SCOOTS

Chapter 1: “I wish you’d slow down, Daredevil.”

My heart bangs out a heavy-drum, dubstep remix of an old school rock ballad. Trashy club music, the kind a pony could really shake it to. The engine picks up the tune, roaring and rumbling and dancing under the hood, having itself a time.

AJ's riding shotgun, clutching her hat like it’s a security blanket as we tear-ass down Puddinghead Ave at about ninety miles an hour. The egghead is leaning forward in the backseat, yelling her face off and giving me all kinds of shit about my driving. Spike's back there with her. He’s as quiet as a mouse, curled up like a hatchling and spilling his guts all over the upholstery. Dying if he isn’t dead already.

Oh yeah, and there’s a unicorn stallion tied up in the trunk. He’s not dead either. Not yet anyway. He's a mobster. Twilight kidnapped him. Not my idea. My idea was kick the hell out of him and his gang and then haul ass. Guess the hauling ass part stuck.

One glance in the rear-view mirror tells me our quiet little get together has just evolved into an open house block party, and judging by the number of uninvited guests showing up late, I’d say it’s going all night. The flashing red and blue lights catch my attention a split-second before the sirens sound, like lighting coming before thunder.

Cops. Because the night had been so dull up until right now.

AJ goes into full panic mode: sweating, shaking, the whole nine yards. She pulls her ten gallon in front of her face and makes the sort of scared squeaking sound I’d expect to hear out of Fluttershy.

Fearless, the egghead sticks her face between the front seats and asks me if this heap can go any faster for what must be the dozenth time. My eyes flick toward the speedometer. “92 mph.” Not bad but Twilight's right, we can do better.

I glance in the rear-view again and the flashing red and blue lights get a lot closer. The damn sirens are wailing like spoiled brats, and the egghead refuses climb down out of my ear. In a desperate attempt to kill the racket, I give the radio’s dial a twist and crank the volume to max. The speakers pulse and out blasts a Vinyl Scratch classic—an all-the-way bass and drums showstopper the DJ so aptly titled "Dancing with Discord." I shift gears, cut the wheel and power slide onto Platinum Drive just as PON-3 scratches the track and gets to doing what she does best.

During the turn Twilight smacks against the passenger door and finally shuts the hay up.

AJ vomits.

Rubber squeals against road as one and half tons of the sexy Equestrian muscle powers through the intersection, swinging wide into oncoming traffic.

I sideswipe a truck, and the front end of my car lurches all wrong. The left front tire gets the bright idea to turn all on its own. Laughing, I jerk the wheel to the right. It jerks back. The car wobbles, swinging its rear left and right like a dancer working hard for her tips.

Just as I level out my ride, two oncoming headlights transform the road into a bright stretch of empty white space. Looks like there might be a semi behind the lights, but I can't tell and honestly I don't give a damn.

Twilight lets out a blood-freezing scream.

AJ doesn’t make a peep.

Scratch gets to the bridge of “Dancing with Discord,” and the baseline spasms like a seizing heart.

With a smile on my lips I floor it, playing chicken with the pale horse himself. I dare him to hit me. I dare him.

Hit me.

The egghead shouts something I don't hear over the sirens and the sweet, earsplitting artistry of Scratch going nuts on the wheels of steel.

Hit me. Come on, I can take it.

Twilight tries again. She leans forward and gets right in my ear, but the world-shattering craziness barreling toward us smothers her voice.

I can take it. I want it. I want feel it. Hit me…

“Come on, hit me!”

“Damn it, Rainbow Dash!”

The egghead’s voice breaks through the madness like a knife breaking skin. I twist the wheel at the last second and veer around death, blowing him a kiss as I rocket by unscathed.

It’s a lovely night in Fillydelphia.

It’s another terrible night in this terrible city. Spike’s bleeding all over my lap, AJ’s being especially useless, and Rainbow’s doing her level best to get me killed. She’s been trying to get me killed all night, the idiot. I told her to follow the plan, but does she ever listen? No, of course not. She had to play daredevil and get us caught up in this ridiculous car chase. I swear, it’s all a game to her. It’s a stupid videogame, and Rainbow's a stupid kid with a pocket full of quarters, and tonight she's going for the high score.

Spike squirms in my lap. His tail flops like a dying fish. His claws dig into my jacket sleeve, tearing it. He tries to look up but his neck goes slack and his head to lolls to one side. I cradle him. Press him to my chest. Try to comfort him.

