Iron Rider Rangelkai
by Present Perfect
The buzz at the back of Applejack's skull was her first warning.
i have discovered a new target
Speaking with Lesttel never felt natural, no matter how often she did it. Tell me about it.
it is more powerful than any Shinion we have seen before
She cast a surreptitious glance around the orchard. Mac was in the next field, and Apple Bloom and her friends enough rows down that she couldn't see them. Applejack breathed a fleeting sigh of relief.
Real powerful, y'say?
The trees were taken care of for the moment. Harvest season was a distant anticipation. Most importantly, nopony was around. The last thing she needed was an audience.
Let's do it!
understood location is near city hall
Without looking back, Applejack bounded over the fence and took off for town. The dirt pounded beneath her hooves, invigorating her earth pony spirit.
no sense trying to hide this one will doubtless cause a scene
You hush. After this morning, I got some steam to blow off.
For being immutably affixed to the top of Applejack's spine, Lesttel was a pain in her rump sometimes. She could keep him under her power, but it was a journey, not a destination. Luckily for her, being a creature that lived mostly on mind juice left him vulnerable to suggestion, helped along by a few special command words.
Like all of them, the first word she needed to use wasn't one she knew the meaning of; all that mattered was it could bend Lesttel unquestioningly to her whim. She tensed, anticipating the surge of strength. Her will flowed into him, triggering the transformation as she shouted.
"Henshin!"
Applejack stood, staring up at Carousel Boutique. The mere sight of it sent thrills through her body, that familiar rush of excitement tempered by cold trepidation and electric anticipation. Emotions knurled in her stomach. Her mouth went dry.
"C'mon, AJ," she whispered. "You can do this."
She scratched the back of one leg with the other and adjusted the sheaf of papers in her saddlebags. Everything hinged on those sketches.
"Woolgatherin'."
She adjusted her hat once more and crept to the boutique door. The urge to knock was strong; this visit was special, after all. But there was nothing special about the boutique itself. It was a business. Businesses were open during business hours, for anypony who wanted to enter. No knocking necessary. You could just walk right in if you wanted to.
"Consarnit!"
Lesttel reacted to the command word immediately, channelling and shaping Applejack's inherent power, augmenting and fuelling it with her life energy. Bearing the Element of Honesty was the only experience she could compare the sensation to, yet not even that had made her feel this strong.
Thick metal swirled out of the ether as she ran flat-out. The plates aligned with her legs and body, adhering to them. Long spikes and curved pads grew from the edges, meant to protect the joint seams, improve her aerodynamics and, as Rarity would say, ornament the ensemble. The final addition was a helmet, its visor a long V the color of her eyes. As it covered her head, the lights inside came on, giving her an enhanced view of the world.
She had once looked at herself in a mirror while transformed, and ever since, had had to wonder where her hat went. She couldn't feel it on her head, yet it never failed to appear once her armored form dissipated. She'd used this power for so long, yet there was still so much she didn't understand about it.
"Prepare yourself, Lesttel," she said, slipping into the Manehattan accent, something else she'd used long ago. Though the helmet obscured and distorted her voice, the best disguise was that which would not identify her as one of the Apple clan. Again, she drew on the power of those strange words to bend Lesttel to her will.
"Kambai! Shinrinookami!"
timberwolf form
Her armor's bright, cherry-red highlights flashed a brilliant blue. The aerodynamic ornamentation became more pronounced and branch-like. Her helmet elongated into a pointed muzzle. The world slowed down. Metal claws clacked against the ground as she made the final sprint into town in mere seconds.
Public business or not, entering the boutique was still intruding on somepony's most private sanctum. Though perhaps another pony wouldn't be thought of as an intruder.
The interior was dark, if not oppressive; it was the darkness of intimacy, a welcoming darkness that made what bright spots lay within it shine all the brighter.
It didn't help that the boutique felt asleep. Applejack could imagine it blinking bleary eyes at her, grumpy to have been awakened so rudely.
"Just a minute!"
Ah, that melodic voice. Applejack licked her lips. She checked the papers for the fifteenth time, making sure they were still where they should be. Her weight shifted from side to side.
