Partners in Crimeby Mathew_The_Raridash_FanChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 1Applejack crept through the alleyways of Ponyville. She made extra certain to stay out of sight. She was wanted for lying under an oath, but she didn't want to go to prison. She wasn't the most honest mare, so no one was surprised to see her flat out lie. She remembered that day like it was yesterday. She was accused of poisoning the apples she sold. The Apple Family was wealthy, so she didn't expect her business to be at risk. She didn't expect to be caught either, though. Nevertheless, she was taken to court. Despite her oath, she denied poisoning some of the apples. She was sentenced to life in prison, but she escaped before she ever went into the prison. Equestria never had great security, and she used that to her advantage. She heard the sound of muffled screams coming from her right. She knew the situation was dangerous, but her curiosity took over, and she followed the screams to investigate. A white unicorn with a purple mane and tail, both curled, was seen standing above somepony else. He was a pegasus colt, and juding from his lack of cutie mark, he had to have been younger than Apple Bloom. Applejack couldn't see anything, but she knew that the unicorn held him down with her magic. Applejack hid behind the nearest trashcan for a better place to spy on them. The pegasus finally stopped screaming, and tears flooded down his face. He only went through the ally to get to his house faster. He knew the allies were dangerous, especially at night, but it wasn't like the rest of Ponyville was much safer. The unicorn standing over him didn't seem to be a threat, but unfortunately for him, he ignored the wanted poster. Applejack noticed a wanted poster with the picture of the unicorn to her right and read it. Rarity Belle: Wanted for robbery of Canterlot Castle and for stealing money from other ponies. Reward: 5,000 bits. "I don't have anything!" the colt shouted in protest. Rarity knew he was lying. the sound of bits jingling was no mystery to her. "We will just have to see about that," She used her magic to levitate the saddle bag off of the colt. He refused to give her his money, so she took his saddle bag and everything in it as a reward. the colt, still immobilized by her magic, stared at her as she greedily searched through his saddle bag. She released him from her magic, but not before using a sleep spell on him. He tried to chase after her, but he colapsed on the ground before getting far. The unicorn put the newly aquired saddle bag inside her own. It was for a foal, so it fit rather nicely. She just needed to go home and take a well deserved bath. She didn't feel any remorse for stealing from a young colt. He should have saw it coming. She made her way back to her house, but she was stopped by Applejack. "Hello, I'm Applejack," she greeted as she took off her hat. She didn't want to pose a threat. Rarity had money, and she wanted to get it. She wanted to get her money the only way she knew how, by conning. "Greetings," Rarity replied. The earth pony definitely showed confidence, and her fowardness gave an aura of dominance. Stealing from her was a bad idea, so she decided against it. She couldn't help but notice that Applejack was planning something. "I figure you have a fine taste in jewlry, so you are the best pony for my offer," Applejack began. She decided to use that story after noticing Rarity's cutie mark. "I do love gems," Rarity confirmed, "Go on." "Forgive my lack of knowledge in this field, but I believe I found a gem valuing at five thousand bits," Applejack explained. Most ponies wouldn't have caught on, but Rarity was an exception. She knew where Applejack was going with this. She decided to play along with her. "I wish to see this gem." The trap was set. "Come with me," Applejack told her as she walked to her house. They both hated having to creep through the alleys at night time, but at the same time, they enjoyed it. It gave them a sense of excitement that neither of them could describe. Even with the slow walking, they quickly arrived at Applejack's house, a large mansion overlooking Ponyville. Rarity looked around the place in envy. Still, she followed Applejack down the stairs into the basement. A large table with crystal cups and plates sat in the middle of the room. That wasn't where the two ponies were going, though. Applejack opened a door on the right of the dining room and gestured Rarity to go in. She followed her. The room was completely empty. Applejack locked the door to trap Rarity inside the room. If Rarity refused to give her the money, the unicorn was going to be in big trouble. There was no way out of it. "If you don't give me the five thousand bits, I know somepony who will," Applejack told her. "What ever do you mean?" Rarity asked, defensively. She knew what was going on, but she had to pretend she didn't. It was the only way to keep her freedom. "I saw a wanted poster of you promising that amount of bits. You give me the bits, and I will let you go and tell nopony of this. If you fail to pay me, though, I will report you and collect my reward," Applejack explained, grinning menancelly Applejack wasn't the only one who was skilled with words, "I refuse to give you the money, but I do hope we get a cage close together. It's a shame we can't work together, though." The last part was meant to be a lie, but when she said it, it was true. That through Applejack off guard, "What do you mean?" "Let's just say that I am not the only pony who is wanted for a high sum of money," Rarity told her. Applejack sighed and unlocked the door. Rarity got out of that one after all. Perhaps working with her wasn't a bad idea after all. "We can work together if we are not caught, right?" Rarity smiled, "Of course!" Before she met Applejack, she refused to work with anyone. No one proved themselves to her. They were too weak