Wings and Wrenches

"Yo, Big Mac! Where are you?"

Walking up to the Apple Family farm seems to be a regular occurrence these days. Between bringing back repaired stuff, like that cart he brought me the other day, and just plain hanging out with my friends, you could almost say it's similar to a second home for me. Not long after I moved into my current house a few years ago, they stopped and said hi, as well as presented me with the most insane housewarming gift I'd ever seen: a cart full of food! Not just a small one, either. There were dozens of apple pies, fritters and other snacks, as well as about 6 baskets full of raw apples.

Needless to say, my grocery bill was taken care of for about 3 weeks after that. Thunder Wing apparently ended up accepting delivery of a ton of cherries and cupcakes, which took care of lunch for 2 months after the apples ran out. We're both still in awe to this day of a whole community coming together like that to welcome new neighbors.

A groan and window opening pulled me out of my thoughts as I trekked onto the property, though, and revealed a very sick looking Apple Bloom. I nearly stopped in my tracks as I saw her, but the sheer weight of the cart I brought made me skid my hooves a few feet.

Dear Luna, what the hell is that?!

"Feather, stop yelling...I'm trying to sleep," she struggled to get out with a very hoarse voice. She looked terrible. Green in the face, coughing as she spoke and her nose was so irritated that she seemed to have rub all the fur off of it, leaving a very red spot of skin. Almost looked like it was glowing.

"Sorry, kid." She huffed at that. Always has, but she smiles a bit at the nickname as well. Except today. "What happened?"

"Flu, or somethin'. Dunno." I could see her swaying in the window, almost like she was struggling to stay upright before she got a grip on the windowsill to steady herself.

"Go see a doctor?" A slight nod in response.

"Waiting on tests...I'm goin' back to bed. G'night, Feather." With that, she slowly loosened her grip on the windowsill and wandered away, leaving the window still open.

"Where's your brother?" As I spoke, I unhitched myself from the cart and dropped it, waiting as the coughing spell subsided.

"Out. Sis is in the field." I heard a few more coughs and figured I should let her rest. With a gentle leap and a quiet wing flap, I took to a very low flight and just cruised around til I saw Applejack in one of the southern orchards.

As she watched me land and gave a little wave, I couldn't help but watch her work. In school, we learned about earth pony magic and their capabilities, as well as when they relate to ones cutie mark, but I still couldn't get over how easily she could buck apple trees and shed them of their fruit. I had been known to just sit there for hours and watch her and her brother work, nearly in a trancelike state as my brain failed to process it. Today, though, she managed to snap me out of it.

"Hey, Feather, what's up?" Applejack adjusted her hat and sat down, apparently deciding on a bit of a break on my account.

"Mac brought me a cart last night, I just brought it back. What happened to Apple Bloom?" I couldn't help but reach out and grab a stray apple off the ground, starting to nibble on it. She chuckled a bit and tossed a couple more toward me, apparently trying to fatten me up. Everypony around here says I'm too slim.

"Started last night, dunno what the hay happened." She grabbed an apple herself and started snacking, speaking around it. "She's been hackin' up a lung and a half all morning. Took her to the doc, they're running tests."

"Eugh...did she get the rest of the crusaders sick?" She shook her head a bit, which made me feel better. I did always like those three fillies. Every now and then, they bring one of their clients in to see if they have mechanical abilities, or they'll just pop in to visit and see what I'm working on.

"Nah, and Big Mac's off seeing Sugar Belle again. I swear, he spends more time there than here." I couldn't help but chuckle at that comment.

"They've been dating for how long now, and he's not brought her over?"

"2 years, I think." I let out a low whistle, and she laughed at me a bit. "I never thought he'd meet somepony, either."

"We gotta get them out here one day, AJ. Maybe not soon, but one day." She nodded a little, but then stood up and wandered over to another tree.

"Hate to, Feather, but I gotta get back to work. See you around, and thanks for the cart!" With that, she gave the tree a swift kick, and I couldn't help but watch the fruit fall down with a sense of bewilderment.

"Huh? Oh, yeah...see ya. Just pay me whenever, 200 bits. Should be able to hold up to him now." Another little jump and wing flap, and I was high in the air, over the trees and headed back home at a nice, slow pace.