At last, from the back room emerged true beauty. The clarity of that voice matched her body perfectly. Though Applejack had once been allowed to explore every inch of that body, seeing Rarity in person never ceased to take her breath away.
Not that she needed an excuse to be struck dumb at that moment.
Rarity turned her head, a simple movement, yet so graceful. Once her gaze alighted on Applejack, however, her bright retail smile faded, and her eyes creased with sadness.
"Oh," she said, not bothering to hide the disappointed note in her voice. "It's you."
Over the screams of the populace fleeing downtown Ponyville, a familiar harsh voice shouted, "It's the Iron Savior!"
Applejack shook her head. Nopony ever got the name right.
No matter how many times Applejack, as the Iron Rider, had corrected her number one fan, Dash never seemed to catch on, and the misnomer had since spread throughout town. It was worse than the Mare-Do-Well thing.
Rainbow hovered before her, saluting. "How can I help, ma'am?"
Ain't like this is Ponyville's first monster attack, Rainbow Dash. In truth, Ponyville's long history with monster attacks that kept it thriving during the invasion. Applejack would rather the citizenry not have to deal with this on a regular basis, but she was glad the Shinion attacked here and left the rest of Equestria be.
"Give these ponies a clear route to safety, Miss Dash. Keep them away from City Hall!"
"You got it!"
Applejack swore she caught a squeal of delight as Rainbow rocketed away.
target has already entered Vibrissa form
A shiver traveled down Applejack's spine.
Fights against the Shinion usually followed a pattern. First, Lesttel would point her at an infected pony. She'd talk to them, try to ascertain their mental state, maybe harmonize with them to oust the Shinion from their spine. Then the parasite would take its Vibrissa form, and the battle would begin. For one to have powered up so quickly, and with their host still in tow...
"We'd best not dally."
She put on another burst of speed and came within sight of City Hall. A rainbow contrail, every bit as fast and fragile as she was in this form, swooped past, carrying screaming ponies away from the danger.
"Danger" in this case meant the pony-sized metal sphere that left a large hole in City Hall as it rolled through. Parts of the building had started to collapse, but at least nopony was inside.
Thank you, Rainbow Dash.
Applejack dashed toward the sphere and pounced on it. She rebounded off. A flurry of strikes from her clawed hooves likewise accomplished nothing, not even marring the smooth surface, and she was nearly overrun for her trouble. Gritting her teeth, she ran to a spot directly in the wrecking ball's path.
"Have to stop it somehow. Jimen ni modoru!"
ground form
The highlights of her armor became red once again, marking the form best suited for channelling her own natural strength. She reared up on her back legs, and the sphere crashed directly into her. It was all she could do to hold onto it as it plowed forward, shoving her across the street.
"Can't... hold it!"
Lesttel fed power to her rear legs, but it wasn't enough to keep her from digging furrows through the dirt road. She hammered on the ball's steel surface with her front hoof, but the blows glanced off harmlessly.
Her rear hoof caught on something, and she threw herself to the side, just barely avoiding being steamrolled. The sphere's path curved, sending it plowing through a pair of fruit stalls and into a nearby furniture store. Her throat tightened. It wasn't the mindless juggernaut she had taken it for, like so many she had previously fought. There was a mind at work, and seemingly one thing on that mind.
Destruction.
"Applejack."
Rarity was a fantastic actress. When she wanted to be. That she had made no effort to keep the disappointment and scorn from her voice let Applejack know just how unwelcome she was.
"I'll have you know I am exceedingly busy at the moment. I'm in the midst a large project for some important clients." She turned to the side. "Hard to come by in these trying times, you know."
"Ah, well..." Applejack rubbed the lump at the back of her neck. She had rehearsed this in her head, hadn't she? Why was she having so much trouble speaking? "I'm mighty glad to hear you got work. Thought I might, uh, stop by and see how you were..."
This was stupid. She needed to stick to the script.
"Applejack, really, you are costing me bits just by standing there." Rarity did not frown so much as exude disapproval. "If you've come to tell me something, then out with it!"