and lacked dedication. Applejack wasn't the best pony to trust, but she was worthy. She did wonder one thing, though, "Considering how you are a criminal on the loose, why do you live in a mansion." "This ain't my mansion, Rarity," Applejack admitted, "It belongs to ponies i have close ties with. They are the only ones aware that I'm here." "Applejack, I agree to work with you under one... two conditions." One wasn't enough. "What are those conditions?" Applejack asked. Rarity cleared her throat before explaining, "The first condition is that we split our work and earnings fairly. If you do most of the work, you will get most of the earnings. I will get most of the earnings if I do most of the work. The second condition is that you must always keep your end of the bargain. We are a team, and we will not lie to each other. If you haven't figured already, I knew your intentions were not honest the second you told me about the gem. Go ahead and lie to others, but do not lie to me." "I agree." Applejack felt weird after saying those words. She said them many times before, but that time, she meant it. She was going to keep her end of the deal. Rarity definitely surprised her and was definitely a pony worthy of being her partner. Both the mares shook their hooves to seal the agreement. Chapter 2Rarity looked at the open field with several ponies scattered around. It was strange for her to steal money from other ponies out in the open, but she was willing to give it a shot. She dressed as a pony from the Victorian era while Applejack dressed as a western sales pony. Their disguises sealed their identities very nicely. “These ponies are highly gullible, so they would believe even the craziest of things,” Applejack explained to Rarity in a low voice. “The plan is to claim we are raising money for a charity to help with hindquitus.” “Hindquitus?” Rarity has never heard of that disease. “I made it up,” Applejack admitted. “Watch what I do.” Applejack casually walked to the nearest pony, a unicorn who stared at the sky as if to mourn someone she lost. Rarity followed until she was at hearing distance from both ponies. “Hello, ma'am. I am raising money for a charity to restore the loss of fur caused by hinquitus. It is a disease that is passed by certain species of flies. It is curable, but the fur lost from it won't grow back. We are raising money to help with the return of fur so ponies who were previously diagnosed with hinquitus can stay warm.” Her words came out effortlessly with no hint of dishonesty. She was a naturally skilled liar. “I don't believe I have heard of hindquitus, but it sounds terrible for a pony to go without fur!” the mare shouted distraughtly as she levitated a large sum of bits into a bucket that Applejack was carrying. The surrounding ponies heard her and gave Applejack their bits, too. Applejack and Rarity looked at each other in disbelief. Everything was turning out better than they expected. They decided to let everypony give their donations before looking for other ponies to steal from. Both ponies were thieves, but their methods of stealing were different. On they searched, they heard the sound of animals crying in pain with the sound of a whip. They decided to see what was going on. They hid behind a large tree so they didn't get caught. What they saw left them in shock. A yellow pegasus glared at a white bunny as she whipped him mercilessly. Other animals tried to hide, but their leashes didn't let them go very far. The bunny looked as if he was trying to beg the pony to stop, but she didn't listen. She continued whipping him, even after the area around him was wet from the tears. “Next time, you should eat your food without complaining!” The pegasus shouted, angrily. Rarity's shock turned into disgust. She was a criminal herself, but even she had standards. Harming another animal was beyond anything she has ever considered. She wasn't the kind of pony to love animals, but she knew when to stop. She wanted to steal the bunny and keep him for herself and to give him a better life. Applejack had her share of disgust as well. She may have been guilty of hurting other ponies, but animals where a different matter. It was like hurting foals. She made sure to never harm a foal nor an animal. She wanted to talk the pegasus into handing over the bunny and to set it free. Applejack and Rarity walked over to the pegasus after she was finished whipping the bunny. Neither of them knew what the other wanted, but Rarity let Applejack do the talking. The earth pony was better with words. “Hello, Miss. I noticed you have an interesting bunny there. Mind if I pet him?” Applejack requested. The bunny looked up happily, but the pegasus glared at her, “No. He doesn't deserve to be petted! He's just a stupid little bunny and nothing more!” Rarity decided to step in, “Perhaps your bunny would be much better as something else. Imagine wearing a white scarf in the cold winter. My name is Diamond Seas.” Rarity wasn't going to kill the bunny, but she knew that the pegasus hated him. Applejack grinned as she heard Rarity lie. She decided to add her own false allias. “I'm Orange Cycle.” It was still convincing. She did have an orange coat. The pegasus replied, “I'm Fluttershy. My parents are such morons for naming me that! I am not shy!” “We can tell,” Applejack told her. She seemed to be the opposite of shy. Sometimes, ponies did have names that made no sense. She remembered meeting a pony named Pinkie Pie who was always gloomy. Pinkie Pie sounded like the name of a cheerful pony. She decided to not think too much into names. Ponies aren't psychic. No one had any way of knowing how their foal would turn out. Rarity put on a serious face, “Fluttershy, I can see that you don't like your bunny. I really think you should consider giving him to me.” Fluttershy looked into Rarity's eyes and laughed for some time. She finally contained herself and said, “Yeah