My Little Pony: Friendship is Mythic

Chapters

Chapter 0: Sight for Sore Eyes
Chapter 1.1: Mythic Pinkie Pie
Chapter 1.2: Mythic Rainbow Dash
Chapter 1.3: Mythic Applejack

Chapter 0: Sight for Sore Eyes

It was five o'clock somewhere.

The alcoholic's anthem. What those in denial say to make themselves feel better about
what they do.

Fortunately, for every alcoholic in this bar right now, it was ten o'clock at night.

And what a cold night it was. Frigid temperatures. The moon could barely peek its head
through the thick clouds, which were being blown like black cotton candy by the steely
wind. The wind cut through pony and cloud alike with the precision of a razor blade.
Ponies shivered and pulled their coats closer to themselves in a vain attempt to make
their journeys less miserable.

The clouds had no such protection, so they expressed their lamentations through their
tears, and what cold and bitter tears they were. They rained down on the innocent
victims below, soaking those who did not have cover. It came down in frigid sheets. A
thick haze rose up a few inches into the air, as the cobblestones tried their best to reject
the rain.

And thus it was in the little town of Ponyville.

Ponies rushed from shelter to shelter, trying to get home or to get out of their homes
and into locales that were less oppressive.

Like this bar.

The Wet Whistle.

It was a new bar, once upon a time, a long time ago, but the trudge of time had aged it.
It had aged the bar's owner with it. New ponies came and went. People moved in and
out of town, but Joe had stuck around. This place was his livelihood, and he had never
regretted opening it.

Age had warped the wood of the tables and rusted the hinges on the door. All his mugs
were scratched and some were chipped. Years of use had worn grooves in the bar
from sliding glasses across its surface. More than a few customers had sat down on a
splinter sticking up out of an old chair. Most all of the tables wobbled at least a little bit,
and every time that his old jukebox took a bit and played a song, Joe was amazed to
see that it still worked.

The Wet Whistle was an old joint, but it had a certain rustic charm. The walls were
creaky, and the ceiling liked to leak in some spots when it rained hard enough, but
some old dogs refused to die. Ponies still came here, and Joe still served them.

A lot of the patrons now were newcomers or people who had been coming here only a
few years.

Most of the older folks had moved on with their lives or their lives had moved on from
them. Some, however, still stuck around, refusing to move on to other things. Or maybe
they were just loyal to Joe and his bar. He didn't know. He didn't ask. He just poured
them drinks.

And one of those old patrons was sitting at his bar right now, smoking a fat cigar.

Joe finished drying a glass and walked over to her, adjusting the strings on his apron.

"You know, Rarity," he said, in this working-man's Canterlot accent, "Those things
stink."

Rarity looked up from her mug, slowly, and just stared at him, blankly. The light
and twinkle in her eyes had burned out a long time ago. Gone was the vitality and
youthfulness that had resided in them when she was younger.

Sometimes, though, it came back if she tried hard enough.

Regardless, she had been quite the beauty when she was younger, and she still looked
good for an older mare. Finding her manners, her eyes lit up, and she said in her fake
accent, "Joe, darling. You have asked me the same question nearly every night for
almost thirty years now." She fluttered her eyelashes at him, saying, "And what, darling,
have I said every time you asked?"

Joe laughed and rolled his eyes, repeating the familiar line, "'They smell bad, but they
taste great.'"

The white unicorn gave a small smirk and said, "Yes, my dear. Precisely. So why is it,
then, that you deign to ask me?"

The earth pony laughed and said, "I don't know. Maybe because it's true that they stink.
It's been true every night for thirty years."

Rarity just gave a polite laugh, herself, and said, "Oh well. I regret to inform you, good
sir, that I have absolutely no intentions of quitting my dreadful habit anytime soon!"

Joe turned around and walked back over to the dishes, laughing the whole while and
saying, "I know. I know. Just ribbin' ya'."

Rarity knocked back the rest of her glass and said, "So, then, while you are 'ribbing' me,
why don't you find your way back over to that liquor cabinet of yours and make me a
soda and rye?"

The barkeep grabbed a fresh mug and poured some soda water into it, mixing in some
rye whiskey after he was done. He clanked the glass on the counter and slid it over to
her, saying, "Rye, eh? Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Rarity caught it and rolled her cigar in her mouth, saying, "I don't know." Her eyes began
to dim again, and her voice dragged. She said, "This and that. I'm just reminiscing, I
guess."

Joe simply said, "You do that, and when you need another rye, just let me know. I ain't
goin' anywhere."

Rarity nodded, going back to staring into her glass. Her eyes went back to their natural
state, which was akin to that of the glass.

Then the bell over the door jingled as someone walked in, and Joe looked up to see
who it was. He went to give his same old greeting that he'd been giving for thirty years,
but his jaw dropped, instead.

He just couldn't say it.

The only thing he could say, in his deep accent, was, "Twilight Sparkle?!"

Rarity's head immediately snapped up, and she saw her: Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight took a step forward, letting the door of the Wet Whistle close behind her,
trapping the cold wind and rain outside. She was wearing a thick coat and a scarf, both
purple, and she looked about the old bar with the longing of nostalgia in her eyes.

She looked to the old crooked coat rack and put her belongings around it. The bent rack
of wood wobbled a bit, and she had to balance her coat and scarf on it to make sure it
didn't fall over. She laughed softly at it and scanned the room.

The first place her eyes went to was Rarity, still sitting at the same place that she had
been sitting when Twilight saw her last, about twenty years ago.

The two ponies locked gazes. Twilight's eyes were still cheery and bright, unburdened
and happy. Rarity's were less so, and the contrast was very stark. Twilight's coat was
still purple, although a dimmer shade thereof, while Rarity's, like her eyes, had a gray
tinge to it.

Twilight sighed happily and walked forward, going towards the seat next to Rarity's.

She said, "Rarity. It's been a while."

Rarity snuffed the stub of her cigar out into an ashtray and pulled out another one.
Clipping the end off of it with a cutter, she put it into her mouth and lit a match, not
saying anything. The match jumped to life and the brief smell of sulfur filled the air. She
held it to her stogie and puffed on it a couple times. Satisfied that she had gotten a good
light, she shook the match out and tossed it into the ashtray with the others.

She swiveled in her stool towards the purple unicorn, who never stopped walking, even
though she did it a bit slower than she had twenty years ago.

Rarity just shrugged and said, her accent completely gone, "Hey, sight for sore eyes. It's
a long time no see."

Twilight slowly plopped down in her old seat, which was two to the left of Rarity's. She
could feel her bones creak, but it was better than normal.

Twilight replied, with some trepidation, "Yeah. It has been, hasn't it? How's work?"

Rarity took a long draft from her glass and put it back down on the bar, saying, "Working
hard. Hardly working. You know me."

Try though she may, Twilight just couldn't make small talk right now. She felt guilty; it
had to come off of her chest. She reached a hoof out and put it on Rarity's shoulder,
saying, "Hey, Rarity. I just wanted to say..."

Rarity's eyes turned to look at her, and she said, coldly, "Say what?"

Twilight winced a little and took her hoof off of her, saying, "That I'm just sorry about-"

Rarity just shrugged and went back to staring in her glass, saying, "Water under the
bridge. I'm not worried about it."

Twilight stared at her. Twenty years of guilt had been sitting in her stomach, festering
and rotting like a sore, and it was just now beginning to ease.

The purple unicorn smiled and laughed nervously, saying, "Really? You aren't?"

Rarity shook her head and patted Twilight on the shoulder, saying, "Nah. Just forget it.
That was a long time ago."

Twilight smiled, more widely than she had in years, saying, "Wow. Thanks! For real?
You really are generous."

Rarity laughed, for the first time in a long time. Being around Twilight reminded her of
who she had been, a long time ago. It certainly had been a long time since anyone
called her generous. Thinking back briefly to older times, some of her youthfulness
returned, and the glimmer in her eyes returned with it. She said, "Not really, my dear. I
am just not so completely unpleasant all the time."