Swallowing, Applejack ducked her head into her saddlebag and lifted out the papers. Rarity took them in her magic.
"I brought somethin' I wanted you to take a look at, if'n you wouldn't mind."
Another building fell, and despair chilled the pit of Applejack's stomach. She could keep ahead of the ball in Timberwolf form, but even her strong Ground form wasn't enough to actually stop it. A two-legged applebuck had barely diverted it from its course, let alone actually damaged it.
At least she could rest easy thanks to Rainbow Dash. Irritating or not, she had cleared everypony out of harm's way. Homes could be rebuilt, unlike lives.
Need to get a better angle on the situation. It pained her to leave Ponyville to the ravages of this thing for even a moment, but her current approach to fighting it was getting her nowhere fast. Ponyville would be in serious trouble if she fell doing something stupid.
"Help!" came a voice from above. "Somepony help me, I'm stuck!"
Maybe too quick on praising Dash, there.
On the second floor of a house with a belltower cupola, a tiny wing extended from an open window. The Shinion ball raced toward the house.
"Hold on!" Applejack cried. She ran.
"Kambai! Manchikkoru!"
manticore form
Even with Timberwolf speed, she wouldn't be able to do more than place herself in its way. Instead, her suit bulked up, the colored highlights turning purple. A rough mane emerged around her helmet, wings sprouted from her back, and the armor covering her tail became whiplike, and spiked at the end.
She took to the air as the sphere made a hole in the first-floor wall of the home. Flapping hard, she reached the window as the ball left the other side of the house. Wooden beams creaked and groaned under the strain of holding their burden without the benefit of their neighbors' help.
Beyond the window, a little honeysuckle yellow filly lay in a bedroom, trapped beneath a bookshelf. Applejack shoved her way inside, and the floor shuddered under her.
"Help me!"
"I've got you," Applejack said, grunting as she put her form's strength and durability to use.
She crouched under the bookcase and hefted it off the filly in one fluid motion. With her tail, she ushered the poor little pegasus to the window. As far as Applejack could tell, she wasn't hurt, only in danger from the house collapsing under her.
"Fly, fast as you can!" she shouted.
The filly only paused once to look back over her shoulder. "Thank you, Iron Savior!" Then she was gone, leaving a few feathers behind.
Applejack moved out from under the bookcase. When it hit the floor, it kept right on going. Taking the house as a loss, she charged for the wall opposite the one with the window and punched her way through it.
She emerged on the roof and walked along it over the main part of the house as it collapsed behind her.
"It must have some kind of weak spot..."
i have no suggestions this is entirely unlike any Shinion i know
"Kambai! Kokatorisu!"
cockatrice form
Her armor became a vivid shade of beetle green, with small claws on her rear hooves and a frill around her helmet. All the world's sights and sounds filled her senses.
The first time she had used this form, the sensory overload had nearly killed her. Even with practice, she could keep it active for only minutes at most, but the benefits far outweighed the risks, especially in situations like this.
She trotted along the crumbling roof, eyes focused on the ball. As she tracked and analyzed its movements, sorting efficiently through the high-density data displays in her visor, she caught something off about its smooth surface. Only with the heightened visual acuity afforded by Cockatrice form could she have any hope of glimpsing the sphere's secret, yet it spun fast enough that she was still having a hard time making out exactly what that defect was.
A cloud of dust and debris obscured her vision as the house gave its final shudder and collapsed beneath her.
Moments later, she emerged from the wreckage in her Manticore form with only one thought on her mind.
"It has a seam."
Applejack shifted in place as she watched Rarity peruse the sketches she'd brought. She had asked permission, but she knew Rarity too well. A designer of her caliber could not resist studying something fashion related, regardless of her current feelings or supposed busyness.
"These are... your designs?" The question in her statement served as a raised eyebrow. "I didn't think you'd taken my advice seriously..."
Applejack had. She could never have refused a request from the most beautiful unicorn in Equestria, not with two wills put together. Even if it had been an off-hoof remark meant to send her away. Applejack was only a mare, a mare who knew too well her own weaknesses.
