Equestria Girls: Magicless Troubles

Applejack. Yeah. She was reliable and didn’t tend to lose things, right? She was a great pick because she rarely lost anything. Plus, I figured she’d be able to handle anything that comes up since she was the most...physically capable out of any of us. Even without her strength buff from her geode.

Shockingly, she wasn’t at the farm. Granny Smith told me where she was. The mall? Oh yeah! She got a job there, that’s right. It was pretty far so I took my car there. Alright, now to find that smoothie stand.

“Howdy, Sunset!” I heard her voice from across the mall. There she was, serving up fruity drinks at that stand. That was unexpected.

I crossed the mall’s intersection to meet up with her. “AJ? You’re working here? I thought the farm was a full-time thing for you.”

“Kinda. Granny Smith always says that only a well-rounded apple rolls down the hill of success--er, somethin’ like that. So I decided to get muhself a side job. Wanna try a drink? I got some sweet grape-lemonade mix in today.”

That was nice to hear. But wait. No. Now wasn’t the time for that. “Thanks, but I’m good. I’m sure you’re aware of the malfunction going on with our geodes? We can’t tap into their powers for some reason.”

AJ was always steadfast, and relaxed. But she seemed a bit too laid-back about this incident in particular. “S’prolly a glitch. I’m sure they’ll be workin’ again soon,” she said with a relaxed smile while she mixed up more of those colorful drinks.

“That’s...not quite what’s happening. Twilight and Micro Chips found out that some kind of space rock mixed with Equestrian magic and it’s disrupting our geodes. We need to find out where they are and destroy them.”

Applejack paused, and slurped some fruit juice off of one of her fingers. She then went to the sink, and washed her hands. Oh no. Whenever she got quiet like this, it always meant she was thinking hard. “Alrighty--what’s the plan, Sunset?”

I took my backpack off my back, and took out one of the watches that Twilight gave me. “Use this--track down the meteorite, and do what you can to destroy it.”

She inspected the watch like it was some sort of strange alien device. “Hrm…” she took it in her hands, then put it on. “Seems simple, enough. Soon as I get off work, I’ll start lookin’.”

As much as I trusted AJ, I still felt concerned. “You sure you can handle it?”

But she scoffed at my words. “Pshaw. With all them classes I’ve been takin’, I feel like I can handle anythin’. Even without mah geode power.”

Classes? Just what else did she start doing while she wasn’t at the farm? “What sort of classes? Like, martial arts?”

“Yeah. Tae-kwon-do, Sunny. Kickin’ and stuff,” she said with a snicker. “Don’t suppose you’d know much ‘bout that?”

“Well, I took a bit of karate for a time,” I responded, and pinched the air between my index finger and thumb to emphasize that it was only for a little while, “so I know a handful of basic moves.”

My blonde friend simply giggled again. “Heh...the most simplistic of the arts. TKD is a bit more focused on ya legs. I’d love to show ya sometime, actually.”

“Oh yeah, for sure.” It sounded pretty cool, but I didn’t have time to get distracted. I needed to find other people who could make use of these watches. They were extremely valuable, so they couldn’t afford to be lost. “Alrighty,” I said as I put my backpack back on, “I’ll leave you too it. The rest of our friends already know, so do what you can, okay? Twilight says we should all split up, so do your best!”

“Alrighty! See ya, Sunset!” I waved, and took another look at that new-fangled doo-hickey that she gave me. It was pretty cool-lookin’ and it could track space rocks? This was gonna be fun!

Work was killer today, that was for darn sure. I washed up, cleaned my station, and removed my uniform. Now back in my everyday clothes, I ran out of the mall to meet up with a certain friend of mine. “Now where is...eeyup, that’s her.”

It took me literally zero effort to find Rarity’s limo. Easier than findin’ eggs from the coop. That super long, fancy-schmancy car was takin’ up half the dang parkin’ lot!

“Yoo-hoo! Applejack, darling! Over here!” she cried out and opened the door while she waved at me.

I sighed. “Ugh…” Did she really gotta be so theatrical? Anyway, I got into the limo, and shut the door. Some scrubbers automatically started washin’ my boots off from within the floor of the vehicle. Really?

“How was work today, Applejack?” Rarity asked me. She grabbed a towel and started dabbin’ it on my head to get the sweat up. “You look absolutely ragged.”

“I’m fine. But I just heard some pretty concernin’ news,” I showed her the watch I had on my wrist.

She grabbed my hand to get a better look. “Ooh, how styli--wait,” she paused as she let go, “It’s to do with our powers going out, isn’t it?”

I pulled my hand back. “Yup. ‘Ccordin’ to Twilight, it’s some kinda space rock that’s messin’ with our powers. We need to find ‘em and destroy ‘em fast as possible so we can git our magic back.”