The old fashionista quickly changed the subject, saying, "Hey. Have you seen my new
shop? I dare say that it is bought, fully paid for. It is sitting right across the street from
the bar."

Twilight said, "Oh. I hadn't noticed. I wish I had been able to see it through the rain,
outside."

Rarity nodded and said, "Yes. I'll have to give you the tour, some time." The white
unicorn craned her neck toward the barkeep and said, brusquely, manners temporarily
forgotten, "Hey, Joe! What's keeping you? Pour her a drink."

Joe hadn't been able to take his eyes off of Twilight ever since she walked in. It wasn't
every day that one of the old gang wandered into this place. He trotted happily over to
them and said, "Sure, Rares. What can I get you, Twilight?"

Twilight smiled. Her heart was warmed. This really was just like old times, although a
little less...toxic. Time sometimes sweetened old memories and made them seem a little
better than they were, but Twilight could never forget some of things that had happened
to her in this town.

She said, "I'll have what Rarity has."

Joe said, "A rye and soda?"

Twilight looked disgusted and stuck out her tongue, saying, "What? Ew. Gross. Rarity.
You always drink the grossest stuff."

Rarity just rolled her cigar in her mouth and smiled, saying nothing.

Joe laughed, heartily, for the first time in a long time, and she said, "Fine. You always
liked cosmos, right? With a little sugar and gin in them? How about one of those?"

Twilight leaned back and smiled happily. He still remembered her favorite drink after
twenty years. She said, "Yeah. I'll have one of those."

Joe turned away and went to work on the drink.

Rarity just smoked her cigar and sipped on her rye and soda.

After a minute or two of silence, Twilight said, somewhat hesitantly, "So Rarity...how's
the old gang?"

Rarity looked at her for a second, then went back to reminiscing to her drink. Her
demeanor fell, again. She said, "Well, you know, the old gang ain't around anymore.
They've all left town, except Mac and Applejack. They're still running the farm."

Twilight's heart dropped a little bit. She just looked down and said, "Ah. I see. The other
girls are all gone, then?"

The white unicorn sat in silence for some seconds, then she said, "Well, I guess you
heard about Dash."

Twilight frowned.

Rarity continued, saying, "She was killed in a crash."

Twilight's frowned deepened, and her brow wrinkled.

Rarity said, "She spun out, and she rolled. Hit a telephone pole."

Twilight stood up out of her seat. Hints of tear drops came to her eyes, and she
said, "What?"

Rarity nodded, saying, "Yeah. I guess it's been two or three years ago, now. She died
with Pinkie on her mind. She still had that damned locket on."

Twilight plopped back down into her seat, sad beyond words. Her heart became heavy
again, and it took the empty spot in her gut that the guilt had left. She said, "And what
about...you know," trailing off at the end.

Rarity didn't look up this time. If anything, she wanted to dive even further into her mug.
She met it halfway and drained the rest of it, slamming the glass down on the bar,
calling out for another drink.

Then she went back to staring at the bar.

The ceiling lights buzzed.

Cigarette smoke rose up into the air.

And there was silence between the two of them. Rarity just did not speak.

Twilight's ears flattened, and she frowned. She said, "Fluttershy-"

"Yeah," answered Rarity immediately.

Twilight's frown deepened, and she said, "How did she-"

Rarity snapped again, looking angrily at her this time, saying, "How do you think?"

Twilight avoided Rarity's medusa stare and looked back down at the bar, saying, "Ah. I
see. So she never-"

"Nope," said Rarity, bitterly, "Some beasts just can't be conquered, I guess."

And so Twilight dropped it. She didn't want to think about it, anymore.

That's when Joe came back, at the most convenient time possible, and he put a cocktail
glass full of a pink drink gently in front of Twilight, saying, "Hey, Twi. Be careful with
those. I don't have many left."

And then Twilight picked it up, looking at the barkeep and smiling weakly,
saying, "Thanks, Joe. I appreciate it."

He shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it! You just let me know if there's
anything else I can get you!"

Then he smirked and nodded and went back to his other work.

Twilight Sparkle took a sip from the pink concoction and smiled. He had gotten it just
right. No matter how many bars she went to, no one could seem to get it perfect like he
could. It was delicious.

And so the two just sat there, in silence. Rarity puffed on her cigar, and Twilight just
sipped on her drink. The drink reminded her of a certain someone else, but she was
scared to ask about her.

Swallowing her fear, she just said it, "So...what about Pinkie Pie."

Rarity said, abruptly, "She's married. Has a kid."

Twilight smiled, again. Finally, a happy ending. She said, "Really? And she moved out
of the Cakes' place?"

Rarity nodded.

Twilight said, "Where to?"

Rarity shrugged and said, "I don't know. Fillydelphia or something. We don't really write
anymore. I guess she's too busy."

Twilight said, "Great. That's good to hear. I'm happy for her."

Joe delivered a new rye and whiskey to Rarity and nodded, leaving.

Rarity lifted it up to the light and looked at it. Then, she swiveled in her seat towards
Twilight, holding the glass up. She said, trying to lift her spirits again, "Do you know,
Twilight Sparkle? Do you know what I think?"

Twilight shook her head.

Rarity said, "I say that we toast to the old gang, to AJ and Pinkie and Dash and
Fluttershy."

A genuine tear came to Twilight's eye, and she took her cocktail and held it up.

Then Rarity said, "And to you."

The tear ran down down Twilight's cheek, and she said, "Hear hear. A toast to the old
days, and to everyone else, too."

And then their glasses clanked together, and both ponies took long swallows of their
drinks, before bringing the glasses down on the bar, again.

And there was quiet, again. Neither said anything, out of reverent silence for their old
friends. For their old days. For the old times, in older places. They both just said there,
at that old bar, in that old building, and they stared into their old glasses, thinking and
remembering.

Chapter 1.1: Mythic Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie was trying her best not to cry.

After all, she had to look at the bright sides of things.

Right now, she was in the Cakes' kitchen. They were away on business, and she was doing her favorite thing: baking cupcakes.

She loved baking cupcakes. She loved getting the ingredients and mixing them and making the batter. She loved the bowls and spoons and sights. She loved the sound of the blender. The smell of the oven lighting. She loved the whole process.

She just loved baking. Cookies. Cakes. Any sugary baked good imaginable.

But it just didn't lift her spirits today.

Pinkie stood in the Cakes' kitchen, staring at a bowl full of batter that she was mixing. It looked like it was going to be a great batch, thick and creamy, but she couldn't think about that.

Rarity was in the kitchen, too. She was helping. One of her best friends was helping her make one of her favorite things, but she just couldn't be happy.

A tear welled up in her eye.

She could smell Rarity's cigar. The Cakes didn't allow smoking anywhere in Sugar Cube Corner, especially not the kitchen. Normally, Pinkie would gather up the courage and just tell her that she couldn't do that, but today she couldn't bring herself to care. It was hard to care about anything today.

Including baking cupcakes.

The tear fell into the batter.

And then another.

The smell of cigar smoke filled her nostrils.

The kitchen was deadly quiet, except for the sound of Rarity's spoon going around her bow, and then like a neglected baby, Pinkie Pie broke the silence.

She turned to face her friend, and she cried, "Why does she do this?"

Rarity stopped what she was doing and just looked at Pinkie Pie. She blinked.

She said, "Why does who do what, darling?"

Pinkie just stood there, looking at Rarity. Rarity always had the cleanest white coat and the most beautiful purple mane. Bright blue eyes. She was always the prettiest pony when they all went out, and Pinkie was jealous.

She closed her eyes and sniffled, saying, "Rainbow Dash."

Rarity simply said, nonchalantly, without emotion (without genuine care), "Oh. Her."

Pinkie Pie went back to staring at her bowl of batter. She wiped her nose and wondered if she should just throw out the batch.