For weeks, she'd been struggling with angles and lines. Drawing was not a talent of hers; she'd learned the hard way. The folds and fall of fabric, the tilt of a hat: this and more, dreamed up in the distant hazes of her mind, depicted on page only through copious amounts of sweating and swearing. Far too many sketches had she torn up, and every one tore her up inside, because it said one thing:
You're not good enough for her.
She wanted so hard to express even a tenth of the toil and anxiety she had put herself through for Rarity's sake. Instead, she shrugged. Masking emotions: a skill she had picked up from Rarity herself. For a pony concerned with appearances, it was a matter of career life and death. For a pony concerned with honesty, it was yet another weakness.
"Just somethin' I threw together. Ain't finished." She licked her lips. "B-but I pointed the fimberts--"
"Fimbrials." The admonishment was instantaneous. Whatever resolve Applejack had built in the past ten minutes evaporated.
"Yeah." It had taken monumental effort for her to even realize that sort of fringe was an acceptable accent. Country chic mixed with a more contemporary flair: wasn't that how Rarity had described something once? She had seemed so supportive last time. "Just like ya said..."
"You've a good eye for form, but..." With a tremendous sigh, Rarity set the papers down.
"Applejack, there's no passion here. No love."
Rarity could not have stung Applejack harder if she'd slapped her. All that work, all that effort, for nothing?
Rarity levelled a steady gaze at her. "Applejack, why are you doing this?"
Applejack opened her mouth, but Rarity continued, "And do remember that honesty is supposed to be your specialty."
Frowning, Applejack rubbed the back of one hind leg with the other.
"Well, Rarity, if'n it's honesty you want..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm tryin' to show ya I can change."
"Bakki no Keri!"
Applejack hurled herself from the rooftop, left hind leg aimed square at the onrushing ball. Power crackled visibly around her hoof as she unleashed one of her strongest attacks. It was all down to timing now: could she hit it in the soft spot, or...
Clang!
She rebounded off the smooth metal surface and landed on all fours. The power she had put into the kick reduced to nothing, as though the sphere had absorbed it.
"Blast it!" She stomped her hoof as the ball crashed through another business.
With everything she had thrown at it, it had been fazed by not one assault. She couldn't keep up with it and attack it and know where to attack all at the same time! Her forms were just too limited.
Applejack had become a Shinion host a year ago, after their arrival in a shower of falling stars. As far as she knew, she was the only pony in Equestria who had been able to take control of one. Yes, it took a lot of willpower to keep Lesttel under control, but it was worth the effort. At least, she usually thought so. If she gave him more leash, she might be able identify infected ponies well before they got this out of control. It would only cost her her free will, just like all the other infected.
Just like what Lesttel whispered to her in her dreams.
But using that power to become the Iron Rider made her nearly invincible. Her, and nopony else. That power brought with it responsibility, a responsibility to protect the ponies of Ponyville. Yet she didn't even know what pony might be inside that metal ball.
She stomped again. "It's time for the big guns."
need i remind you how taxing using all your forms in one day is
Nope.
It would take all of her power, all of her strength, her very life's essence, but she had a job to do. She was the only mare who could stop Ponyville from being destroyed by this monstrosity, and she was going to see it stopped, one way or another.
"Kambai!"
i must protest
She grunted as he tried to overtake her will, pushing him back into his corner of her mind. "This isn't yours to protest, Lesttel. We have to put an end to this, now!"
Taking a deep breath, she put every ounce of her will into her words.
"Kambai! Hyudora!"
hydra form
Rarity turned from her, head hung low. "Applejack, you haven't changed at all."
Applejack lifted her hoof. "But I--"
"Stop."
Applejack snapped her mouth shut. Rarity made a sound; whether it was a laugh or a sob, AJ couldn't tell.
"Do you know who you remind me of, Applejack?"
Rarity gave her no chance to reply.
"Spike." This time, she definitely laughed. "You remember how he would follow me everywhere, do everything I asked him to without hesitation? He was heartbroken when you and I got together, you know. But do you know what the difference is between you and Spike?"