There was something still bothering me, though, about all that. I had just met up with Apple Bloom two days ago for some building supplies, and she didn't seem sick in any way.

That thought aside, my flight back home was nice and calm, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. May as well, the next few days had some storms planned anyway.

One of the things we're taught when we join the Equestrian Armed Marshals is that we have to take care of our gear. There's nopony we surrender our firearms to, and we're expected to keep it with us. When you live with a fellow Marshal, you tend to get a routine set up so you don't ever forget to just make sure everything is ok. Me and Thunder Wing are no different, Wednesday is our day.

After a bit of coffee, I managed to get myself up and walk over to a closet under the stairs. The house wasn't huge, but being two story, it was rather roomy anyway with a lot of storage space and closets spattered everywhere. This particular closet, however, had a blue stone inset into the door instead of a handle. After a quick glance around, verifying nopony else was in the house to see, I pushed my hoof against the stone and it flickered with a green light before the door slid open.

Perhaps I should mention that they expect us to secure our own gear, as well. There's a department back in Canterlot that helps, called Asset Security, but for the most part the burden of control is on the ponies themselves. Needless to say, they have high standards.

My ear swiveled as I heard hooves come behind me just as the door swiveled. A quick glance over told me it was just Thunder, and I gently drug his saddlebag and rifle case over to his reach while I grabbed my own. The bags looked fairly simple, just a big tan cloth pair with a basic buckle on each side. On the other side of the closet, however, we kept an empty set for each of us that had an oddball camo print which matched the vest and helmet that sat beside them.

"Leave it, cloudbrain, we'll deal with that later." Thunder snickered and wandered off toward the livingroom, unceremoniously tossing his bag on the floor and digging through it. Having successfully scattered its contents in an arrangement that I still fail to understand after 6 years, he moved to the case and popped the snaps open while I brought my own equipment in and started sorting it out.

Once I got all my stuff sorted out, I moved to the beige case with my name printed on it and flicked it open, revealing a rather small long rifle splattered randomly with beige and a very dark green. About 2 foot long from barrel to stock and a folded harness on the end, it was surprisingly light for its design. The military firearm actually weighed barely a pound when it was unloaded, and balanced itself well in my hooves; which was really good, especially considering I sometimes had to hold it while walking with my other three hooves.

Giving it a once-over, I went to pull the charging handle back, making sure it was unloaded. Me and Thunder both knew it was, but it was still a good habit that the instructors drilled into both of our skulls. Letting the bolt slam shut once more, I gave the trigger a bump to the side and heard the click I was waiting for before I set it back down on the floor and turned to get tools out of the case as well. Just as I turned, however, I heard a knock at the door. Thunder looked up at the door when I did, then we locked eyes for a moment and looked a bit concerned.

"Who is it?" I reached over to start hiding things, just in case.

"It's Mac, can I come in?" I turned to Thunder and he gave a shrug, just continuing with his routine by checking his binoculars and starting to clean them.

"Should be unlocked, bud." I turned back to my tool set and started to unpack it as I heard the door open.

"Hey, I got your bits for the car-" Listening as I unpacked the tools, the sudden pause got my attention. As I looked up, I suddenly saw Applejack beside him, both of their eyes having opened wide, turning to pinpricks.

Before either of us could react, the next few seconds turned into absolute chaos.

Big Mac came running at me at a speed that would have likely impressed Rainbow Dash, and with one swift kick, flung my rifle across the living room. I barely caught a glimpse of it sticking into the opposite wall before Mac's face filled my vision and I felt myself pinned against another wall. My lungs were forcefully emptied and I saw stars while I struggled to breathe again and wiggled under the big farm stallions grip.

When I happened to look over, it seemed Thunder had met a similar fate with Applejack, but he had a rather concerning grin on his face. Before I succumbed to the lack of oxygen, not helped one bit by Big Macs entire body holding me against an excessively sturdy wall, I had at least one thought I could recall.

Thunders ego is gonna get us killed.

Apparently my brain was being more morbid than it needed to be, as evidenced by a slow groan as I came to, even though something in me said to just go back to sleep. There was another part of me fighting against it, something about imminent danger.