Rarity shrugged and went back to stirring and said, "I simply do not know why she is such an, pardon my language, asshole."

Pinkie just look at her batter and let the spoon slide into it. She just didn't care about it. She said, "I...I wish she wouldn't..."

Rarity took a big puff and let the smoke flow out into the air. It drifted lazily through the air, settling into the ceiling as it slowly vanished. She said, "Then why don't you just ask her, sweetie?"

The pink pony squealed unhappily, and she screamed, "No! I can't do that!"

Rarity winced at the noise. Putting down her wooden spoon, she rubbed her ear. She said, "And why not?"

Pinkie spun around on her hoof and faced her friend, a look of absolute horror on her face. She squealed, "I don't want her to know that I know!"

Rarity winced again, her eyebrows crossing. She rubbed her ear again, and said firmly with all pretenses of politeness and regality dropped, "Stop doing that. Stop screaming."

Pinkie gulped and cowered, a little. The last thing she was wanted to do was piss off her friend. She couldn't handle it if Rarity left right now. She needed someone, anyone. Her ears drooped and her tail fell, and she said, quietly, "I'm sorry."

The white unicorn said, "It's okay, although I don't understand why you can't just confront Rainbow Dash. If what you're saying is true, she's...mistreating you."

Pinkie just stood there, looking at the ground.

Rarity rolled her eyes and walked toward her friend. She put an arm around her shoulders and said, "Look. I simply cannot fathom what it is that you want me to say, darling. Rainbow Dash is...well...a dick, and you don't want to do anything about it."

Pinkie sniffled and looked up at her. Her eyes were weak and watery, and she said, "I just...I don't want Rainbow Dash to leave me."

Suddenly grabbing Rarity by the shoulder and shaking her, Pinkie said, vigorously, "And she might leave me if I harass her and make her hate me! I'm not pretty like you!"

Rarity just frowned, trying to ignore the shaking. This was annoying.

She gingerly grabbed Pinkie's hooves and nudged them off of her. Then she took Pinkie by her cheeks and made her look into her eyes, and she said, "Listen. Pinkie. Rainbow Dash isn't going to leave you. If you think she's cheating, though, you need to say something, or leave her, or anythin-"

There was a loud scream, loud enough to make Rarity shut her eyes and flatten her ears and grimace. Her cigar nearly fell out of her mouth. The ash on the end of it fell to the ground. She reeled from the horrible noise.

Pinkie yelled, "No! I can't do that! I can't leave her! Then I won't have ANYPONY! Don't you understand?! I won't have ANYPONY AT ALL!"

She was huffing deeply when she was done, and her eyes were wide and wild in panic. Her heart was pumping, and she could feel it. Her hair was frazzled, and she could tell that she was about to break down.

Rarity was still cringing, and when Pinkie was done, she slowly opened one eye. Then the other, and her ears snapped back to attention. Then her pearly blues narrowed, and she frowned deeply. Very deeply. This was past the point of irritating, now. She had work to do, and she had generously taken time out of here day to come try and help this wreck, because this wreck had said that she needed help.

"Pinkie Pie," asked Rarity, gently and sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Yes, Rarity," responded Pinkie Pie, timidly and quietly. Part of her was afraid.

The scream that came afterward was unexpected and probably unwarranted, but the white unicorn didn't care. Rarity bellowed, like an angry masticore, "STOP SCREAMING! STOP! JUST STOP!"

The scream filled the entirety of Sugar Cube Corner. It filled all of the empty spaces and all of the rooms. It filled the kitchen and all the pots, pan, bowls, and ovens. It even filled some of the empty space outside.

Pinkie stumbled backward, throwing her arms up over her face, and tripped over herself, trying to get away. The playful pink pony fell unceremoniously to the ground, falling before her friend. When she hit the ground, the ground hit her head, and she cried and grabbed it.

Laying there, feeling like what little she had was being taken from her, with a knot forming on her head, and one of her only friends screaming at her, Pinkie Pie began to cry.

It started off as a sniffle and tear, and then the floodgates opened. The sniffle turned into a wail, and the trickle of tears turned into a river. She just laid there on the ground, bawling at the top of her lungs and trying to curl up into as small of a ball as she could manage.

Maybe if she curled up into a little enough of a ball, she would disappear entirely, and the whole world wouldn't abuse her anymore. She could just go away, and no one would miss her. She wouldn't bother anyone, anymore.

Amidst the hideous racket, Rarity just rolled her eyes and sighed. Turning away, she tried her best to ignore the noise and fished out a match. Striking it on the counter, it sparked. The smell of sulfur filled the air.

She loved that smell. It always made her happy. It reminded her of good places, of her calm center. It reminded her of what was really important in her life. Bringing the match to her cigar, it relit. She gave it a few good puffs and shook the match out, throwing it on the ground.

Rarity closed her eyes, trying to drown out Pinkie's wailing. She just took a few deep puffs, attempting to really taste and enjoy the tobacco. The nicotine washed over her, massaging her temples like an old friend, easing the stress out of her mind. She felt the muscles relax in her face. She felt it relax the muscles in her body. The smoke filled her mouth and permeated it. She could taste it, and it was delicious. It was the most wonderful taste in the world. It wafted in there, for a few moments, and then she exhaled it slowly and deliberately over a few seconds.

Opening her eyes, she could see the cloud drift lazily in the air, dispersing. It was calm and relaxed, and so she tried to be the same.

Rarity looked down at the crying Pinkie Pie, who was drowning in her own tears at this point. She simply started to say, "Pinkie. I-"

Pinkie let out a pitiful moan and crawled, latching onto Rarity's leg like a clam, bawling.

She looked up at Rarity. Her eyes looked to be made entirely of water, and her lip was akin to the teeth of a typewriter. She cried, piteously, "Rarity! I'm so sorry! Please don't hate me!"

Rarity rolled her eyes and said, calmly, "Pinkie, I don't-"

"I didn't mean to make you mad," screamed the pink pony, and she clung harder to her friend's leg. "Please don't leave me here. I didn't mean to make you mad! I promise! I'll never scream at you ever again! Neverneverneverneverneverneveragain! Ijustdon'twantyoutoleave! I'msoscaredtobealone!"

Rarity could only sigh in defeat and roll her head. She rubbed her hair with her hooves and said, "Pinkie. Let me talk. I don't hate you."

Pinkie looked up at her, still crying, and she said, "Are you sure? I didn't mean to yell-"

Rarity put a hoof on Pinkie's head and tussled her hair, saying, "Yeah. I'm sure. I didn't mean to yell, either. I just got irritated-"

And that broke the dam again. Pinkie spluttered out a response, speaking almost incoherently, "Ididn'tmeantoirritateyouRarity! I'llneverirritateyoueveragain! You'reoneofmyclosestfriendsandI-"

Rarity shushed her a few times, trying to calm the pink pony. She said, "No no no. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I wasn't really irritated. I just didn't know how to handle-"

And Pinkie began crying again. Rarity huffed and put her head in a hoof, sighing heavily. Dear fucking Luna, what in the hell was she supposed to do here?

Pinkie lifted her head to talk again, and Rarity plunged a hoof into her mouth, plugging it up like a drain. She said, "Don't! Don't. Just don't. It's okay. I'm still your friend, Pinkie Pie." She checked to see if Pinkie was going to cry again, then said, "That won't change. I promise. I just don't know how to take care of you. I WANT to take care of you. I just don't know how."

Pinkie looked pitiful and tried to mumble something, but it couldn't be heard behind Rarity's hoof. Rarity just said, "Now, when I take my hoof out of your mouth, will you be calm?"

Pinkie nodded her head, vigorously.

Rarity asked, "You won't scream?"

Pinkie shook her head.

Rarity smiled as genuinely as she could manage and said, "Good. I want to take care of you. Just let me know how."

With that, she removed her hoof from Pinkie's mouth with a pop, wiping it off on her side.