“Easy, little guy, you’re all right,” I tell him. I have to put my lips right over his ear so he can hear me over Rainbow’s blaring music.

Spike blinks, then tosses me a slow half-lidded gaze and mouths the word, “Hospital.”

I shake my head. “No hospitals. You knew that when you agreed to come along.” His face scrunches. He coughs. The bandage wrapped around his middle is soaked through. I wrapped it just like first aid manual said, but it’s no good; he’s still bleeding. He won’t stop bleeding. The baby dragon squeezes my foreleg and mouths the word, “please.” I answer him with a stern “no.” Then he lets go of my leg and clutches his stomach, turning his face away from me.

Ponyfeathers. My best friend is virtually holding in his own guts and all I can do is tell him to suck it up. It’s another terrible day in this terrible city.

"Police, pull over!" shouts some halfwit cop who’s seen one too many action movies. He hangs his upper body out the passenger-side window and shouts into a bullhorn like he’s on the set of a summer blockbuster. Feeling playful, I jerk the wheel and give the half-wit’s squad car a love tap at a hundred miles an hour. My driver side window smacks him in the face, and his partner lets out a loud "Holy hoarse apples!" as the halfwit’s nose bursts and he tumbles out of the car. Speed and momentum turn him into a rag doll the moment he hits the road. One of the other cop cars rolls over him like speed bump. Then he's in my rear-view before I catch any of messier details.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" shouts the egghead.

"No way," I shout back "you've been doing enough of that yourself." I don't turn around to look at Twi's face, but I know she's glaring holes in the back of my skull. Not that I care much about her feelings right now. We've been out at each other's throats for a while. We're about one shouting match away from things coming to blows, and after all the craziness she’s put AJ and Spike through these past few months, blows are exactly what she deserves.

Twilight's just about to shout something else, when a burst of automatic gunfire smacks into the back of car. The egghead lays down flat across the backseat, shielding Spike with her body. I hunch down in my seat, trying to make myself as small a target as possible.

AJ doesn’t get down. Doesn’t move an inch. She’s frozen. The dumb hick’s as stiff as a board.

“Down, AJ!” I shout. Her head twists in my direction but she doesn’t get down. Her stare is vacant; I don’t even think she sees me. Poor hick, she’s useless in a car chase—always freezes up when the speeds climb into the triple-digits.

“Down!” I repeat. When she doesn’t respond the second time I reach over, grab the back of her head, and shove her face into her vomit-covered lap. The car hits a small pothole before I can get both hooves back on the wheel. I laugh at myself as the front end dips and I nearly send us pitching onto the sidewalk. Then I think, what the hell, and swerve onto the sidewalk anyway.

After plowing through two mailboxes and some poor pony’s wooden fence, I realize I have no idea where I’m going.

This idiot has no idea where she’s going.

My head throbbing, I lay spike down beside me, reach between the front seats, and turn off the radio. Rainbow growls something I don’t hear over the pounding in my skull. I tell her to shut up and listen for once in her life.

“We need to get to Junior's place!” The music is off but I still have to shout over the roaring engine. “Do you know the way?”

“I just keep straight down Platinum and hang a left on Hurricane, right?” Rainbow shouts back.

“It’s right on Hurricane!”

“Right, right, I got it,” Rainbow snorts. “Now climb down out of my ear and let me get us out of your mess.”

The pounding in my skull gets worse. I lean back in my seat and massage the scar on my forehead where my horn used to be. “My mess. Of course, Rainbow, of course it’s my mess. This doesn’t have anything to do with you picking a fight with Filthy’s thugs, or with your obsession with this stupid car.”

Rainbow adjusts the rearview, glaring at me through it. “This stupid car”—she and I duck as another burst of gunfire riddles the bumper—“this car and I have saved your life about a dozen times, you smug little know-it-all punk.”

“Name calling now, are we? How very mature of you.”

I’m looking up at the starless sky, so I don’t see Rainbow’s face, but I know it’s crimson with anger right now. Dash and I have been doing this little song and dance for months. She takes a shot at me. I take a shot at her. We’re about one disagreement away from strangling each other. She’ll crack first, though. Try something. And when she does… Oh Celestia help me, I swear I’m going to beat her blind.

“Oh yeah,” she says, snorting again. “Well it’s too bad you’re not as tough as you are sarcastic. Then maybe you wouldn’t have let those punks carve out your horn in the first place.”

You’re going to pay for that, Rainbow. I don’t say it. I think it, but don’t say it. I don’t say anything. Rainbow lets out a cocky laugh, taking my silence to mean that she’s one this round.