Applejack kept silent, anticipating the answer. Rarity turned to her, mascara streaking her cheeks.
"Spike knew when to give up!"
Applejack's armor, turning a deep russet brown, pulsed with the beat of her heart. Slowly, she grew in size, the buildings shrinking around her. When the tips of her ears were level with the treetops, she lunged forward and grasped the sphere in both hooves, hefting it and tossing it into the sky.
She followed it toward the edge of town, growing until the tops of the highest buildings in Ponyville came up only to her knees. By the time she stopped growing, the sphere was arcing back to earth.
Only, she realized too late, it wasn't getting larger just because it was getting closer.
The titanic sphere knocked her to the ground. The impact rattled trees for miles around.
Hydra form increased not only her size but her strength, both exponentially. And along with putting a severe, potentially fatal, strain on her life force, it made her a menace to everything around her. She was lucky the center of the Shinion invasion was in a town as pastoral as Ponyville, with plenty of nearby farmland and, if necessary, the Everfree Forest to fight in.
She was also lucky that the Shinion sphere's growth came with its own downside. Its seam had become visible to her naked eye.
"Gotcha."
Applejack heaved herself to standing, knocking the sphere aside. She pounced on it, beating it with her hoof, each blow glancing off as before. The sphere seemed to be having a harder time gaining traction against her. With each hit, it rotated slightly, and soon, she was able to hook the armored edge of one hoof into the crack. She pounded against that hoof with her free hoof, using them as hammer and wedge.
The sphere struggled as much as an object without extremities could. After each hit came an ear-splitting, mechanical screech. Applejack's heart beat faster and faster, as much from the exhilaration of finally getting the upper hoof on this thing as from the physical toll of her Hydra form.
When the sphere finally broke, a shaft of blinding light exploded from its core. Applejack hit it one more time, and it split like an egg. The silhouette of a pony, tiny and fragile before Applejack's immensity, rose into the air, and she extended her hooves to gather it toward her. She recognized it immediately.
"I've got you, Derpy," she said quietly.
She cradled Derpy's limp form in her hooves and watched the remnants of the egg crumble, the light within fading. The sun began to sink in the sky.
Then she realized that the fading light brought with it a pulse of energy she could feel through her suit.
target is going Comose
"Oh no."
Applejack let Rarity's words hang in the air for a good long moment. Rarity pulled out a hoofkerchief, tended to her makeup and blew her nose.
"I... I'm sorry, Rarity." Applejack gazed at the floor. "I guess I never could take no for an answer when it came to you."
"One of your less admirable traits," Rarity said, vitriol in her words and expression.
Applejack winced. "Do... Do ya regret doin' what we did? What we had?"
Rarity blew her nose again, shaking her head softly. "Not for a moment, dear. It does no more good to hold onto regrets for what was than for what might have been."
Somehow, this did nothing to quell the ache in Applejack's heart. She wished it could.
Rarity turned to face the window, the sun just rising out of the eastern mountains.
"But ponies change, Applejack."
Applejack was so startled, she nearly dropped Derpy.
Only recently had she encountered Shinion with this level of power. Once relieved of their pony captive, instead of shrivelling and dying the way a parasite should, they evolved, becoming Comose: more powerful, more unpredictable, and far more deadly than ever before. A Comose Shinion would face her with every ounce of that new strength, trying to take her down before it powered down and succumbed.
From the light of the sphere emerged a giant draconic form. The pieces of metal shell separated into numerous plates, lining up as spines along its back and armor on its limbs.
Applejack took a step back.
The dragon roared and crashed toward her. It moved with surprising alacrity for something its size, especially given how stubby its limbs were. The hit sent her flying backward, smashing into a stand of trees and rendering them to splinters. All the while, she kept Derpy tucked into the crook of her arm. She would die before she let more harm befall that pony.
you have little more than a minute in this form before you must return to ground
Time to harmonize.
The dragon slapped its claws together and roared. Applejack rose to stand on her hind legs, holding Derpy out before her in both hooves. She dug deep within herself, to a completely separate area of her power. This was power that existed in every pony: the spark of magic derived from friendship.