right, Rarity. I know who you are, and I will turn you in if you dare take my bunny.” That little devil! Rarity thought. She had no proof that Fluttershy was a criminal, so she couldn't use that against her. Perhaps she was never caught. Most animal abusers weren't caught. It seemed that most ponies didn't care if other animals were treated terribly. “What's the matter, Applejack? Don't you have anything to say?” Fluttershy was definitely cruel with her mean stare. Applejack knew she couldn't win that time. As much as she hated Fluttershy abusing her animals, she couldn't do anything about it. The pegasus saw right through her, and reporting her was out of the question. She and Rarity left without saying another word, but they weren't going to forget Fluttershy any time soon. “We should get Zecora to give us money!” Rarity suggested. “She is such a fool.” “That sounds like a great plan, but there is one little problem. Zecora doesn't have money.” Applejack told her. Rarity smiled, “She does have valuable artifacts. She's often gone, and she doesn't lock her door.” Applejack returned the smile. They headed for the Everfree Forest. Ponies hardly went in there, so it was a great place for criminals on the loose. They agreed that it was unnerving, but they have been in worse situations. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna abandoned their castle in there after they took over as rulers of Equestria from King Sombra. They decided to loot the castle while they were in the forest. Chapter 3The stench of rotting wood made both Applejack and Rarity nauseated, but they had a job to do. They weren't about to let some spooky forest get in their way. Putting on brave faces, they made their way through the Everfree forest. They had to time everything just right so they get there while Zecora was still gone. Zecora's hut wasn't too far from Ponyville. The two ponies didn't even have to go through the bad part of the forest to get there. Unfortunately, they did have to go deeper to get to the Castle of the Two Sisters. They had better things to do than to get eaten by monsters, but the castle had too much valuable objects for them to resist. Rarity saw Zecora's hut in the distance and ran at full speed towards it. Applejack followed her until she got a view of the inside of the hut. She noticed that Zecora hasn't left and grabbed Rarity's tail to stop her. Rarity glared at Applejack. “Sorry, Rarity,” Applejack apologized, “Zecora is still home. We need to wait until she leaves.” Rarity groaned, “We are too early.” Applejack nodded in response. Both of them spied on Zecora from a safe distance. They needed to wait until the Zebra left to rob the place for obvious reasons. Time passed, and the air grew colder. They forgot to bring warm clothes, but they weren't going to go back now. Just as they wondered if Zecora was ever going to leave, she left. They waited for a bit just in case the zebra forgot something. She didn't return, so they took the oppurtinity and walked into her house. There were a lot of chemicals shelved around the place. It had a very modern feel to it. Rarity and Applejack agreed to not steal so much that Zecora would know things are missing. A lot of bits and some trinkets were good enough. They didn't want to carry too much back. Besides, they had to go to the castle, too. After they put what they wanted in their saddle bags, they left and made their way to the castle. A fool like Zecora was not going to realize anything was missing. The two thieves wanted anything they could get their hooves on, but they didn't want to get caught. Sometimes, they hated having to leave valuable objects behind. Applejack and Rarity found themselves on a cliff. There was a large portion of the cliff missing, but there was still a narrow area that they could walk across. They knew that they wouldn't have survived if they were to fall. The narrow area was too narrow for them to walk across on all four legs, so they had to slowly walk sideways on their hind legs. They did not dare to look down, and every step had to be careful. They made it across the path, and Rarity suggested, "We should really find a safer path for when we return to Ponyville." Applejack replied, "We just went this way because it was the closest path from Zecora's hut to the castle. We won't need to go back to that zebra's place again. " She didn't know if the other paths were any safer or not, but she knew that walking across a cliff with a saddlebag full of valuable objects was out of the question. They made their way through a dark cave and pushed their way through thick shrubs until they stopped at a river. Rarity levitated a nearby stick and put it in the middle of the river. The stick was only able to go a foot into the river before it was stopped. The ponies walked across the shallow river. They heard stories of a sea serpent living there, but that couldn't be possible. It was far too shallow. That was unless they were walking on the serpent. They didn't want to check to see if it was true. Instead, they continued forward. Finally, they saw the castle in sight. They casually crossed the bridge and entered the castle. It was filled with like heaven for thieves. Golden Rugs covered the floor, and statues of ivory and gold lined the perimeters of the room. The castle was still in great condition, but Princess Celestia and Princess Luna preferred their new castle in Canterlot. Applejack and Rarity searched through the castle. It was much easier than they previously thought. They picked up all the jewelry that they could find. There were no bits inside the castle, but platinum horn rings and golden saddles where far more valuable. They filled their saddle bags with whatever they could find and decided to call it a day. The walk back to Ponyville was boring. No monsters, no fires, just trees. They didn't expect everything to be so easy, especially with the Everfree forest. The