“Mm-hm…” Rarity tapped her chin. “So what’s our first move, then?”

“Let’s see…” I looked down at the watch. It blinked with a red light that pointed south of here. That must be where the meteor-thingy was located. “South. That must be where it is.”

In the amount of time I said that, she had changed into a completely different outfit. Her trenchcoat getup that she solved mysteries in. “Well then, darling. Looks like we have a game afoot. The Mystery of the Missing Magic.”

As much as I hated to admit it, that kinda had a nice ring to it. You win this round madam chic. “Heh. Not bad.”

She snapped her fingers with a proud smirk. “Driver, please take us--er,” she stopped mid-sentence to consult me again, “which direction did you say the detector was pointing us to?”

“South,” I replied simply, “Hopefully it won’t take us that long to find it.” The limo was crampin’ me up, and I wanted to get free as soon as I could. Rarity was used to ridin’ in these things, but I wasn’t.

“Due south, driver!” she squealed like a rooster on a Sunday mornin’. I completely underestimated how excited she was for this.

And so we rode on down a few roads. I kept my eyes glued to the watch. It began beepin’ more and more. We must’ve got close. The watch stopped and turned green as it pointed us in a direction. “I think we’re near the thing. Let’s get out here.”

We both exited the limo. Now we were in an area near the edge of the city near one of the parks. Well, it was more like a controlled area with a buncha trees and a pond near some hills. Wallflower actually had a garden planted around here somewhere.

The limo took off. Guess Rarity’s time with it ran out. She had a magifyin’ glass at the ready. “Alright then, Applejack. What shall be our first move?”

To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure how well Rarity could fight without her magic. If we got in a kerfuffle, things would be difficult since I’d have to watch out for her at the same time. So I decided to make a plan. “Tell ya what, Rarity. You start searchin’ for clues around here while I head up the path towards the hills. If ya see anythin’, hit me up with a text?”

“Oh, that sounds perfect! We can cover much more ground if we separate. But don’t hesitate if you need my help,” she said with a confident tone, “I can assure you that I am more than capable of handling myself. Even without my magic.”

Yeah...I initially didn’t think so for a second. But Rarity was fulla surprises, so I had faith in her. “‘Kay, then. Let’s git ‘er done.” So I went off on my own. I headed up through the park, and slid down a hill or two.

It was kinda nice bein’ outside in nature that wasn’t just the farm. I started to realize just what Fluttershy meant. The birds that chirped, squirrels that gathered nuts, the snakes that...snaked? Anyhow, that don’t matter much right now. I need to find--

BANG!

“What in tarnation?!” I flipped out for a split second, and tried to locate the source of that noise. Sounded like some kinda gun that was fired off. Near here? Wasn’t that against some sorta safety regulation?

I found some nearby bushes, and peeked through. I saw a massive set of plains where targets were pointed towards the open field. Some guy was out there doin’ some skeet shootin’. He looked a bit familiar. Was he from CHS? Or Crystal Prep? Hm…

Then I was interrupted yet again.

BZZZ!

“Gah!” My dang phone went off. Who could be callin’ me right about now, anyway? “Hello?”

“Applejack? It’s me, Twilight. I’m on video call,” my purple scientist friend had called me. Must’ve been important.

I turned my phone sideways and answered. “What’s up, Twilight?”

“Each watch contains a tracking device so we can keep tabs on where you are,” she explained to me, and turned the phone to a map of Canterlot City. She tapped on a specific part, “You’re at the shooting range near the edge of the city, correct? It’s owned by one of our fellow students. I think one of the school paper editors.”

“Uh...yeah?”

“Okay. There’s someone there who attends the place frequently. His name is Double Diamond. You’ll recognize him due to his distinct purple scarf and snow-white hair. He’s a recent transfer student, so you don’t know him well. But he’s capable of using all sorts of weapons, so it’s best you stick by him in case things get crazy. You’re just a few yards away from where a meteor should have landed. Alright, Applejack? ….Applejack?”

I stared at the screen for a minute. With all that info she had, I was mega creeped out. “Uhh...Twilight...just how do ya’ll know all that?”

A drop of sweat rolled down her face. Her lips puckered up in a nervous sorta way, as if she just ate a raw lemon out of a cider barrel on a hot summer's day. “Hehe...um, you need to stay focused! Call me back if you need anything!”

From the background, I heard Micro Chips comment. “...your lying skills are terrible.”

“Shut it, Mikey!”

That’s when I hung up.

“Ugh,” I drew my open palm across my entire face while I shook my head. Oh well. The sooner I could get help, the better. I just hope this Diamond guy was willing to help out.