To Pinkie's credit, she had stopped crying, and she was calm. She did not scream. A thought popped up into her head.

Was Rarity really wanting to take care of her?

She said, still sniffling a little, "Do you mean it, Rarity?"

Rarity just smiled and said, "Sure." Maybe she did mean it. Maybe this one time.

Pinkie still sat down on the ground, looking up at the white unicorn. She liked this; it made her feel small. Feeling small was all she wanted to feel, at times like this. Ponies like small things. They felt bad for them, and they tried to take care of them. Pinkie wanted ponies to take care of her.

All she managed to say, after a few moments of silence, was, "Why?"

Rarity looked at her quizzically. Why? What kind of question was that? Although, Rarity couldn't really think of a good reason. She didn't really give a shit about anypony besides herself. It had been that way for years. She didn't even really give a shit about her sister.

So, maybe it was a good question. Why Pinkie?

Rarity just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know. Why not? You're my friend, right?" Oh that, Rarity was certain. She didn't have many friends.

Pinkie nodded.

Rarity sat down on the floor next to her, trying not to blow smoke in her face. She looked Pinkie in the eye and said, "Listen, Pinkie, do friends not take care of friends?" Honestly, she was just blowing it out her ass, now. None of her friends had ever taken care of her.

Pinkie just nodded, again.

Rarity put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, saying, "You know, if you ever need anything or if you just want to talk, you can always call me. I'll try to help you." Except, of course, when she was busy...or it was late at night...or when she was cranky or smoking or at a bar or working or doing most anything. Rarity kept that to herself.

Pinkie sniffled again and smiled, very weakly.

Rarity stood up, smiling down at the pink pony. Maybe this would end well.

She rubbed her nose and said, "Thanks, Rarity."

The white unicorn just smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, Pinkie Pie. Now what do you want to do? I'm all yours."

Pinkie stood up, slowly, and she said, "Can we finish making cupcakes, then?"

Rarity just nodded and smiled fakely, saying, "All right."

Pinkie said nothing about the cigar being smoked. She just smiled widely and bounced happily over to Rarity's batch of batter, humming a song. Rarity followed behind.

The pink pony hummed a happy tune and began to vigorously stir the bowl. Her mind began to buzz, and she wondered.

Was somepony going to take care of me?

The thought made her ecstatic. Her head began to soar in the clouds! Dashie never said anything like that to her. All Dashie ever did was talk about sports and want to fool around when they were together.

Rarity watched her, feeling like she had finally done something good. The pink pony bounced and danced to her tune, happily stirring the bowl. Rarity just leaned against the counter and watched, smoking her cigar.

Then she realized something and looked over at Pinkie's bowl and said, "Hey. What about your batch? Why are you stirring mine?"

Pinkie stopped and looked at her, blushing. She said, "Oh. No reason. It's just not a good batch, anymore. I'm sorry."

Rarity just looked at her and shrugged, saying, "Oh well. I don't care."

I don't care. That was something she said a lot. But not today, maybe.

And so Rarity just watched as Pinkie Pie mixed the batter and added the other ingredients and put it all in a tray. It was a process she had done a million times. When the tray was in the oven, Pinkie set the timer. Spinning around to see Rarity, she crossed her arms and said, "So...Rarity."

The white unicorn let out a puff and said, trying to regain her Victorian composure, "What, darling?"

"What do you want to do, next," said Pinkie, fluttering her eyelashes.

Rarity just shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the counter again, saying, "I really do not know, darling. Equestria is our oyster. Anything, I suppose. Why?"

Pinkie said, slowly, "Aaaaaaaaaanything?"

Rarity's eyes flitted from side to side, and she said, cautiously, "Yes?"

Pinkie suddenly exploded, jumping up and down. It surprised a smoke-filled cough out of Rarity, who took a step back, taken completely unawares by her friend's sudden diarrheic display of energy.

Pinkie jumped up and down, as fast she could. Faster than normal, and she said, excitedly, "Toystoretoystoretoystoretoystoretoystoretoystoretoystoretoy-"

And Rarity's hoof immediately found itself directly inside of Pinkie Pie's mouth, again. Pinkie rambled on for a few more seconds, despite the obstacle preventing the words from fully leaving her flapping gums.

Rarity sighed again, letting out a big puff of smoke that wafted around Pinkie's head. The pink pony didn't mind, though. Nothing could bother her right now.

Rarity said, with a questionable face, "Pinkie Pie. Slow down. Did you say 'toy store'?"

The prancing pink pony nodded her head very violently, shaking Rarity's arm.

Rarity said, "Aren't you a little too old for toys?"

Pinkie shook her head vigorously, her eyes pleading childishly. She tried to say something, only to have it come out as an excited mumble.

Rarity pulled her hoof out Pinkie's mouth again, and the words tumbled out, "No, silly Rarity! You're NEVER too old for toys!"

No sense fighting it. The white unicorn just shrugged her shoulders and waved her hoof, saying, "Fine. To the toy store it is, then. Whatever makes you happy."

Whatever makes you happy. Pinkie's heart swelled at the words. Nobody had ever been so nice to her, before! Rarity was such a nice pony! She was such a good friend!

She began to bounce up and down, saying, "C'mon, then! Let's go right now!"

Rarity's eyes narrowed, and she looked at the oven. She said, "Don't you think we should wait-"

And the pink pony immediately ran over and turned the oven off, pulling out the pan of cupcakes at superpony speed. Then she turned to Rarity and said, "No! Let's go now! We can finish them when we get back!"

Rarity smirked and said, "You really want a toy, huh?"

Pinkie Pie jumped up and down, faster than normal, saying, "Uhhuh" over and over again as quickly as her pink pony lungs would allow her to.

Rarity turned to leave the kitchen, taking off her apron and tossing it onto the counter, saying, "Well, then. Let's go."

Then she left, Pinkie Pie hopping after her. They left the kitchen and walked out of Sugar Cube Corner, making sure that Pinkie locked the door behind them.

And so they were off, walking down the streets of Ponyville. Being in the middle of the day, there wasn't too much hustle and bustle, and the weather was very pleasant. The sun was warm and bright, and the weather control had not scheduled for there to be any clouds that day.

So with the suns on their faces and warm cobblestones beneath their hooves, the odd pair made their way to the toy store, Prancing Pony Toys.

As soon as it got within sight, Pinkie began hopping even more quickly than before, and she overtook Rarity as she ran as fast as she could to the entrance of the place. Trailing behind her, Rarity laughed as Pinkie smooshed her face up to the glass of the store, looking inside the front displays at all the wondrous things that lay within them.

Rarity walked into the store, and Pinkie ran after her. The Prancing Pony was a small store, but it was packed wall-to-wall with a great myriad of various play things for young ponies, from dolls to train sets to blocks and everything in-between.

Upon entering, Pinkie became a pink hurricane, running all over the store with 'oohs' and 'aahs' and 'Rarity I want this' and 'Rarity I want that.' She was impossible to keep up with.

Rarity didn't even want to muster up the energy to try. She just fished a cigar out of her bag and clipped the end off of it. When she struck a match to light it, the owner of the store, a cream-colored mare with spectacles and a gray mane, stared at her crossly from behind the counter.

Rarity stared back, cigar in mouth and lit match hovering in the air, and said, "What?"

The mare said, pointedly, "No smoking in here! This is a children's store!"

Rarity's eyes narrowed, and she said, perturbed, "Do you know who I am, lady? A little smoke won't kill anypony."

The mare walked from behind the counter and said, again, "No smoking! I don't care if you're Princess Luna herself! No smoking!"

Rarity's eyebrows furled. She opened her mouth and said, "Listen lady-"

And the mare blew out Rarity's match, saying, "No! If you want to smoke, go outside!" And she walked back behind the counter, carefully watching the white unicorn.

Rarity just shook her head and stared dejectedly at her unlit stogie, saying, "Fine." Then she muttered under her breath, "Bitch."