forest wasn't near as scary as they thought. They were relived that they weren't attacked by any pony eating monsters, but at the same time, they found it boring. Chapter 4The rain poured like buckets of ice cold water. The downpour was unscheduled, and everypony who was outside when it started was soaking wet in seconds. That included Rarity and Applejack who were looking for something exciting to do. The events of yesterday were boring, so they wanted to use today to make up for it. Unfortunately, their plans changed. They got to the mansion and looked outside one of the many windows. Ponyville was difficult to see in the rain, and no one was outside, anyways. Despite the large mansion they were in, they were bored. There was nothing exciting to do. They felt empty. "How long will this downpour last?" Rarity wondered. It seemed to have gotten progressively worse. Applejack shrugged, "No idea." She wondered the same thing. It was clear that Rainbow Dash didn't care about anyone, but it was unlike her to create weather like that. It was especially strange that the Pegasi complied with her orders. Unless the Pegasi didn't create the downpour. "It's pretty strange, though." Rarity responded with a nod. She noticed that the clouds weren't normal. The rain wasn't caused by Pegasi. There was something else controlling the weather, and she intended to find out what. That weather made robbing impossible, and there were no ponies to con. With that thought. Her eyes lit up. She grabbed two umbrellas that were hung by the front door and gave one to Applejack. "The rain have me an idea! We should say that we are raising money to aid with the floods of nearby towns." Applejack smiled and asked, "Don't you think you're forgetting something?" Rarity almost shook her head, but she remembered what she needed and left. Applejack waited for Rarity to return. She was pleased to see her partner deciding to use her method rather than the traditional sneak into houses method. After several minutes, Rarity returned with the disguises, and they both dressed up. The rain was still pouring, and the umbrella appeared to serve no purpose. Still, they walked to Ponyville and knocked on the door of the first house they say. An Earth Pony stallion aanswered the door and invited them in. They came in, but they stayed next to the door. Rarity decided to put what Applejack taught her to the test. "We work for the Equine Flood Relief Program, EFRP for short, and we are wondering if you can make a donation to help aid Ponyville and surrounding areas in dealing with the flood." The stallion got up and grabbed a nearby bag of bits while telling them. "The flood had been pretty bad, and it seemed to have came out of nowhere. I hope Everypony is safe. I commend your bravery for coming here." He gave the bag to Rarity. Rarity and Applejack thanked the stallion and left. They decided to go to more houses, and they all had similar results. They were invited in so they could explain why they were there. Then the ponies would give them a large sum of bits. Conning was easy in Ponyville. It only have money, but was still promising. The rain stopped as both ponies made their way back to the mansion. They hid the bits in their saddle bags and kept them secure. Their excitement grew so much that they didn't realize where they were going and smacked into two ponies. "What the hay!" One if the ponies exclaimed staring at Applejack. The other pony had the same shocked expression, but she stared at Rarity instead. Chapter 5The two ponies that Applejack and Rarity bumped into looked a lot like them. One would easily confuse them as twins, but neither of them had a twin. The one who resembled Rarity looked exactly like her, and the one who resembled Applejack matched her except that her hat was brown rather than black. Applejack's look-a-like greeted, "Howdy! I'm Applejack and this here is Rarity." "How can there be two of us?" Applejack asked. The other Rarity responded, "Applejack and I were in the middle of one of Twilight's magic explosions and got transported to what we think is an alternate universe." That made sense. The doppelgangers couldn't have been from here. They even said Twilight used magic, but the Twilight in this world hated magic. The native Applejack asked the alternate versions of herself and Rarity to give them a minute. After they were alone, she whispered to her Rarity, "if we can trick them into being seen by one of the guards, they will be arrested and we will no longer be wanted." "The princesses know about alternate universes," Rarity pointed out. "Fair point," Applejack admitted. "Wait! How did they know we look like them while we are disguised?" Rarity realised. Both criminals shared shocked expressions. Applejack told the other two they were finished and invited them to the mansion. She had no intentions of harming them. She didn't want to risk anything. They accepted, and the four ponies walked back to the mansion. "This place looks absolutely gorgeous!" Rarity's alternate self exclaimed. She looked around the front room with starry eyes. The alternate Applejack paid no attention to the decorations. She was to busy watching Rarity and Applejack suspiciously. She had a feeling that they were up to no good. "I apologize for causing problems for you," the alternate Rarity said, "We really do not know how we ended up in this universe." Rarity replied, "It's no problem at all. In fact, this is very interesting. Although I do wish I could help you return home." The alternate Rarity responded with a grateful smile. The alternate Applejack rolled her eyes. She wanted to get home as bad as the alternate Rarity did, but she wasn't going to trust ponies that look like her and her friends. It want long before night fell. The guests were given a room to stay in for the night. The alternate Rarity slept soundly, but her friend spent all night staring at the door. She barely knew them, but she already had a bad feeling about them.