The only way Applejack could access it was to recall the way the Element of Honesty had synchronized with her soul. The very act of being honest, especially in a situation that called for its opposite, brought out of her a phenomenal strength and calmness. Here, in the midst of a tremendous battle for the safety of not just Derpy, but everypony, she could feel that tranquil power once again. It hummed in the fibers of her being.
She let that hum out to touch the spark inside Derpy. The two energies harmonized, granting each other strength that couldn't be found elsewhere.
The little pegasus briefly glowed a bright, clear gold, then disappeared, to somewhere safe in town.
Applejack grinned and rolled her neck. Bit more than a minute now, I reckon.
She wiped her leg across her mask and charged. The dragon met her head-on, grappling her with titanic strength. She pushed it backwards and kept right on charging as it pounded on her withers.
After a few hundred pony-lengths, it was able to stop her charge, lifting her over its head and slamming her to the earth. Prone, she was able to get in a couple of solid kicks at its legs, and it shrieked in rage and pain.
Then its mouth and head spines began to glow with the red-hot fury of the sun.
"Uh-oh."
She scrambled to her hooves, movements slowed by her size. She was only just able to stand before the Shinion unleashed a massive beam of red energy directly into her face.
Normally, the armor would protect her body from even the worst blows she faced in combat. But in Hydra form, her very life essence powered her transformation. The blast hit her with a punch to the soul. Breath was squeezed from her lungs as she fell to her knees, her armor growing hot around her and her vision swimming. Just when she was afraid all the energy she gained from harmonizing with Derpy might have been for naught, the attack ceased.
applejack please stop
"I apparently don't know the meaning of the word," she hissed through her teeth.
Applejack pushed herself to standing. The dragon reeled back, charging another beam attack. Power surging through every cell in her body, she screamed with primal anger. She bellowed with the fury of a mother protecting her foal. She raged at what the creature had done to Derpy. She cried out for everything she had lost to its kind.
With the roar of a sun's smoldering savagery, the dragon fired its beam.
A faint halo of fiery energy surrounding Applejack deflected the beam into a mountain in the distance, detonating it.
Applejack didn't even pause to consider how close she had come to defeat. She crouched, then launched herself skyward. Tracking her, the dragon whirled as she rose higher and higher. She scowled.
"Migii no Hissatsu!"
Like a rocket, she sped back toward earth, impacting the dragon with her right leg and kicking it over and over. She pounded it into the ground and kept on going. Bits of its armor flew everywhere, destroying trees and gouging deep into hillsides. She didn't stop until it exploded.
She returned rapidly to her normal size, and only through her own sheer force of will did she keep from passing out. Panting and heaving, she stood and watched as the inert dragon slowly shrank as well.
"Did I... get it..."
this can't be
Her blood ran cold. What can't be? Wasn't that enough? I gave it everything!
it
it is returning to a dormant state
The dragon was now not much bigger than a grown dog, far smaller than the original sphere. As the bright light returned, the pieces of metal that had been armor floated through the air, trying to reform around it.
this has never happened before
Applejack's blood ran cold.
I can't let it return to the populace. Give it a second chance to do this to another pony? Who knows what somethin' this powerful could latch onto...
Rage burned white-hot in her chest. After using Hydra form for so long, what she needed was rest to keep from overtaxing herself. Rest was the last thing on her mind.
Bellowing like a madmare, she charged the reforming sphere. When she reached it, all she could think to do was jam her hoof in between two of the plates, stopping them from fusing.
"You come to my planet!" she shouted. "You wreck my town! You kidnap my friend, and you don't even have the decency to die when I've stopped you?"
She focused on a mental image of the depths of Tartarus. She had been there only once, on a mission of national security with her friends, back when things in Equestria were simple. It had left an impression.
applejack wait
"Celestia will no more light your path!"
A final seed of power welled up inside of her. Reacting to her incantation, a band of pure energy fastened itself around the sphere. The light within cried out in pain and terror.
"Luna will not protect your dreams!"