Satisfied that her dictates had been obeyed, the store owner went back to watching her store. More specifically, she was watching Pinkie Pie, who was still running around and looking at everything and talking non-stop. The mare just laughed and said, to Rarity, "Is she going to pass out?"

Rarity just shrugged and said, "I hope so."

The toy-mare looked at Rarity with a slight hint of disgust on her face and said, "That's not very nice."

Rarity stared at her both in disbelief and annoyance, saying, "Well, I'm not a nice pony. But my money is the same as everypony else's. Right?"

The toy-mare huffed. She hated ponies like that, but she just couldn't not serve them. Besides, she just loved making ponies like Pinkie happy. She loved it when her toys brought smiles to ponies' faces. She wasn't going to spite someone out of happiness just because of the company that pony kept.

Finally, after a few more minutes, Pinkie came up to the counter, holding an armful of things that she wanted to play with. She dumped them all on the counter, and the toy-mare laughed and said, "Is that all for you, today?"

Rarity's jaw almost dropped, and she ran up to the counter, saying, "Pinkie. What the hell are you doing? You are NOT getting all of that!"

Pinkie instantly went from being super happy to sad. She looked at Rarity, pouting, and said, "But but Rarity."

Rarity shook her head and said, "No. What the hell? No."

Pinkie pouted, and her eyes began to water.

Rarity threw her hooves up into the air, saying, "No no no."

The pink pony said, "Come on...Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? With whipped cream and a cherry on top?" She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled, saying, "I knoooooow you have the money, don't you?"

Rarity's eyes shifted from side to side.

Pinkie said, desperately, "Please, Rarity? Dashie never buys me anything!"

Rarity stomped her hoof and gritted her teeth, saying, "Luna-dammit, Pinkie. I said No!"

The toy-mare interjected, saying, "Hey, miss! I don't appreciate language like that in here!"

Rarity ran a hoof through her hair, in aggravation, and she turned to the toy-mare, saying, "Listen, bitch. I don't give a damn about what you do and do not appreciate. Just shut up and stay out of this."

The store owner just clenched her teeth and said nothing. Rude customers were the worst kind, and she had not run across many customers as rude as Rarity.

Pinkie got right up to her friend and pouted, her bottom lip sticking out as far as it would go, and her eyes looked watery. Rarity just huffed and said, "Fine fine. Whatever. Just ring it all up."

At which point the toy-mare smiled and began to tally it all up, making it a point to 'accidentally' ring up a couple of the items twice. After it was all done, she showed the total to Rarity, who nearly messed herself out of surprise.

She exclaimed loudly and slammed her hooves on the counter, saying, "What the-! That's highway robbery! This junk isn't worth that much!"

The toy-mare just laughed bitterly and said, "Listen, miss. I do not care about what you do and do not think about my prices. That's the total."

Rarity stared at her very crossly. She wished her eyes could shoot daggers or turn ponies to stone. She wouldn't even remotely regret turning this bitch into a rock. She rolled her cigar in her mouth and pulled out her bit-purse, saying, "Fine! Whatever! It's not going to break MY bank."

As she counted out the bits, she muttered, "Cunt." Then she said, "Is that all?"

The toy-mare said, happily, "Do you want a bag for that?"

Rarity snapped, "I want two bags."

The owner just shrugged her shoulders and said, giggling vindictively, "Okay. The customer's always right." The white unicorn's eyes narrowed.

After the toy-mare was done packing everything up, Rarity took the bags and stormed loudly out the store. Pinkie followed, gaily bouncing up and down the whole time, completely oblivious to the animosity between the two ponies. As they left, the toy-mare said, cheekily, "Thank you for coming to Prancing Pony Toys! Come see us again!"

Rarity said nothing. She didn't even stop. She wanted to come back, all right, but not to buy toys. Right when they got outside, Rarity stopped and pulled out another match, lighting her cigar and giving it a few good puffs. She needed a smoke, right now.

Pinkie jumped in front of her, as she did so, and said, loudly and exuberantly, "Can we go to the candy store, now?!"

Rarity just stopped, match still hovering in the air. It dropped to the ground, and Rarity said, blankly, "What?"

Pinkie said again, still excited, "The candy store!"

Rarity shook her head and said, "No! Are you even serious! Do you have any idea how much money I just dropped in that shit-hole?"

And Pinkie just stopped bouncing and stuck out her bottom lip, eyes watering, and she said, "Pleeeeeeeeeease" in as high of a pitch as she could.

Rarity just shook her head, smoke billowing out of her mouth. She said, "No! Absolutely not!"

Pinkie frowned and snuggled up to her, saying, "Pretty please, Rarity? With whipped cream and a cherry on top?"

The white unicorn huffed. She just stared straight ahead and said, "Fine. Whatever. Let's go to the damned candy store."

Pinkie squealed and began hopping again, saying, "Dashie NEVER takes me to the candy store! She says it's not good for me."

Rarity shrugged and said, "Well, it's really not. But I don't care."

Pinkie's mood abruptly changed, and she said, "Why? Do you think I eat too much candy?"

What the hell. What a stupid question, thought Rarity. She said, "Well...Sometimes, I guess. Why?"

Pinkie sat down in the dirt and looked at herself, then back at Rarity, saying, "Do I...Do you ever eat candy?"

Rarity shook her head, saying, "No. I don't like sweet stuff."

Pinkie said, "Is that why-" Then she blushed and stopped talking. Pinkie Pie not talking; it was quite the rarity indeed.

Rarity's eyes narrowed, and she said, "Is that why what? What were you going to say?"

Pinkie just shook her head and said, "Nothing."

Rarity pressed the matter, taking a few steps closer, saying, "No. What?"

The pink pony just said it, swallowing her anxiety. She said, "Is that why you're so pretty?"

Rarity didn't even know what to say. She stood there in silence for a few seconds and bobbed her hair, eyes drifting off as her mind did the same. She hadn't thought about it in such a long time, but she really was pretty, wasn't she? The stallions all sure thought so. They always had, ever since she was an older filly, ever since they all got to be the age where they started to look at each other, in that way.

Rarity blushed a slight bit and licked her teeth, smiling and giggling softly, thinking about her past. It still gave her a thrill, just thinking about all of those stallions who thought she was just the most beautiful pony in all of Equestria. She still had it, didn't she?

Pinkie frowned and said, worriedly, "Rarity?"

Rarity snapped out of her reverie and said, plainly, "I don't know. I'm sure that helps."

Pinkie looked at herself and said, "Dashie never calls ME pretty. Maybe that's why she's cheating on me. Maybe it's because I'm ugly."

Rarity was none-too-good at comforting ponies. Coming down, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I think it's just because Rainbow Dash is a-"

"Maybe I should try harder to be pretty. Then maybe Dashie will stay with me," said the pink pony.

Rarity just shook her head. This was ludicrous. This wasn't the kind of conversation she wanted to have in the middle of the street outside a toy store. She said, "No. Pinkie. Listen. You're fine. I wouldn't worry about it. Now let's go."

And Rarity began to walk off, towards the candy store. Pinkie Pie just sat in the dirt, looking at herself. She did not budge an inch. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

After a few feet, the white unicorn turned around and said, "C'mon, Pinkie! Don't you want to go?"

Pinkie sat in silence, pouting.

For the love of-. Luna-dammit. Rarity grumbled and walked back over to her friend, running a hoof through her mane, in frustration. She said, "Pinkie, listen. You're-"

"Do you think I'm pretty, Rarity," asked Pinkie, suddenly.

Rarity was taken aback. She said, "Do I what? What are you asking?"

Pinkie said again, pleadingly, "Do you think I'm pretty? I don't think Dashie does. Nobody does. Do you?"

Rarity didn't even know what to say. She was at a complete loss for words. She just said, "I don't know. I guess."

Pinkie looked up at her. She was starting to cry again, now.