Chapter 1Applejack crept through the alleyways of Ponyville. She made extra certain to stay out of sight. She was wanted for lying under an oath, but she didn't want to go to prison. She wasn't the most honest mare, so no one was surprised to see her flat out lie. She remembered that day like it was yesterday. She was accused of poisoning the apples she sold. The Apple Family was wealthy, so she didn't expect her business to be at risk. She didn't expect to be caught either, though. Nevertheless, she was taken to court. Despite her oath, she denied poisoning some of the apples. She was sentenced to life in prison, but she escaped before she ever went into the prison. Equestria never had great security, and she used that to her advantage. She heard the sound of muffled screams coming from her right. She knew the situation was dangerous, but her curiosity took over, and she followed the screams to investigate. A white unicorn with a purple mane and tail, both curled, was seen standing above somepony else. He was a pegasus colt, and juding from his lack of cutie mark, he had to have been younger than Apple Bloom. Applejack couldn't see anything, but she knew that the unicorn held him down with her magic. Applejack hid behind the nearest trashcan for a better place to spy on them. The pegasus finally stopped screaming, and tears flooded down his face. He only went through the ally to get to his house faster. He knew the allies were dangerous, especially at night, but it wasn't like the rest of Ponyville was much safer. The unicorn standing over him didn't seem to be a threat, but unfortunately for him, he ignored the wanted poster. Applejack noticed a wanted poster with the picture of the unicorn to her right and read it. Rarity Belle: Wanted for robbery of Canterlot Castle and for stealing money from other ponies. Reward: 5,000 bits. "I don't have anything!" the colt shouted in protest. Rarity knew he was lying. the sound of bits jingling was no mystery to her. "We will just have to see about that," She used her magic to levitate the saddle bag off of the colt. He refused to give her his money, so she took his saddle bag and everything in it as a reward. the colt, still immobilized by her magic, stared at her as she greedily searched through his saddle bag. She released him from her magic, but not before using a sleep spell on him. He tried to chase after her, but he colapsed on the ground before getting far. The unicorn put the newly aquired saddle bag inside her own. It was for a foal, so it fit rather nicely. She just needed to go home and take a well deserved bath. She didn't feel any remorse for stealing from a young colt. He should have saw it coming. She made her way back to her house, but she was stopped by Applejack. "Hello, I'm Applejack," she greeted as she took off her hat. She didn't want to pose a threat. Rarity had money, and she wanted to get it. She wanted to get her money the only way she knew how, by conning. "Greetings," Rarity replied. The earth pony definitely showed confidence, and her fowardness gave an aura of dominance. Stealing from her was a bad idea, so she decided against it. She couldn't help but notice that Applejack was planning something. "I figure you have a fine taste in jewlry, so you are the best pony for my offer," Applejack began. She decided to use that story after noticing Rarity's cutie mark. "I do love gems," Rarity confirmed, "Go on." "Forgive my lack of knowledge in this field, but I believe I found a gem valuing at five thousand bits," Applejack explained. Most ponies wouldn't have caught on, but Rarity was an exception. She knew where Applejack was going with this. She decided to play along with her. "I wish to see this gem." The trap was set. "Come with me," Applejack told her as she walked to her house. They both hated having to creep through the alleys at night time, but at the same time, they enjoyed it. It gave them a sense of excitement that neither of them could describe. Even with the slow walking, they quickly arrived at Applejack's house, a large mansion overlooking Ponyville. Rarity looked around the place in envy. Still, she followed Applejack down the stairs into the basement. A large table with crystal cups and plates sat in the middle of the room. That wasn't where the two ponies were going, though. Applejack opened a door on the right of the dining room and gestured Rarity to go in. She followed her. The room was completely empty. Applejack locked the door to trap Rarity inside the room. If Rarity refused to give her the money, the unicorn was going to be in big trouble. There was no way out of it. "If you don't give me the five thousand bits, I know somepony who will," Applejack told her. "What ever do you mean?" Rarity asked, defensively. She knew what was going on, but she had to pretend she didn't. It was the only way to keep her freedom. "I saw a wanted poster of you promising that amount of bits. You give me the bits, and I will let you go and tell nopony of this. If you fail to pay me, though, I will report you and collect my reward," Applejack explained, grinning menancelly Applejack wasn't the only one who was skilled with words, "I refuse to give you the money, but I do hope we get a cage close together. It's a shame we can't work together, though." The last part was meant to be a lie, but when she said it, it was true. That through Applejack off guard, "What do you mean?" "Let's just say that I am not the only pony who is wanted for a high sum of money," Rarity told her. Applejack sighed and unlocked the door. Rarity got out of that one after all. Perhaps working with her wasn't a bad idea after all. "We can work together if we are not caught, right?" Rarity smiled, "Of course!" Before she met Applejack, she refused to work with anyone. No one proved themselves to her. They were too weak and lacked dedication. Applejack wasn't the