Another band wrapped itself over the plates and through the light. The shrieks grew louder. Sweat rolled down her face inside her helmet.
"Miamore Cadenza revokes her love!"
A third band entwined with the other two.
Applejack withdrew her hoof, took two steps backward, and stomped both forehooves with all her might, summoning power from the earth itself. A fourth band of light rose up, encircling the whole structure and compressing it. Her voice rose to a fever pitch.
"In the name of Twilight Sparkle, my friend, I judge you unworthy! Kyuukyokutekina Sylosis!"
The light screamed as the binding energies dragged it through the earth.
Applejack walked over to where it had been, watching it descend into the inky depths before the ground closed up behind it. Everything was deathly silent.
"To Tartarus with you," she whispered.
Then she collapsed.
"I... I guess that's it, then?"
To Rarity's credit, her smile was not as sardonic as it could have been. "Precisely what I've been trying to impress upon you for months."
"I, uh..."
Applejack cleared her throat, giving Rarity a pointed look before moving to scoop up her drawings. The unicorn offered no resistance. Applejack stuffed them back in her saddlebag.
"Ponies change," she mumbled.
"Just not you," said Rarity, barely audible.
Every fiber of Applejack's being wanted nothing more than to tell Rarity that she, of all ponies, knew what it was like to change. Applejack had changed more than any pony ever thought possible. She'd changed for Rarity. She'd changed for Equestria.
But the secret was her burden to bear. There would be no easy path out of these woods. No treasure at the end of the cave. No happy ending to this story.
"Suppose I'll let you get back to your important clients, then. Mighty sorry for wasting your time." She tried her best to sound like she meant it. "Thanks for the feedback."
Rarity gave no response, only picked up a bolt of sparkly blue cloth and floated it to the back room.
Applejack turned, left the Boutique, and closed the door behind her.
When she woke, enough time had passed that it was still light out, despite the sun being lower in the sky. Lesttel prickled smugly in the back of her head. He never could help gloating when he was right about her overdoing it. It wasn't so much the smarm that got to her as the fact that, were his direst warnings to come true, he wouldn't exactly be in good shape, either.
She opened her eyes to see a face hovering over her.
With a shout, she backed away from it and rolled down a short hill. That sure didn't help with her pain and tiredness, but the jolt of adrenaline was enough to snap her senses into focus.
The other person -- pony -- wore armor that looked strangely familiar, only where Applejack's was red and gold, the stranger's was silver. The teal V of the face plate was far sharper, and the rear of the helmet swept back in a dramatic point. Their bearing was strong, sleek and confident, amplified by the long scarf blowing on the breeze behind them.
another Rider
never thought i'd see that
And Applejack never thought she'd hear Lesttel truly awed.
The other Rider gazed down from the ridge with what Applejack realized must be the same emotionless expression others saw when they looked at her.
"Who are you?" was all she could think to say.
The figure seemed to consider her for a moment. "Crystal Rider Castellion."
The voice was distorted. Powerful. Neither masculine nor feminine. She couldn't place the accent.
"Und Sie, Rangelkai--" the name was spat like an epithet-- "sind ein Rassenverräter."
Applejack blinked. "Wha--"
In a flash, Castellion was directly in front of Applejack. Her vision swam from the swift headbutt. Something kicked her from the side, then another, then again. She tumbled to the ground.
"Niederregnend."
Tendrils of bright yellow energy whipped out from behind Castellion and lashed into Applejack, over and over. She cried out in pain and fear. Whatever energy she had recovered since her battle with the Shinion was spent. Her armor, forged from her very life essence, began to break.
And that voice. It was cold and cruelly efficient. Even the Shinion had had the decency to roar with anger while fighting. This Rider almost seemed to care no more about Applejack than they might an insect underhoof.
Applejack stared up at Castellion, one of her eyes exposed through a hole in her mask. Fear crept up her spine as the other Rider raised their head, preparing what was assuredly a final strike.
"Abschliessend Peitschenschlag."
Applejack did the only thing she could. She tucked her hooves up over her head, hoping to protect it from the worst. Her body curled, and more of her armor cracked off.