Rarity rubbed one of her temples. She knew what she had to say. She said, "Yes, Pinkie. I think you're pretty, and if Rainbow Dash doesn't think so, she's an idiot." She tried to say it as sincerely as she could, which was, needless to say, not very much.

Pinkie gobbled up the lie as a tear ran down her cheek. She said, in disbelief, "Really? You think so?"

Rarity reached out a hoof and tenderly wiped the tear off of her friend's cheek, saying with confidence, "Yes. I do. We should go out to a bar sometime. I'm sure every eligible stallion in all of Ponyville will think the same."

Pinkie sniffled and said, "Think so? But I don't like stallions."

Rarity just laughed and said, "Fine. Eligible mares. You know what I mean."

Pinkie stood up and said, "Thanks, Rarity. You're really nice."

Rarity just looked to the side and said, "Why, yes. Yes, I am."

Pinkie just laughed and said, "So you think I'll still be pretty if I had some candy?"

Rarity said, "A little bit wouldn't hurt you."

The pink pony jumped up, cheerful again, and said, "Well then let's go!"

Rarity laughed, herself, and said, "Sure. Let's go."

And with that, the pair of ponies began walking towards the candy store. Specifically, to Pinkie's favorite candy store. She said they always had the tastiest treats. Rarity never argued, since she never ate any.

The rest of the day was like a dream, to Pinkie Pie. They went to the candy store, and Rarity payed for everything, since Pinkie had already used up all of her allowance. She figured since Rarity said a little bit would hurt her, a little bit more than a little bit wouldn't hurt her, either. So Pinkie got a bunch of candy. Rarity complained about the price again, and she swore bitterly as she payed the tab. Afterwards, they went to eat dinner and then finished baking cupcakes.

That night, as Pinkie laid in bed, playing with one of the toys that Rarity had bought her that afternoon, she didn't mind being alone so much. Her head was swimming with thoughts about how much nicer Rarity was to her than anypony else had ever been (aside from maybe the Cakes, since they let her live in their upstairs).

Dashie never called her pretty. Rarity had. Dashie was never there when Pinkie was sad or upset. Rarity had been. Dashie never bought her anything. Rarity bought her lots of stuff. She knew that Dashie secretly thought she was fat. Rarity said she wasn't.

Rarity.

Rarity was so nice to her. Dashie wasn't half as nice as Rarity was, and Rarity was pretty. Maybe she could help make Pinkie pretty, and they could be pretty ponies, together.

Together.

Pinkie wanted to be together with her...

And so as she turned off her light that night and went to bed, Pinkie Pie could only clutch the doll that had been bought for her that day and think about how nice of a mare Rarity was.

For the first night in countless nights, Pinkie was happy as she fell asleep, and she didn't complain when Rarity came and visited her in her dreams...

Chapter 1.2: Mythic Rainbow Dash

She woke up.

It was still daylight aside, but barely. The sun was going down.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her face with her hooves. How long had she been asleep?

She hadn't meant to fall asleep. She hated it when she did, but sometimes she couldn't help it.

She fell back into bed, resting her head on her pillow. Stretching out, she let out an exaggerated sigh of contentedness. It was a comfy bed, lying in a comfy room. The bed was more than big enough for two, and the shades over the window were nice and thick, to block out the sun.

It was a comfy room in a comfy house, and the house was always clean and perfumed. Unlike the other location she found herself spending most of her nights, this house didn't smell like a bakery. Blegh. Bakeries. Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue. She had smelled a bakery so much, even thinking about cakes and cookies and doughnuts made her stomach turn. Some nights, she would come home reeking of it. It made her sick.

This place just smelled like a nice house, and it was a very well-decorated house at that.

Rainbow Dash put her arms behind her head and plomped back onto her pillow. So soft and fluffy. The pillows were always soft and fluffy, here. The covers were always warm and welcoming.

And Rainbow Dash loved welcoming covers over a comfortable bed.

She sighed, contently. Rainbow Dash was becoming familiar with this house; she was spending more and more time here. She never had to wonder why.

And that was when a pleasant aroma wafted through the door and into the room. Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply. Food. It smelled delicious. She rolled out of bed and got on her hooves, trotting out of the room. The path to the kitchen was short. It wasn't a large house, but it wasn't the smallest either. When Rainbow entered the kitchen, she saw her.

She was a cream-colored mare, with a split-colored mane and tail. Split-colored manes always got to Rainbow Dash. She loved them, and this particular split-colored mare was particularly lovable. Quite the homemaker, this one. Her mane was a combination of pink and dark purple, and she had a few pieces of candy as her cutie-mark. That was her day-job. She made candy.

She was, currently, standing at the oven, stirring a pot of something delicious-smelling. Another pan of something delicious-smelling cooked on the burner next to it. She hummed softly while she cooked.

Rainbow snuck up to her and put her arms around her waist, saying, playfully, "Why didn't you wake me up, Bon Bon?"

Bon Bon was taken completely unawares. She shrieked a little when Rainbow Dash grabbed her. When she regained her composure, she said, laughing a little, "Rainbow Dash! I hadn't expected you to be awake so soon."

Rainbow giggled and said, "Surprised you, huh? Whatcha cooking?"

Bon Bon went back to stirring, and she said, "Oh. Nothing much."

Rainbow Dash said, excitedly looking into the pot, "No, really! What is this? It smells great!"

It was a dandelion and hay stew! Rainbow Dash let out an excited squeal. She said, without taking breaths, "Ohmygod! My favorite! How did you know?!"

Bon Bon blushed and laughed happily, saying, "You told me a couple of nights ago, remember? You told me that dandelion and hay stew in a sunflower broth was your favorite food. Your mother used to make it for you."

She snuggled up against Rainbow Dash some, rubbing the back of her head against Rainbow's chest. She said, "Remember? We were at the store."

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment, rubbing her chin, then she said, "I thought I said that to Pin-"

Then she immediately stopped herself, frowning.

Bon Bon rubbed against her, saying, "To who?"

Rainbow laughed nervously and said, "No one. I was confused. Yes. I totally remember saying that to you. Silly me." And then she let out a small peal of fake laughter.

Bon Bon extricated herself from Rainbow's grip and resumed stirring the pot. Her cheeks were red, and she said, "Oh, you're so silly. Anyway, I thought it would be nice if you had your favorite dinner, tonight."

She turned and looked at Rainbow Dash, saying, "You are staying for dinner, aren't you?"

Rainbow's eyes went blank, and she gulped. She said, "Dinner? Tonight?"

Bon Bon looked at her and giggled, saying, "Yes, silly. I'm certainly not cooking for tomorrow night. Don't you want to eat, tonight?"

The blue pegasus laughed nervously and said, "Yes. Why wouldn't I? I'd love to eat here, at your house, tonight."

Bon Bon just smiled contentedly and started tending to what was in the pan. She said, "Great! Then I was hoping we could watch a movie, afterwards. Something romantic, if you don't mind?"

Rainbow laughed nervously, again, and said, "And a movie? All of that, tonight? Are you sure?"

Bon Bon just looked at her and walked forward, putting a tender hoof on her chest. She said, "Of course, tonight, Rainbow." She looked the blue pegasus's face and said, softly, "Do you have other plans?"

Rainbow just looked at the hoof on her chest and then into Bon Bon's eyes, saying, "Uh...No. Of course not. I was just hoping to get a good night's rest." Her heart was thumping, and she smiled anxiously.

Bon Bon said, smoothly, "Oh, really? I was hoping to give you a great night's rest after that."

Rainbow gulped and said, "Really? After that?"

Bon Bon giggled and said, "Yes, really. I know that a big strong athlete like yourself needs a good night's rest so that she can work hard the next day. I was hoping to help get you to sleep. Is that okay?"

Rainbow's voice left her for a few moments. When she spoke, all that came out was a cracked squeak, "Yeah. That would be great. I'd love to watch a movie. I don't have anywhere to be tonight."