best pony to trust, but she was worthy. She did wonder one thing, though, "Considering how you are a criminal on the loose, why do you live in a mansion." "This ain't my mansion, Rarity," Applejack admitted, "It belongs to ponies i have close ties with. They are the only ones aware that I'm here." "Applejack, I agree to work with you under one... two conditions." One wasn't enough. "What are those conditions?" Applejack asked. Rarity cleared her throat before explaining, "The first condition is that we split our work and earnings fairly. If you do most of the work, you will get most of the earnings. I will get most of the earnings if I do most of the work. The second condition is that you must always keep your end of the bargain. We are a team, and we will not lie to each other. If you haven't figured already, I knew your intentions were not honest the second you told me about the gem. Go ahead and lie to others, but do not lie to me." "I agree." Applejack felt weird after saying those words. She said them many times before, but that time, she meant it. She was going to keep her end of the deal. Rarity definitely surprised her and was definitely a pony worthy of being her partner. Both the mares shook their hooves to seal the agreement.
Chapter 2Rarity looked at the open field with several ponies scattered around. It was strange for her to steal money from other ponies out in the open, but she was willing to give it a shot. She dressed as a pony from the Victorian era while Applejack dressed as a western sales pony. Their disguises sealed their identities very nicely. “These ponies are highly gullible, so they would believe even the craziest of things,” Applejack explained to Rarity in a low voice. “The plan is to claim we are raising money for a charity to help with hindquitus.” “Hindquitus?” Rarity has never heard of that disease. “I made it up,” Applejack admitted. “Watch what I do.” Applejack casually walked to the nearest pony, a unicorn who stared at the sky as if to mourn someone she lost. Rarity followed until she was at hearing distance from both ponies. “Hello, ma'am. I am raising money for a charity to restore the loss of fur caused by hinquitus. It is a disease that is passed by certain species of flies. It is curable, but the fur lost from it won't grow back. We are raising money to help with the return of fur so ponies who were previously diagnosed with hinquitus can stay warm.” Her words came out effortlessly with no hint of dishonesty. She was a naturally skilled liar. “I don't believe I have heard of hindquitus, but it sounds terrible for a pony to go without fur!” the mare shouted distraughtly as she levitated a large sum of bits into a bucket that Applejack was carrying. The surrounding ponies heard her and gave Applejack their bits, too. Applejack and Rarity looked at each other in disbelief. Everything was turning out better than they expected. They decided to let everypony give their donations before looking for other ponies to steal from. Both ponies were thieves, but their methods of stealing were different. On they searched, they heard the sound of animals crying in pain with the sound of a whip. They decided to see what was going on. They hid behind a large tree so they didn't get caught. What they saw left them in shock. A yellow pegasus glared at a white bunny as she whipped him mercilessly. Other animals tried to hide, but their leashes didn't let them go very far. The bunny looked as if he was trying to beg the pony to stop, but she didn't listen. She continued whipping him, even after the area around him was wet from the tears. “Next time, you should eat your food without complaining!” The pegasus shouted, angrily. Rarity's shock turned into disgust. She was a criminal herself, but even she had standards. Harming another animal was beyond anything she has ever considered. She wasn't the kind of pony to love animals, but she knew when to stop. She wanted to steal the bunny and keep him for herself and to give him a better life. Applejack had her share of disgust as well. She may have been guilty of hurting other ponies, but animals where a different matter. It was like hurting foals. She made sure to never harm a foal nor an animal. She wanted to talk the pegasus into handing over the bunny and to set it free. Applejack and Rarity walked over to the pegasus after she was finished whipping the bunny. Neither of them knew what the other wanted, but Rarity let Applejack do the talking. The earth pony was better with words. “Hello, Miss. I noticed you have an interesting bunny there. Mind if I pet him?” Applejack requested. The bunny looked up happily, but the pegasus glared at her, “No. He doesn't deserve to be petted! He's just a stupid little bunny and nothing more!” Rarity decided to step in, “Perhaps your bunny would be much better as something else. Imagine wearing a white scarf in the cold winter. My name is Diamond Seas.” Rarity wasn't going to kill the bunny, but she knew that the pegasus hated him. Applejack grinned as she heard Rarity lie. She decided to add her own false allias. “I'm Orange Cycle.” It was still convincing. She did have an orange coat. The pegasus replied, “I'm Fluttershy. My parents are such morons for naming me that! I am not shy!” “We can tell,” Applejack told her. She seemed to be the opposite of shy. Sometimes, ponies did have names that made no sense. She remembered meeting a pony named Pinkie Pie who was always gloomy. Pinkie Pie sounded like the name of a cheerful pony. She decided to not think too much into names. Ponies aren't psychic. No one had any way of knowing how their foal would turn out. Rarity put on a serious face, “Fluttershy, I can see that you don't like your bunny. I really think you should consider giving him to me.” Fluttershy looked into Rarity's eyes and laughed for some time. She finally contained herself and said, “Yeah right, Rarity. I know who you are, and I will