Well that shut her up, I think to myself, letting a cocky laugh slip past my lips. A second later, I’m slapping myself in the face and mumbling curses under my breath.

Nice one, Dash. Why not wait for her to lie down before you start kicking next time.

I glance down at the speedometer, almost afraid. “141 mph.” Holy hoarse apples, we’re pushing 141 and these jokers are still keeping pace? And unless my eyes deceive me… Yep, that’s a police blockade up ahead. All this trouble for little old Rainbow Dash and her marry band of Madmares. Seems a bit excessive, but I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge.

I’m about ten minutes away from meeting and bad end on the wrong side of the law, when I decided to do something really, really stupid.

“AJ, enough with the hundred-yard stare,” I shout, cuffing the dumb hick behind the ear. “Snap out of it already.”

She doesn’t. I cuff her again, harder this time.

“What?” she says, her voice sounding far away, like she’s waking up from a dream. “Where am Ah? Rainbow, what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later. Well,” I stop to chuckle at myself, “okay, no I won’t explain later—but right now I need you to take the wheel.”

Applejack shakes her head and blinks about a dozen times. “The wheel?”

“Yes, the wheel, AJ. Take the freaking wheel. Take it now before we all die.” I grab AJ’s hoof and place it on the steering wheel for her. Then I unbuckle my seat belt.

“Rainbow…” says Twilight. The note of panic in her voice tells me she knows what’s coming next. “Rainbow, don’t…”

I push my hat down, trying to get it nice and snug so it doesn’t fly off while I’m making an ass of myself.

“Rainbow, please…” Twilight leans forward and places a hoof on my shoulder. “Be careful.”

Keeping one hoof on the wheel, I spin around in my seat and face Twilight. We lock eyes and for a moment the egghead looks like her old self again, horn and all. “When am I ever not careful?”

The hornless unicorn lets out a small sigh. “I wish you’d slow down, Daredevil.”

“Maybe when you catch up, Egghead.”

I give the purple hoof on my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Then I’m off like a shot, laughing. Laughing at all of it. At the cops—and the tragedy bleeding to death in the back seat—and the sad little unicorn who lost her magic—and the dumb hick fumbling for the wheel—and the angst—and the loss—and big bad Fillydelphia, strutting around like she’s just the hardest damn city in Equestria. I soar up into the night, laughing out loud.

Ah don’t even realize my hoof is on the steerin’ wheel till Ah hear Rainbow laughin’ like a maniac. She shoots up out her seat like a bullet spiralin’ out a riffle. The second her hoof leaves the gas, Ah accidently nudge the wheel downward, and the car drifts. We clear two lanes of traffic before Ah accidently nudge the wheel again and send the car fishtailin’ this way and that. Twi hollers somethin’ ‘bout me being an idiot as Ah scramble into the driver’s seat and try to keep us on the road.

Without meanin’ to, Ah twist ma’ head to see where Rainbow’s gone to and find her flyin’ alongside one of them cop cars. The cop drivin’ rolls down his window and takes a shot at Rainbow. The bullet rips through her long black overcoat, but don’t hit no meat. He takes another shot just as Rainbow—grinnin’ while she does it, the lunatic—shove’s one of her front hooves in the cop’s face. His head pops back. Then she grabs hold of the wheel and gives it a sharp turn, sendin’ her, the driver and his partner slidin’ across the road and plowin’ into another cop car. Both cars flip somethin’ nasty, and Rainbow musta got her foreleg caught or somethin’, ‘cause Ah don’t see her fly away from wreckage.

From behind the wheel of this hear screamin’ metal death trap, Ah watch Rainbow waste four cops and probably herself along with them—but somehow don’t none of it seem real. Feels like Ah’m still frozen to ma’ seat. Still caught up in all that fog and surrounded by all them bright lights…

“Applejack! Eyes front! Eyes on the road!” Twi’s voice wallops me upside the head, knockin’ me back to the here and now. She sounds pissed.

Ah face front and see a bunch of cop cars parked in the middle of the road, blockin’ the next intersection. They’re parked long-ways and a whole mess of officers are crouched behind them, aimin’ their pistols and their shotguns and their riffles and their glowin’ horns in our direction. Ma stomach lurches like it wants to vomit again. Ma hooves get to shakin’ so hard Ah can hardly keep hold of the wheel. But despite bein’ scared out ma wits, starin’ down this here gang of blue suits has me crackin’ a smile. It’s a mighty ridiculous show of force to stop a couple of trouble makers out for a midnight joyride. Either these Fillydelphian fellers are all nuts, or they take their law enforcement a mite too seriously.