Oh, how right it was.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw four ponies in front of me. Blinking a bit made them merge into two, and I realized I was looking at Applejack and her big brother again...as well as our own rifles pointed right at us. What concerned me the most, however, was the fact that both Thunder and I were lassoed rather snugly to the same chairs we just got beaten out of. Instead of freaking out like I imagine was expected, I just sat and took stock of the situation.

Ok...probably concussed, can't move...this won't go well. Hope that-

"Feather, we gotta talk." Applejacks voice cut into my thoughts, bringing me back to reality.

"Yeah, no...no shit. Ow. Can you get me some painkiller?" I blinked a little and just looked at her, hoping she'd at least do that for me.

All I got in reply was a growl from Big Mac. This won't end well, and I have a hunch of what it's about.

"Y'all mind explaining to me why ya got those rifles?" Yep, just as expected. But before I could get my dazed self in gear, my friend decided to open his big stupid mouth.

"Griffon Mafia. We're here for drug deals," Thunder decided to blurt out with his smug face that he refused to wipe. I just let out a groan and decided I'll pummel him later if we had the chance. Unless somepony beat me to it, which is insanely likely.

Quicker than a lightning bolt, Big Mac was in his face with a snarl that could only be rivaled by one of the Princesses, as well as the volume of his voice.

"CARE TO RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN?" I had to intervene at this point, or he's going to dig us all in a pit.

"HOLD ON...he's joking, stupid as it may be." I let out a sigh, blinking away the double vision starting to set in again. "Thunder's an idiot, I know, but don't pummel him for it. I've got more reason than you."

AJ decided to get in my face after that, but at least she wasn't trying to blow my eardrums.

"Get to talkin', then, Feather. I got half a mind to beat you to a pulp right here!"

"I know, I know. Ugh...seriously, can I get something for my head?" Big Mac and AJ turned to me with another snarl, and both spoke in sync.

"NO!" AJ turned to me with a growl. "Now get talking!"

I turned to glare at Thunder before he decided to make another smartass comment.

"Just...listen, we're in the guard." I groaned a bit as the headache got worse, definitely need to visit the hospital after this. "Badges are in the bags, alright? We were just checking our gear, we do it every week."

"Riiight...and I'm a princess bent on serving meat in Equestria." A growl slipped out of me for that one before I could stop it.

"AJ, don't joke like that, there was a griffon group a couple years ago that tried that." I shuddered a bit at that memory. Story for later, and I could see she might not enjoy that mental image either.

"You kiddin' me? Somepony tried to do that?" Big Mac looked a little green as well.

"Whole group. Not a kind story." I saw AJ starting to hunt through my bag, having finally put the rifle down. I was about to say something else, but then I felt the IQ in the room drop as somepony else beat me to it.

"Haha, did you see that, Feather? She wasn't gonna shoot us anyway, doesn't even know how to hold a gun."

"Thunder, cut it out, she-"

"Didn't even have the safety off anyway." I glared at Thunder, but a click and the sound of metal shifting caught both our attention, and we locked up. Big Macintosh had the rifle shouldered up perfectly, point blank at Thunder...with the safety off. Perfect form, like it was practiced.

"Umm, Thunder...I don't think he has the safety on."

"Oh shit."

"I just want to say...whatever happens, you deserve it." AJ looked up and sighed, wandering toward her brother.

"Mac, put it down, they're legit." He hesitated, but put the safety back on as he listened to his sister, laying the rifle down beside him. I could still see the anger in his eyes, and I couldn't say I didn't share any of it. AJ came and undid the ropes, and I just let out a groan as I rubbed my head. Thunder was still feeling snarky, but I figured it was for the best that I just let the Apple siblings deal with him.

"Applejack, may I go to the hospital now? I'm pretty sure I got a concussion from the wall." She looked over at me and let out a sigh, giving me a slight nod as I walked out the door with a bit of a wobble. Before I shut the door, though, I yelled back at Thunder, "You'd better not do anything stupid, or I'll tell them you wanted to chop down their trees!" The Apples let out a gasp and glared at my friend, and I couldn't help but chuckle as I wandered out, deciding that it was a fair punishment for him.

In the meantime, I needed checked out, and decided to wobble my way to the ER. Not for the first time here, either.

Don't be mad at me this time, Redheart.