turn you in if you dare take my bunny.” That little devil! Rarity thought. She had no proof that Fluttershy was a criminal, so she couldn't use that against her. Perhaps she was never caught. Most animal abusers weren't caught. It seemed that most ponies didn't care if other animals were treated terribly. “What's the matter, Applejack? Don't you have anything to say?” Fluttershy was definitely cruel with her mean stare. Applejack knew she couldn't win that time. As much as she hated Fluttershy abusing her animals, she couldn't do anything about it. The pegasus saw right through her, and reporting her was out of the question. She and Rarity left without saying another word, but they weren't going to forget Fluttershy any time soon. “We should get Zecora to give us money!” Rarity suggested. “She is such a fool.” “That sounds like a great plan, but there is one little problem. Zecora doesn't have money.” Applejack told her. Rarity smiled, “She does have valuable artifacts. She's often gone, and she doesn't lock her door.” Applejack returned the smile. They headed for the Everfree Forest. Ponies hardly went in there, so it was a great place for criminals on the loose. They agreed that it was unnerving, but they have been in worse situations. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna abandoned their castle in there after they took over as rulers of Equestria from King Sombra. They decided to loot the castle while they were in the forest.
Chapter 3The stench of rotting wood made both Applejack and Rarity nauseated, but they had a job to do. They weren't about to let some spooky forest get in their way. Putting on brave faces, they made their way through the Everfree forest. They had to time everything just right so they get there while Zecora was still gone. Zecora's hut wasn't too far from Ponyville. The two ponies didn't even have to go through the bad part of the forest to get there. Unfortunately, they did have to go deeper to get to the Castle of the Two Sisters. They had better things to do than to get eaten by monsters, but the castle had too much valuable objects for them to resist. Rarity saw Zecora's hut in the distance and ran at full speed towards it. Applejack followed her until she got a view of the inside of the hut. She noticed that Zecora hasn't left and grabbed Rarity's tail to stop her. Rarity glared at Applejack. “Sorry, Rarity,” Applejack apologized, “Zecora is still home. We need to wait until she leaves.” Rarity groaned, “We are too early.” Applejack nodded in response. Both of them spied on Zecora from a safe distance. They needed to wait until the Zebra left to rob the place for obvious reasons. Time passed, and the air grew colder. They forgot to bring warm clothes, but they weren't going to go back now. Just as they wondered if Zecora was ever going to leave, she left. They waited for a bit just in case the zebra forgot something. She didn't return, so they took the oppurtinity and walked into her house. There were a lot of chemicals shelved around the place. It had a very modern feel to it. Rarity and Applejack agreed to not steal so much that Zecora would know things are missing. A lot of bits and some trinkets were good enough. They didn't want to carry too much back. Besides, they had to go to the castle, too. After they put what they wanted in their saddle bags, they left and made their way to the castle. A fool like Zecora was not going to realize anything was missing. The two thieves wanted anything they could get their hooves on, but they didn't want to get caught. Sometimes, they hated having to leave valuable objects behind. Applejack and Rarity found themselves on a cliff. There was a large portion of the cliff missing, but there was still a narrow area that they could walk across. They knew that they wouldn't have survived if they were to fall. The narrow area was too narrow for them to walk across on all four legs, so they had to slowly walk sideways on their hind legs. They did not dare to look down, and every step had to be careful. They made it across the path, and Rarity suggested, "We should really find a safer path for when we return to Ponyville." Applejack replied, "We just went this way because it was the closest path from Zecora's hut to the castle. We won't need to go back to that zebra's place again. " She didn't know if the other paths were any safer or not, but she knew that walking across a cliff with a saddlebag full of valuable objects was out of the question. They made their way through a dark cave and pushed their way through thick shrubs until they stopped at a river. Rarity levitated a nearby stick and put it in the middle of the river. The stick was only able to go a foot into the river before it was stopped. The ponies walked across the shallow river. They heard stories of a sea serpent living there, but that couldn't be possible. It was far too shallow. That was unless they were walking on the serpent. They didn't want to check to see if it was true. Instead, they continued forward. Finally, they saw the castle in sight. They casually crossed the bridge and entered the castle. It was filled with like heaven for thieves. Golden Rugs covered the floor, and statues of ivory and gold lined the perimeters of the room. The castle was still in great condition, but Princess Celestia and Princess Luna preferred their new castle in Canterlot. Applejack and Rarity searched through the castle. It was much easier than they previously thought. They picked up all the jewelry that they could find. There were no bits inside the castle, but platinum horn rings and golden saddles where far more valuable. They filled their saddle bags with whatever they could find and decided to call it a day. The walk back to Ponyville was boring. No monsters, no fires, just trees. They didn't expect everything to be so easy, especially with the Everfree forest. The forest wasn't near as scary as they thought. They were relived that they weren't attacked by any pony eating monsters, but at the same time, they found it boring.