There was a gasp. Applejack peeked up as no strike came. Castellion stood, reared back, foreleg frozen in midair, staring down at her.
"That's not--!"
They stayed like that for a long moment: Applejack too scared and in too much pain to move, Castellion apparently unwilling to deal the final blow.
At last, Applejack found her voice. "What--"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Castellion dashed off, exceedingly fast, blue scarf sparkling in the sunset.
The stars over Sweet Apple Acres twinkled with their usual zeal, but to Applejack's mind, they were just a little brighter tonight. She'd had a hard time explaining to Mac and Granny where she'd wandered off to, and why she'd come back looking like a coyote's chew toy, but surviving the day's events was reason enough to celebrate, as far as she was concerned.
Not that she was on cloud nine or anything.
So what d'you figure, Lesttel? Full Symbiosis, like us?
undoubtedly
She sighed. Another pony, workin' alongside her Shinion passenger.
controlling it you mean
She smirked. Potayto, potahto. But she attacked me, without provocation, I might add. When I was at my lowest point, even. And then runs away without finishin' me off? Wish I coulda understood what she said.
Lesttel made a noncommittal thought.
they called you a race traitor
Really? Guess there ain't much chance of this bein' a misunderstanding then. How could you tell?
i can always understand another Shinion's words
He almost sounded insulted.
Some kinda psychic link? Wish you could use that to suss out what that Rider's up to.
nothing so direct
it is safe to assume that Shinion is working in concert with their host unlike you and i
Ain't my fault you need somepony to keep you in line. She grinned, but it was short-lived. Applejack gazed up at the stars, just taking in the twinkling as her eyes searched from one dot to the next.
Somewhere out there's the place y'all are from. Came to Equestria to gather intelligence, or drain us of our life force, or... Whatever it is y'all do.
She sighed. And here I am, regular old Applejack, the only pony on the planet who can stop ya. Except now there's two of me, and the other'n ain't too friendly. She closed her eyes. Lesttel was silent.
I don't like thinkin' about what a Shinion with a pony workin' for it instead of bein' controlled by it might do to Equestria. 'Specially not one that powerful. She sighed and wrinkled her nose. Guess our job just got a lot harder.
life with you is many things but dull is never one
Applejack snorted. "Tell that to Rarity."
She sighed, regretting saying the words the moment they were said. These emotional wounds shouldn't have been so fresh. She leaned her head back against the tree with a dull thunk.
I don't know which fight's got me more upset.
if it is any consolation your crosseyed pony friend did survive the battle
'Spose that's the reward for goin' through what I do. She rubbed her temples. Somethin' tells me the next time we meet, Castle-whatever ain't gonna go easy on me.
"Why does my life only get more complicated by the day?"
do you want to know what i think
She chuckled, shaking her head. Reckon you'll let me know regardless.
i think that Rider recognized you
That gave Applejack pause. You figure that's why they didn't finish me off?
and why they hesitated
I suppose. She frowned, studying the grass. But ain't nopony knows I'm Rangelkai. I've made darn sure of that.
you lost pieces of armor in the fight
your cutie mark was uncovered
Applejack's eyes shot open. "Then that means..."
But after a moment, she relaxed. It could mean anything, so it really meant nothing. Castellion could be somepony from in town, or Appleloosa, or any of the other dozen places she'd left an impression on before the Shinion came. There were lots of ponies who would recognize her from her mark. It still wasn't good news, but it wasn't something to panic about, either.
Guess it ain't worth losing sleep over. She yawned and stretched. Sleep was just what she needed. Lesttel could heal her faster as she slept, while whispering temptations in her ear.
As Applejack limped her way back to the farmhouse, Lesttel buzzed in the back of her mind.
this could be the start of your undoing
She snorted. Least if I'm goin' down, I'll feel real good takin' you with me.
Author's Note
Thank you, everyone, for reading this story! You can find more info on the background of it here!
Thanks as well to Icy Shake, iisaw, Professor Holly Oats, Pascoite and KLUCK for their editing and feedback assistance!
