack, battle-axe in her teeth, only to have her muzzle meet up with AJ’s flying hooves.

“Ah’m no pony’s prey,” hissed Applejack. “Now get outta here afore I kick you again!”

Spitfire tried to get up to make the earth pony pay, but the blow to her head left her stunned and unable to move.

“Wonderbolts, RETREAT!” she yelled as Applejack reared up, ready to strike again.

The other two pegasi took to the air, and after another moment, Spitfire followed.

Rainbow Dash stayed behind, and as soon as the Wonderbolts were out of sight, put away her weapon and let Twilight loose. Then she took off her cloak.

“RD,” said Applejack, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“You two know each other?” asked Twilight.

“We were best friends as foals,” said Rainbow Dash. “Then AJ got taken…”

“Let’s save the backstories for later, RD. Come on in , but don’t ya dare lay a hoof on mah master til we know for sure we can trust ya. Ah’ll be watching ya…”

The three ponies trotted inside, Applejack never taking her eyes off the blue pegasus.

“I’m really sorry,” said Rainbow Dash as she sat down on the library floor. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Ya sure have a funny way of showin’ it!” snapped Applejack.

“Please Applejack, listen to me. The Wonderbolts would have killed me, you, and your master if I didn’t attack her.”

“Why would they do that?” asked Twilight.

“Because they are a band of mercenaries- murderers, more ,likely. They try to kill any pony without wings, so the can take over. When they saw me flying, my speed impressed them and they invited me to join. I knew what they did, and refused- until they threatened to kill my family. I’ve been with them ever since. They thought I turned mean, but they were wrong. Every time they set me on someone, I would let them go in  secret. But you know what? I’m done living a lie. I want to be able to help, not harm. As of now, I quit the Wonderbolts!” snarled Rainbow Dash.

She threw her cloak to the ground, then turned back to the others.

“If they find me, they’ll kill me. Can I maybe stay with you until I can find a safe place to rent in town?”

“One moment please,” said Twilight.

She signaled Applejack to come over to the corner of the library.

“Can this ‘Rainbow Dash’ be trusted?” whispered the unicorn.

“Once ya make a friend a’ her, she’ll be yer best ally, but if ya make an enemy of her, yer, well you know-”

At this Applejack paused and made a slashing motion across her neck.

Twilight shuddered.

“I think I get it- should we let her stay?”

“Yup, if she don’t try anythin’ foolish…”

The two ponies turned back to Rainbow Dash.

“All right, you can stay. Provided you are under guard and/or locked in a room until we find out more about you.”

“I accept,” replied Rainbow Dash. "Just keep the Wonderbolts away from here!"