Chapter 4The rain poured like buckets of ice cold water. The downpour was unscheduled, and everypony who was outside when it started was soaking wet in seconds. That included Rarity and Applejack who were looking for something exciting to do. The events of yesterday were boring, so they wanted to use today to make up for it. Unfortunately, their plans changed. They got to the mansion and looked outside one of the many windows. Ponyville was difficult to see in the rain, and no one was outside, anyways. Despite the large mansion they were in, they were bored. There was nothing exciting to do. They felt empty. "How long will this downpour last?" Rarity wondered. It seemed to have gotten progressively worse. Applejack shrugged, "No idea." She wondered the same thing. It was clear that Rainbow Dash didn't care about anyone, but it was unlike her to create weather like that. It was especially strange that the Pegasi complied with her orders. Unless the Pegasi didn't create the downpour. "It's pretty strange, though." Rarity responded with a nod. She noticed that the clouds weren't normal. The rain wasn't caused by Pegasi. There was something else controlling the weather, and she intended to find out what. That weather made robbing impossible, and there were no ponies to con. With that thought. Her eyes lit up. She grabbed two umbrellas that were hung by the front door and gave one to Applejack. "The rain have me an idea! We should say that we are raising money to aid with the floods of nearby towns." Applejack smiled and asked, "Don't you think you're forgetting something?" Rarity almost shook her head, but she remembered what she needed and left. Applejack waited for Rarity to return. She was pleased to see her partner deciding to use her method rather than the traditional sneak into houses method. After several minutes, Rarity returned with the disguises, and they both dressed up. The rain was still pouring, and the umbrella appeared to serve no purpose. Still, they walked to Ponyville and knocked on the door of the first house they say. An Earth Pony stallion aanswered the door and invited them in. They came in, but they stayed next to the door. Rarity decided to put what Applejack taught her to the test. "We work for the Equine Flood Relief Program, EFRP for short, and we are wondering if you can make a donation to help aid Ponyville and surrounding areas in dealing with the flood." The stallion got up and grabbed a nearby bag of bits while telling them. "The flood had been pretty bad, and it seemed to have came out of nowhere. I hope Everypony is safe. I commend your bravery for coming here." He gave the bag to Rarity. Rarity and Applejack thanked the stallion and left. They decided to go to more houses, and they all had similar results. They were invited in so they could explain why they were there. Then the ponies would give them a large sum of bits. Conning was easy in Ponyville. It only have money, but was still promising. The rain stopped as both ponies made their way back to the mansion. They hid the bits in their saddle bags and kept them secure. Their excitement grew so much that they didn't realize where they were going and smacked into two ponies. "What the hay!" One if the ponies exclaimed staring at Applejack. The other pony had the same shocked expression, but she stared at Rarity instead.
Chapter 5The two ponies that Applejack and Rarity bumped into looked a lot like them. One would easily confuse them as twins, but neither of them had a twin. The one who resembled Rarity looked exactly like her, and the one who resembled Applejack matched her except that her hat was brown rather than black. Applejack's look-a-like greeted, "Howdy! I'm Applejack and this here is Rarity." "How can there be two of us?" Applejack asked. The other Rarity responded, "Applejack and I were in the middle of one of Twilight's magic explosions and got transported to what we think is an alternate universe." That made sense. The doppelgangers couldn't have been from here. They even said Twilight used magic, but the Twilight in this world hated magic. The native Applejack asked the alternate versions of herself and Rarity to give them a minute. After they were alone, she whispered to her Rarity, "if we can trick them into being seen by one of the guards, they will be arrested and we will no longer be wanted." "The princesses know about alternate universes," Rarity pointed out. "Fair point," Applejack admitted. "Wait! How did they know we look like them while we are disguised?" Rarity realised. Both criminals shared shocked expressions. Applejack told the other two they were finished and invited them to the mansion. She had no intentions of harming them. She didn't want to risk anything. They accepted, and the four ponies walked back to the mansion. "This place looks absolutely gorgeous!" Rarity's alternate self exclaimed. She looked around the front room with starry eyes. The alternate Applejack paid no attention to the decorations. She was to busy watching Rarity and Applejack suspiciously. She had a feeling that they were up to no good. "I apologize for causing problems for you," the alternate Rarity said, "We really do not know how we ended up in this universe." Rarity replied, "It's no problem at all. In fact, this is very interesting. Although I do wish I could help you return home." The alternate Rarity responded with a grateful smile. The alternate Applejack rolled her eyes. She wanted to get home as bad as the alternate Rarity did, but she wasn't going to trust ponies that look like her and her friends. It want long before night fell. The guests were given a room to stay in for the night. The alternate Rarity slept soundly, but her friend spent all night staring at the door. She barely knew them, but she already had a bad feeling about them.