Twilight ain’t scared one lick. She’s kickin’ the back of ma chair, throwin’ herself a hissy fit like she’s a three year old who just dropped her ice cream. Ah ain’t seen Twilight so much as bat an eyelash at nothin’ ever since we left Ponyville and started on this crazy marehunt across Equestria. It’s like she’s too driven to be scared of anything. Too obsessed.

The police blockade gets closer. Ah’m not sure if Ah actually hear all them guns cockin' or if Ah just imagine it, but before the cops open fire Ah feel everythin' kinda slow down. The air goes electric and all the sensations—the sights and sound and smells—they all get cranked up to max. The streets lights shine brighter. The sirens wail louder. The traces of vomit still clingin’ to ma muzzle reek somethin' fierce, makin’ me sick all over again.

At first it’s all flashes. Muzzle flashes from barkin’ guns and lights from unicorn horns, like a million cameras takin’ a million pictures all at once. Then me and Twi and Spike drive smack into a wall made of hot lead and hotter light. The windshield becomes a bullet-shield, and not a very good one. Bolts of magical energy toss up chunks of road like they was confetti at a birthday party. The whole world screams, and then goes straight to hell.

Feelin’ sick to ma’ stomach, Ah cut the wheel and make the hardest left turn that ever was made by an outlaw runnin’ from the police. The car lifts up on two wheels, graceful as a ballerina, then drops back to all fours as we clear the intersection, narrowly escapin' the barrage of bullets and bolts. Rainbow's car gets shot all to hell. She'll be mighty peeved when she sees what the cops did to it.

Leavin’ the blockade in ma rear-view, Ah try to remember what Rainbow said ‘bout workin’ the stick. Ah crank the shaft. The gear shifts before Ah finish tellin’ it to, and Ah have to squint real hard against the sudden rush of air tryin’ to peel ma cheeks off ma face. The needle on the speedo-watchacallit points at the number “163,” like a colt tuggin’ at his mamma’s dress and pointin’ out his favorite candy bar. Giddy, the engine purrs. Damn thing sounds like it’s alive. Sounds like it’s havin’ fun too.

“No! No! No!” Twilight yells, beatin’ an angry hoof against the back of ma seat. “Where are you going? Junior’s place is back that way!”

“Twilight, stop and listen to yourself. We go back that way and we’ll get torn to pieces,” I say, tryin' ma darnedest to reason with her.

Twi rages for a spell. A long one. Then she shuts up and gets to ponderin’ our next move. Ma eyes are on the road—and that’s where they’re stayin’—but Ah don’t need to look to know Twi’s wearing her thinkin’ face. She’s been out of sorts in the head since she lost her horn, but Twilight ain’t stupid. Crazier than she used to be, but still a far cry from being dumb. She ain’t no daredevil like Rainbow. Twi always knows when to call it quits. When it’s time to move along to plan B.

I look over my shoulder to see how well the cops are keeping pace. Seems like we lost them for now. I guess Rainbow’s bit of stunt flying bought us some time.

Good. Okay, better move on to plan B.

“Make a right at this next light. Then find an alley or a back lot pull into and kill the engine. Make sure to find someplace dark. If we get spotted sitting still we’re dead.”

For once AJ manages to follow my directions without messing anything up. She turns right at the light, then pulls into the first alleyway she spots. It’s not as dark as I’d have liked, but it will have to do.

She twists the key and the engine, annoyed, grumbles before going silent. I take off my seatbelt and melt into the leather seats. The pain in my head swells. My skull feels swollen. Heavy. Too heavy for my neck. I must be groaning as I massage my forehead, because AJ turns around in her seat and says, “Hey, you all right, Twilight?”

“I’ll live. You?”

“The days have been kinder… Is Spike still with us?”

I stroke the little bundle of blood and scales, shaking my head and wondering how I let things get this bad. “He’s unconscious, but yeah, still with us.”

“So now what?”

“Now we sit quietly and wait for police to get bored of looking for us.”

“What about Rainbow?”

“What about Rainbow?” I answer, a little too quickly. “She knew the risks. We all did; Spike too.”

AJ huffs and turns away from me. She mutters something under her breath. I don’t hear what she says, but I know it’s about me, and I know it’s nothing nice.