Bon Bon then tapped her on the chest and swirled back around and resumed tending to the food, saying, "Excellent. Then why don't you just go into the living room and relax. Leave dinner to me. I'll let you know when it's ready."

Rainbow just nodded and said, "Okay, then. All right." She turned around and walked out of the kitchen. She walked into the living room and plomped down onto the couch, thinking.

All night? Here? She couldn't do that. What would she tell Pinkie? She couldn't just show up in the morning and not have a great reason. Pinkie was expecting her, tonight. Staying at Bon Bon's that long was bad. She put a hoof on her chin. Then again. Bon Bon was great. Pinkie never did anything like this. Dinner and a movie? And then...

Rainbow giggled and smiled. She couldn't help herself. She could come up with something. It didn't have to be great. Pinkie wasn't THAT bright. Rainbow could come up with something that Pinkie would believe. It wouldn't be that hard. How could she pass up on a wonderful night like this?

Bon Bon was a great mare, and she was all too generous, in more ways than one. Rainbow couldn't miss an opportunity like that. That's why she spent so much time over here. How would Pinkie know? Rainbow would just say that she was out all night training and just slept at the gym or something. Easy-peasy. Nothing could go wrong. Pinkie was stupid, even if she was nice.

Maybe she could eat less junk and get in shape, like Bon Bon was, then Rainbow would be more interested in her. Not that she wasn't interested in her. Pinkie was a nice mare and all. She was just not...all there. She really was like a child, sometimes. It wasn't that attractive. Maybe some mares liked having someone that they had to take care of, but Rainbow wasn't one of them.

Rainbow nodded, relaxing and sighing contentedly. That settled it. She had a late night at the gym. Had to stay competitive. You know how it is. Pinkie wouldn't know the difference. It wouldn't be hard. What would they be doing tonight, anyway? Talking and shit? Rainbow never had fun at Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie just wasn't...fun to her. Rainbow almost never enjoyed herself around her.

She sprawled out on the couch. No. This was the life. Chilling in the living room while the best mare in the world cooked a wonderful dinner for you. This is what Rainbow wanted. Not the shit that she had waiting for her back at Sugar Cube Corner.

She closed her eyes and relaxed. After a short while, Bon Bon called out from the kitchen. Dinner was done. Rainbow immediately sat up and bounded towards the kitchen.

When she got there, she saw the table was set for two. Two bowls of stew and some side dishes. A tall glass of water for Bon Bon. A frosty glass of beer for Rainbow Dash. It really was a romantic set-up. It all sat on a square table cloth, with napkins. A candle rested in the middle of the table. Bon Bon was lighting it when the blue pegasus entered the room.

The cream-colored mare looked at Rainbow and said, dramatically with a bow, "Dinner is served."

Rainbow smiled and sat down at the table, staring at all the delicious food before her.

She said, "This looks great!"

Bon Bon smiled and sat down across from her, saying, "Thank you!" She fluttered her eyelashes and said, "I made it all for you."

Rainbow just laughed nervously and said, "Well thanks! I appreciate it. You did a good job."

Bon Bon pulled her chair up and said, "Well, then. I'm sure you're hungry. Let's eat."

Rainbow didn't need to be asked twice. She immediately began to dig in, shoveling huge spoonfuls of stew into her mouth. It tasted so delicious. Bon Bon was such a great cook! Spoon after spoon disappeared down her gullet. She took breaks from swallowing only long enough to devour chunks of bread. After only a few seconds, half of her bowl was gone.

Bon Bon just watched, smiling contently. She giggled, saying, "My, Rainbow Dash. I didn't know you were so hungry."

Rainbow slurped up more stew, saying, in between bites, "Man, Bon Bon! This is good! Where did you learn to cook like this?"

Bon Bon giggled again, blushing slightly. She said, "Oh, my mother taught me a few things. Most of it is things that I picked up over the years."

Rainbow picked her bowl up and drained the rest of the broth. Slurping loudly and wiping her mouth off with her arm, she said, "Well, keep up the good work! I haven't had food this good in a long time!"

Bon Bon just laughed softly. This is exactly what she dreamed of, when she was a little filly: sitting across from the table from the mare of her dreams, having a romantic dinner. She really did love it.

Their eyes locked. Bon Bon had never stopped smiling, and she let out a little laugh when she saw how much of a mess Rainbow's face was. She reached out a napkin across the table and said, "You have something on your face."

Rainbow just wiggled her eyebrows and said, "So why don't you come over here and clean it off for me?"

Bon Bon dropped the napkin and drew back her arm, giggling like a little filly and saying, "Rainbow! Not right now."

The blue pegasus took the napkin and wiped her face, saying, "So when, then?"

Bon Bon blushed deeply and said, slyly, "Later."

Rainbow just smiled and took a bite of bread, saying, "Well, then. I'll have to take you up on your offer. I wouldn't want to miss that."

Bon Bon just giggled again and rested her cheek on a hoof, saying, "Rainbow..."

The blue pegasus just smiled and said, "So what do I have to do to get more of that delicious stew?"

Her partner just said, "Tell me about your day."

Rainbow's mood instantly changed. She gulped, loudly, and said, "What?"

Bon Bon said, "Tell me about your day?"

Rainbow said, "Why?"

The cream-colored mare giggled and said, "Because I want to hear about it, silly. Is there something wrong with that?"

Rainbow shoved the rest of her roll in her mouth.

Bon Bon said, "You never talk about yourself. I just want to hear you. Just talk. I'll listen."

Rainbow's eyes shifted. What had she done the previous day? She had worked out and...done some stuff with Pinkie.

She lied and said, "You know...I just...I don't know. I just trained some and then hung out with Fluttershy."

Bon Bon arched an eyebrow and said, "Who?"

Rainbow smiled. She said, "She's one of my friends. She lives on the edge of town. She takes care of animals and...stuff."

Bon Bon finally touched her food, delicately sipping a spoonful of stew. She said, "Stuff?"

Rainbow said, "Yeah. You know. She doesn't do much. She just spends most of her time taking care of her pets and stuff. She does charity stuff, too."

Bon Bon looked impressed. She took another sip from her spoon. She said, "How long have you known her?"

Rainbow just smiled and said, thinking, "Well, I guess you can say that we kind of grew up together. We've known each other since we were little fillies."

Bon Bon dipped some bread into her stew and took a bite of it, saying, "When do I get to meet her?"

Rainbow's face fell, and she panicked a little bit, inside. Stupid stupid stupid. Why did she bring up Fluttershy? Or anypony, for that matter? She said, "Well...I...uh...You know. She's just so busy all the time." Rainbow put a hoof behind her head and laughed nervously. She said, "I don't ever get to see her, myself. It's been ages."

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow, questioningly and said, "I thought you said you saw her yesterday."

Rainbow gulped and said, "Oh yeah! I did!" She laughed, "Silly me. I meant that I hadn't seen her in ages before then!"

Bon Bon put her spoon down and put her head in both of her hooves, resting her elbows on the table, and she said, "So when will you see her next? She sounds like a wonderful pony. I'd really love to meet her. I want to starting meet all your friends."

Rainbow gulped heavily and said, "Really? You want to meet ALL of them?"

The cream-colored mare just giggled and said, "Yes, silly. Of course. I want to be a part of your life. Why wouldn't I want to meet your friends?"

Rainbow just laughed nervously and said, "Yeah! That makes sense! Why wouldn't you?" She put an enormous hunk of bread into her mouth, trying to stall for time while she thought of something to say.

Bon Bon just laughed and sipped a spoonful of food, saying, "Rainbow! Don't eat so much at once! It'll give you a tummy ache."

Rainbow just mumbled a muffled agreement and kept chewing.

Bon Bon got up and said, "Why don't I get you some more of this delicious stew to wash that down with?"

Rainbow just nodded vigorously, still trying to chew.

