What the buck is she doin?
Applejack was relaxing in her orchard, thinking idle thoughts. She was having a day off from working at the orchard, and is now just lying her back against an apple tree while Winona laid her head on her lap. She stared to doze off when she heard whining in the distance. She strained her ears toward the voice and recognized it as Rarity's. "Uh! Why must I wear such a dreadful watch?!" she nagged. Applejack heard no reply, but Rarity sounded as if she did. "Well, why couldn't it come in a more appealing color?"
Curious, she got up to see why she was "trespassing" on her orchard. When she was within earshot, she could hear static. When she was close enough to see her, she hid behind one of her trees, and listened. "Stop whining!" came a voice that made the static grow louder when it spoke. "What's your status?"
"Most of the missions due this month have been completed. only two left." She reported. The watch she was wearing was projecting an image of a mare in a costume and sunshades that hid her identity.
"You must mean missions "KPP" and "RNA", correct?" The mare asked. Rarity nodded. "Well, you should work on RNA for now." she stated. "I've got missions I need to finish myself. See you later." she finished as the static suddenly stopped. Rarity darted her eyes around her then walked away.
The hay is she doin'? Applejack thought. After she disappeared from sight, she decided to follow her and find out. It wasn't hard to track her strong perfume. In only five minutes she found her at the market at the apple stand that the cutie mark crusaders were managing. "Hi Rarity!" she shouted. She looked her way as her eyes shot wide open. She grabbed an apple with a bit of mold on it and gave two bits to the CMCs. Then she ran off.
"Sorry! I can't talk now! Bye!" she yelled.
Applejack looked at her, then at Applebloom. "What are y'all doin'? These apples are goin' bad!"
Applebloom looked down. "Well, I figured we could sell the ones that weren't sold yesterday, and I thought there was just a bit of hair on em'...".
"Did anypony else buy em'?" she asked.
They all shook their heads. Applejack sighed. "Well now ya know better. So, why was Rarity buyin' apples?"
"Dunno" Scootaloo answered. "Guess she just likes apples."
Applebloom tugged at Applejack's tail. "Can I talk to ya for a sec, in private?".
Applejack nodded. "Why don't y'all head home. We'll put up tha rest." she told them. As they ran off she could just hear them complaining about getting their cutie marks. She lead Applebloom to the back of the stand before she confronted her.
"Applejack, I think am' bein' stalked." she cried. "Two nights ago ah saw the silhouette of a pony lookn' at me through ma bedroom window. And this mornin' ah could see somepony sneakn' around the orchard. And...Well..." She looked down and dug at the ground with her foreleg.
Concern shown in Applejack's eyes. "Go on. You can tell me."
Applebloom gulped. "Applejack. Ah think It's Rarity."
Shock rippled through Applejack. "Well, she was talkn' to somepony there." she whispered to herself, though it was loud enough for Applebloom to hear. "So ya believe me?!" she asked.
"You and I both have our own suspicions, but ah don't think Rarity's stalkn' ya." she announced. Applebloom's tail drooped a little.
"But I believe some creep's after ya. Make sure yur window's are covered and your bedroom door is locked when ya go ta bed. Stay away from dark allies and strange parts of town. I'll stay up late to make sure that creep get's his flank whooped!" she informed as she hugged Applebloom tightly.
She pushed her away. "Applejack, I'm sure I can take care of mahself!" she insisted, though she was trembling slightly.
"Ah know, but if ya see him again, I'll buy ya a pocket knife to defend yourself with."
Appleblom nodded, then walked away, flashing glances everywhere as she went. Applejack decided to visit Rarity. They're friends, so she would tell her what she was doing. Maybe she would even keep an eye out for any suspicious ponies. The perfume led to her boutique. She opened the door quietly and saw her talking to the mare again.
"So you've started working on RNA already?" The mare asked.