We sit quietly until the silence grows thick and uncomfortable. “Get it off your chest,” I say. AJ doesn’t respond. “Go ahead and say it. You’ve been thinking it all night. I know you have, so just go ahead and say it.” Still nothing from AJ. She slouches so that the top of her head vanishes behind the headrest. I wait for her to drop the cold shoulder routine and confront me. I end up waiting a long time. AJ’s always been a stubborn ass, and life on the run has only made her worse.

When it sinks in that she’s not going to talk, I decide to do all the talking myself. “You’re thinking I don’t care about them. You’re sitting there thinking I don’t care about two of my best friends—and it’s pissing me off, Applejack!” My outburst surprises both of us. “You think I’m just going to let them die, don’t do?”

Finally, she turns around and faces me. “Ah didn’t say that, Twilight.”

“You didn’t say it, because you don’t have to. It’s all over your face. It’s in your eyes.” I sit forward and look AJ square in the eye. Those damn eyes. Those damn judgmental eyes. “Well I won’t let them die. I won’t let anypony die, because unlike you, or Rainbow, or the heap of bleeding useless there, sleeping off a stab wound—I have a plan. I’m a step ahead. That’s what I do, AJ; I stay ahead of mouth-breathers like you and your marefriend with the hero complex.”

“Now wait just one minute—”

“No, Applejack! No, I won’t wait one minute!” AJ stays her tongue. Holds her flat expression. “I’ve been waiting for you to pull your head out your ass and get on the ball for half a year now. So no, I won’t wait. I’m through waiting. I’m through with you.” I wait for her to respond. To get angry. Say something back. Something nasty. But she doesn’t say anything. She just keeps staring at me with that flat gaze, like she’s trying to peel away my skin with her eyes. “I’m sick of you always making a mess of everything I plan. Every time a take step forward, you and Rainbow drag me two steps back. You’re stupid and not committed and useless—and if you don’t stop staring at me like that, I’m going to cut those fucking eyes out of your fucking head!”

Furious, I lunge forward and grab AJ by the collar of her trench coat. She does the same and yanks me foreword. She’s so strong she almost lifts me out of my seat.

So strong. Too strong. Too strong and she’s touching me. She’s touching me, touching me, touching me…

A freighted shriek assaults my ears. My skin crawls. Every pour beneath my fur cringes and screams in unison. “Don’t let her touch you!” they shout, a fearful chorus of thousands, their voices ringing out like the cries of the doomed. The damned. “She’s too strong, don’t let her touch you!”

It takes me awhile to realize the shriek is coming from my own mouth. AJ gives me a fierce shake. Then she pulls my face close hers. Our noses almost touch. Our mouths. So close. Too close…

Too close, too strong, touching. Too close, too strong, touching.

I lose focus. AJ’s face starts blurring, transforming into fuzzy orange felt. Her eyes dull and take on a glassy look. I start feeling sick. Then she shakes me again, and her features pull themselves back together all at once.

“Now Ah understand you being upset, Twi, really Ah do.”

Touching me. Too close. Too strong.

“But ya need to calm down before ya do or say somethin’ ya regret.”

Touching… Me…

“Don’t touch me!” As soon as the words fly from my mouth, I shut my eyes and trust my head forward. The top of my brow slams into AJ’s muzzle, popping her head back.

“You little…” AJ growls, more surprised than hurt. We wrestle awkwardly between the seats until eventually AJ scrambles in the back with me. She easily out muscles me and pins my face against the car door. “Ah’m sick of your attitude, Twi. Ah’m sick of the way you been treatin’ and talkin’ to me.”

“How should I talk to you, AJ?” I hear myself say. I can’t think straight. Too many sensations. Too much pushing and bucking and grinding and touching and touching and touching.

I can’t think straight. My eyes tear up and the words come automatically. They come spitefully, and without my permission. “How should I treat you? Should I thank you for doing such a good job of looking out for Spike? Oh, wait, no, that’s right—you were too busy pissing yourself like a little filly to be of any use.” I paw at AJ’s face but it’s no good. She’s too strong. So much stronger than me.

“Ah froze up for one second. For one second, Twilight. You gonna lynch me over one second?”

“You hesitated. You stood there and watched some lowlife take a knife to my best friend.”

“Yeah, and then Ah pulled that lowlife off Spike and put his face through a wall. Ah also kept you from gettin’ maimed by that diamond dog he set loose on you, or did you forget ‘bout that part,” she says. “Look Ah know Ah messed up back there. Ah admit it, so just shut up.”

