Mel flinched violently and clasped her hand over the bracelet. Everyone stared at her.

Jackie didn't quite know what to think. After her pa died, whenever anyone had asked her about her hat then she would've reacted in the same way. Perhaps the bracelet was given to her by one that had recently passed? An empty charm bracelet . . . how mysterious.

Jackie shoved that thought out of her mind and smiled reassuringly at the purple-haired girl. "Hey, it's okay," she said. "Ya don't have to tell us 'bout it if ya don't want ta."

Mel took a shaky breath and nodded firmly. "I don't want to."

Great job, Mina, Jackie thought exasperatedly. Leave it to the pink-haired girl to ask the very question that would mess up her own mission.

Mina blushed as if she had read Jackie's mind. Sophia leaned forward. "I understand that your family are personal friends of the mayor."

Jackie shook her head in disgust. So that had been the reason Sophia had joined. Jackie had been surprised when she had agreed and suspicious of the light in her eyes, but ever hopeful, she thought that Sophia had a change of heart. Apparently, all the girl wanted to do was get in with the Canterlot elite. Typical; Sophia had never been one to associate with someone outside of her inner circle, AKA the fashion group.

Mel offered a half-smile. "Yeah, my brother's head of the police force, which was how our families got to know each other."

"Great! You know, dear . . ." Sophia ran a critical eye over her. "With a bit of a makeover, I could turn you into a shining star!"

Mel flushed lightly and tucked a stray strand of pink hair behind her ear. "I'm perfectly happy with the way I look right now," she told Sophia.

Tell her, Mel! Jackie cheered internally. She and Sophia had . . . never really seen eye-to-eye, was the most delicate way to put it. Okay, so Sophia had an ulterior motive for this. Jackie turned her eye to the remaining two girls; Mina didn't really seem to have one, but Jackie would bet her Stetson that Iris did.

She narrowed her eyes and turned her focus back to the conversation.

"Aunt Celeste is awesome, kind, and beautiful," Mel told Sophia. "So naturally it was surprising when we found out she was addicted to cake."

Sophia snickered. "Really?"

"Really," Mel confirmed. "She's more partial to vanilla, but she wouldn't say no to any other flavor. It's a running joke between us."

Sophia's eyes sparkled and Jackie sighed. She would milk Mel for all the gossip she had, then carefully give it out to increase her social standing in New Camelot. Sophia was usually a kind and generous person, but Jackie had personally seen it happen before. The girl would do anything to get in with the Camelot elite, and the scent of innocence was literally rolling off of Mel in waves. If she got betrayed like that, she might never open up again.

Jackie couldn't let that happen and not-so-smoothly cut into the conversation. "So, Mel . . . whaddya like ta do in your free time?"

Mel turned her focus to her and smiled shyly. "I like to read and work on experiments," she said.

Oh, another one of those smart types. "I mostly like to help out on the farm," she said. "What about you, Sophia?" she asked, trying to keep things civilized.

"Well, I enjoy much more civilized things. For one, I consider myself an expert in fashion" - here her eyes lit up - "and I've opened my own boutique called the Carousel Boutique, featuring many of my own creations."

While the may not see eye-to-eye, Jackie had to admit that the girl had a good work ethic and business sense. She wouldn't mind having her work on the farm from time to time if she weren't such a stuck-up snob. "Workin' on a farm is just as civilized as makin' dresses," she told Sophia.

Sophia sniffed but didn't contradict her.

"What about you, Iris?" Mel asked, cutting through the tension that had perfumed the air.

"Mostly sports," Iris said absently.

"Okay. You, Mina?"

Mina grinned and took a deep breath. "Well . . ."

Jackie, Sophia, and Iris all traded loaded glances and prepared themselves for the oncoming rant.

Jackie hummed to herself as she pulled a random red checkered tank top on. "JACKIE, OPEN UP!" her younger sister yelled. There went her good mood.

"YOU PLANT YOUR LITTLE BEHIND ON THE BED AND WAIT, SAM!" Jackie yelled back. Samantha Olivia, her younger sister, was in elementary school and very annoying - sometimes, at least. Jackie could hear an audible huff as Sam stomped off to her room.

Wrestling on her shorts, she came out of the bathroom and smirked at Sam when she passed her. Sam just glared.

Jackie bounced downstairs, and her stomach grumbled with the promising smell of good food. "Good morning, Granny," she greeted as she sat down and served herself some bacon and eggs.

"Good mornin', Jackie," her granny said with a smile. "D'ya know where that big brother of yours went off to?"

James Ferdinand Smithson II was Jackie's older brother. He didn't talk much, but he was a good worker, big and strong and comforting when his sisters needed him. He became more of a father figure than anything when Jackie's pa died. He walked in now, offering an easy smile to his sister and grandmother and taking a plate. Sam bounced down the stairs, glaring at Jackie.

After breakfast, they took the bus into the city and went to school.

Currently Jackie was munching on an apple on top of the big horse statue in the courtyard of Eclipse - the one that no one was supposed to climb but everyone did anyway - and chatting with her cousin, Brent. He was from the suburbs outside of Austin, Texas.

"Um, Jackie?" came a quiet voice from the base of the statue. Anyone else wouldn't have heard it, but Jackie did and she leaned over the side.

"Yeah, Angelina?"

"Um, Melissa approached me during lunch about the music, and after I heard Mina say something about making friends with her, and-and I want to help."

"Really?" Jackie asked, a bit surprised. Angelina was usually very shy and didn't talk to much of anyone, and this was completely out of the blue.

"Yes." Angelina nodded firmly, like she was trying to convince herself. "I want to do this. I want to help her."

Jackie softened. No matter how shy she was, Angelina always tried to help people. It was in her nature. "'Course ya can, sugarcube," she said. "I'll tell Mina, or do ya want to?"

"I can," Angelina said.

It warmed Jackie's heart to know that even somone as shy as Angelina could conquer her fears to help one. You saw so little human kindness in the world anymore that it was nice to see it once in a while.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a notification on her phone from her news app:

BREAKING NEWS: MAYOR OF NEW CAMELOT CELESTE KING KIDNAPPED!

Author's Note

I've always viewed Applejack/Jackie as the Mom Friend of the Mane Six, so I tried to delve more into that side of her in this story. Brent is Braeburn; I couldn't really think of anyone else Jackie would be talking to other than the Mane Six, and since they're not friends yet that wouldn't make sense.