"Yes, and even though she would be one of my last choices, I've decided to-"
"Who's that behind you?" She pointed behind Rarity. She turned around and saw Applejack. Before she could shut the door and run, Rarity pulled out what looked like a gun and shot out a long cord with a grappling hook at the end. It caught Applejack's back leg, making her fall over. The cord retracted and pulled Applejack back. Rarity's magic shut the door after she was dragged inside.
When door was shut, the cord stopped retracting and Rarity was spraying some sort of gas from a can. "Help-" Her shouting was cut off as the gas surged around her. She tried holding her breath but she already breathed it in and her vision was going dark. She could make out the shape of Rarity, who seemed to wear a gas mask, in the clouds of gas.
Don't tell me ahm dying! She felt no pain but she felt like she couldn't move. Ah doubt I'll wake up but if ah do, i'll make sure Rarity pays! She could barely see now, but she could make out Rarity placing her in a box before everything was swallowed by darkneess.
Ah hope big Mac buy's Applebloom's that knife.
Applejack opened her eyes. She was in a room with three concrete walls and a concrete floor. The fourth wall was made up of metal bars crisscrossed that made the room look like a jail cell. Seeing the stallion outside the room with keys on his belt made her realize this was a jail cell. She stood up and saw a table outside the cell, which was few feet away from the guard, that her hat and hair bands were on.
"Where in tarnation ahm I?!" she yelled at the guard.
He chuckled. "Telling you would only get you killed." was all that he said.
"Ah don't care! Now where ahm I?!" she repeated.
"Your at the STFU." came the voice of the mare from Rarity's watch.
"What?!" she shouted angrily. The guard chuckled again, but was silenced by a glance from a mare that just appeared by the table.
"The Secret Task Force Unit. Where mare's find a job that gets them what they deserve." she stated. She still wore the sunshades and costume, but it didn't hid her identity now that she could see the colors.
"What the hay is that?" she asked.
"We gather the weak and make them strong, and we gather the useless and make them useful." she stated.
Applejack snorted furiously. "Are you callin' me weak and useless?!".
"Since you were caught so easily, yes, I am."
Applejack fought to control herself. "Why ahm I here?"
"We need more ponies to help us, and agent Belle tells me that you would make me a great recruit."
"Even though she would be my last choice." Rarity said as she walked into the room. "You could make a really good agent."
"It's settled then. Your are now a member of the STFU."
"Nothin's settled!" she shouted. "None o' y'all are explainin' anythin'!"
The mare was opening her mouth when Rarity cut in front of her and raised her voice in a commanding tone. "We don't have much time for explanations." The mare weaved past her, and Rarity took this as a signal to stay silent.
"The main reason for SFTU's existence is to take over Equestria. We've learned that from the studies of our best agents that all the dangers our current leaders have face have only wielded magic. We have strength and weapons, enough to take down hundreds, but not enough to stop alicorns. But we can stop-"
"In other words," Rarity cut in. "Celestia is immortal, but her magic weakens the older she gets, and all of her past enemies used magic against her, so she wont be able to defend herself when we attack with a few tanks!"
"And with agent Sparkle on our side, then there's no doubt we'll succeed." the mare finished.
Applejack's eyes widened with shock. "You mean Twilight is helpin' y'all?!"
"Yes." Rarity replied smugly.
Applejack stared at them like they were idiots. "So instead of just letting Twilight kill her, you made up this complex plan?"
The mare could see cold eyes through the mares sunglasses. "Instead of just killing Celestia like that, we need to make sure the ponies of Equestria know who their leader is. Celestia is weak and frail. Half of us don't wield magic, yet even young agent Snips could take her down."
Applejack's only expression was bewilderment. "What asylum did y'all escape from!?" she shouted. "Y'all really think you could take down Celestia!? And for what reason?!" She was losing her temper. "Ya know what, just get me outta here right now before I-"
"Our business is our business, agent or no agent!" Rarity snapped. "And you are not disobeying orders from us or harm will come to your friends and family!"
They stood in silence as those words soaked into Applejack. They must have know she would give in, for they bore evil grins on their faces before she nodded.