When I don’t shut up, AJ’s temper flares. She pulls my face away from the door, then slams my forehead right on the handle. She does it a second time. A third. Then she hits me with a heavy front hoof, tears streaking down her face while blood streaks down mine.

“Oh now you wanna fight?” I taunt, twisting in her grip and creating just enough space to jab her in the throat. She coughs, staggers but recovers quickly and shoves my head down into the seat. “Where was all this fight when you and Rainbow were getting stomped by Filthy’s thugs, huh?” I squirm underneath her, trying to right myself, but she straddles me, easily pinning me again. One of her hooves is hot against my cheek. The other is driving down into my neck, not hard enough to suffocate me, but hard enough to be uncomfortable.

“That ain’t fair, Twilight. Ah been fightin’ your battles for you this whole time, while you do nothin’ but boss me around and complain. Well Ah’ve had just about all Ah can stand.” Her hoof comes down like a mallet. My teeth rattle as she belts me across the jaw. “Ah ain’t your personal billy club. And  Ah ain’t gonna hurt no more ponies for you, Twi. Not if ya keep treatin’ me like Ah’m your attack dog.” She hits me again. Again.

“You don’t get to judge me,” I hiss, pushing the words through my teeth as I struggle to buck AJ off me. “Not after what happened tonight. Not after you and Rainbow ruined another of my plans. I was close this time. Close to following up on a real lead. A real chance to find those bastards.”

“You was close to cuttin’ a deal with them thugs. With crooks and rapist and murders, Twi.” She pins my hooves beside my ears and scoots her hips from my stomach to my chest. “Scum, Twi. Scum. Is that really how you want to do this? Is this really the road you want to go down?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“You’re obsessed. We should’ve taken this to the guard. We should’ve told your brother or the princess. Either of them could’a straightened this mess out by now.”

“NO!” I shout, fighting even harder to free myself now. “They can’t get involved. I have to do it. I have to it with my own hooves.”

My words stun Applejack. She eases off me a bit. Her eyes water. “Do what, Twi?” Her voice comes out scared and confused.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know where this is going. Don’t do that, AJ—not after everything that’s happened. You’re not innocent. You don’t get to be innocent, and you don’t get to judge me.” I swallow a lump in my throat and keep talking. Keep going. I want to hurt her. I want to her hold down and kick her until she pukes, but I’m too weak for that. I’m too weak to inflict any bodily harm, so I keep talking. AJ hit me. Touched me. I want to hurt her. I want revenge, and I take it the only way I can.

“This isn’t just about me. This is about us—and it’s about you too. What you did. What you didn’t do.”

“Stop it!” Applejack wails. She raises her hoof, threatening to hammer me again.

“Where were you, Applejack?” The question cuts her like a knife. It stabs her. I've asked her that same question a dozen times, but the words never lose their edge. They never dull. They never will. “Where were you when I needed you?”

“Please…just stop it.” The raised hoof looms, like judges gavel waiting to drop. Waiting to cast judgment and hand down my sentence.

“When those psychopaths came for me in our own hometown. Not out in Las Pegasus or Vanhoover or here in Fillydelphia. When they came to your home and put their hooves on your friend… Where wear you then?”

“That ain’t fair, Twilight. Ah apologized for that. You know how sorry Ah am…” She turns away from me, trying to hide the tears wetting her eyes.

“Where were you when I shouted and begged? When they cut me and had their way with me?”

Applejack sniffs. Wipes her face.

“I want to hear you say it,” I press.

“Ah…” she starts.

I reach up and grab her, yanking her down her jacket collar. “Look me in the eye when you say it.”

“Ah—Ah wasn’t…”

“Say it, Applejack. Where were you when they took my horn?”

She lets out a deep, defeated sigh “Ah wasn’t there.”

“That’s right, you weren’t there. You weren’t there for Spike today, and you weren’t there for me. If I’ve changed, then so have you, Applejack. So don’t act innocent.” I let go of her collar, shoving her away in disgust. “You do that again, and I will hurt you.”

The both of us sit in silence for a long time.

“Get the hell off me,” I say.

Applejack climbs back into the driver’s seat. I sit up straight and wipe my bleeding muzzle.

It’s quiet for a while longer.

“Ah’m real sorry about all this, Twi,” Applejack says earnestly. “Ah should’ve been there. Ah… Ah'm sorry…”

I lean my head back and stare up the starless sky, half-expecting the cops to show up and mow me down in hail of gunfire.

“Save it for Spike when he wakes up. Maybe he’ll give a shit.”