The homemaking mare picked up Rainbow's bowl and walked over to the pot, ladling more food into it. Rainbow watched her as she did so, panicking the whole while. She really needed to change the topic of conversation. She had absolutely no intention of letting Bon Bon meet ANY of her friends. Going out in public with her would only end in disaster. Of that, she was completely sure.

By the time Bon Bon got back to the table, Rainbow had completely finished ingesting her enormous bite of bread. She looked as Bon Bon put her bowl back in front of her, then the mare sat back down in her own seat and put her head on hoof, staring at the blue pegasus. Bon Bon's eyes were thick with affection and dreams, and the smile on her face was one of pure happiness and joy.

Rainbow gulped, again and started shoveling more stew into her mouth.

Bon Bon said, "So when do I get to meet her?"

Rainbow said, hesitantly, "Who?"

Bon Bon just giggled and said, "Fluttershy!"

The blue pegasus just shrugged and said, nervously, "I don't know. Sometime."

Bon Bon said, teasingly, "Sometime? Why? Are you ashamed of me, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow just laughed and said, "Haha! Ashamed of you?! No way! Why would you think that!"

Bon Bon giggled and said, "I'd hope you wouldn't be embarrassed by me. I want to get along with your friends. So when do I get to meet them?"

Rainbow put her spoon down and stretched her arms, yawning overly loudly and saying, "So! Bon Bon! I'm stuffed! Aren't you stuffed?! How about that movie!"

Bon Bon pushed her bowl away and said, "Oh! Done already! I'm done, I guess. We can watch it now."

Rainbow stood up from the table and began to pick up her dishes. Bon Bon ran over to her side of the table and started picking them up, instead, smiling and saying, "No no, sweetie. I'll clean up. You just got relax in the den. No sense in having a hard-working mare like you waste her energy on housework."

Rainbow just smiled and said, "Really? Okay. No complaining here."

She just trotted off, to the living room, as Bon Bon began to pick up the dishes and clean up the table.

What a wonderful mare, she thought. She felt a little guilt. Bon Bon was so sweet and nice. She really felt bad, having to treat her like she did, but now wasn't the time to be with her in public. No one could know. She didn't want Pinkie or any of her friends finding out. That would end in disaster.

The blue pegasus heard felt a little heavy. Maybe this was all wrong. Maybe she just needed to sit Bon Bon down and tell her the truth. Or Pinkie. It really wasn't fair to either of them, how Rainbow was acting. Maybe she needed to be honest and just face the consequences, but she really did like both, although she was favoring Bon Bon a little more than Pinkie, right now.

Maybe she really did need to be honest with everypony. To be loyal, so to speak. Loyalty was really important to her, after. She would really hate it if either of them was treating her like she was treating them. Maybe she needed to be honest.

Then she just smiled, lazily, and said, "Nah." Then, she dove down on to the couch and spread on it, relaxing.

Maybe later. Not now.

Chapter 1.3: Mythic Applejack

She moved as fast as she could, through the bustling crowds.

The train station at Dodge Junction was none-too-slow. Being one of the busiest crossroads (as far as trains were concerned) in the whole of Equestria, all of the train stations were constantly packed to the brim with eager ponies jumping on their rides to all the corners of the globe. You could get a ride to Dodge Junction from anywhere, and you could get a ride from Dodge Junction to anywhere.

That was why they were here. They could go anywhere, and they could have gotten here from anywhere.

They were headed from Appaloosa. They were headed to anywhere that would take them.

That wasn't a whole lot of places, at this point, but they still moved.

Applejack didn't think about any of that right now, though. She only thought about catching her train, which she was late for. Moving through the crowds was tough work, but she strong-armed herself through them. Other ponies be damned. She had somewhere to be.

Specifically, not here.

Her head hurt with that old familiar pain. Slight nausea gripped her stomach, but she didn't let that slow her down any. She had places to be. Thinking about it for a moment, fishing through one of her saddlebags, she had a pleasant realization that this old headache and old stomach ache weren't anything that couldn't be solved with some old-fashioned medicine.

So she slowed her pace down some, looking through her bag for another bag, and she found it. Holding it up, she swished it around some, listening for the liquid inside of it. It was an old paper bag, and it held a bottle of old-timey cure-all inside of it. Listening to the swishing from the bottle, she knew that it was still half-full. Good news. It would last the train ride, until she could find another bottle shoppe in their destination.

Giving a toast to herself, she lifted her paper bag up to her mouth and took a big long swig. There was nothing better than this. A bottle of whiskey in one saddle-bag, a fresh pack of cigarettes in the other. Running through bustling crowds to jump on a train at the last minute.

She smiled, to herself. Something about it was so country. So romantic. They were desperados, her and Big Mac, waiting for a train. Pappy would have been proud. They were desperados, had been their whole lives. This was just one chapter in their story.

Some old friends were busy conversing, hugging and catching up on old times. They barred Applejack's path. She muscled through them rudely, saying, "Hey, partners! Get a hotel room! Leave the boarding platform for ponies with something to do!"

And she dashed past them, listening happily to their admonishments of dismay and unhappiness, screaming out calls of 'rude' and 'how uncivilized,' as she ran past. Rude. Uncivilized. Is that what city-folk were calling her kind, nowadays?

She just smiled and took another swig from her paper bag. She liked it. 'Rude' and 'uncivilized' was the way to go. No sense being fancy and impractical. She needed to board this train, and nothing was going to stop her.

Looking ahead into the distance, she could see Big Mac on the loading platform, standing beneath the glaring midday sun. Applejack took a long look at the sun. Days like these reminded her of pappy. They reminded her of-

She shook her head. She didn't need to think about things like that, right now. All that mattered was her whiskey, Big Mac, and the train that they needed to jump on. That's all that mattered, and that's all that Applejack cared about. They were headed to a faraway place, to a place where nopony knew who they were. That's what they needed: a place where nopony knew who they were.

Applejack didn't know where it was; it had been Big Mac who had bought the tickets. It had taken almost all of their remaining money, but she didn't care. All that mattered is that they were getting away from Appaloosa, getting away from the things they had done. Nothing bad, mind you. They just had to make a living. The authorities thought otherwise.

She locked eyes with her brother, and her brother saw her, waving a big hoof over his head. Applejack sped up her pace, running as fast she could towards him, bobbing and weaving through the crowds.

She smiled, feeling a sharp pain of relief flow through her body. She was almost there. The stress was almost over. In just a moments, they would be both be onboard that train, headed to wherever. That was all right with Applejack. She just didn't want to be here, anymore.

Feeling celebratory, she took a big long gulp from her paper bag, feeling the whiskey wash over her tongue and down her throat. It burned like Hell and hurt like Heaven. It was good for her, no matter what any other pony had to say about it, including her brother. This was the life. Nothing was better than this.

And that's when she smacked in a cop she hadn't seen.

Not looking where she was running, Applejack had run straight into a police officer who had been standing there. Both of them tumbled to the ground, landing hard on the concrete of the train station. Her paper bag fell and landed with a thonk, rolling around. AJ reached out for it, crawling around a little bit to chase it, until she finally had her hooves around it.

Standing up, she lifted the bag up, elated that the glass bottle inside hadn't broken. She turned it upside-down, taking another swallow. It felt good, and she savored the sensation of the liquid running down her throat and into her stomach. By now, her headache and nausea were beginning to go away. There was nothing like old-timey cure-all to relieve your ailments.

The police pony slowly rose to his feet, reaching for his hat and putting it on his head.

He turned to Applejack, who was taking another swig from her bottle, and he said, "What're you doing?"

She immediately saw his uniform and hat, and she immediately went on the defensive. The law had only caused her and her family trouble, since as far back as she could remember. She didn't like them. Never had.

Applejack said, "Just trying to board a train." She didn't call him 'sir.' Never had; never would.

Her breath blew him away. He winced and waved his hoof in front of his face, saying, "Whoo-wee! If you ain't drunk, then you're a fool. What're you doing, drinking that much in public? That's more than enough to throw you in the drunk tank, you know."

"I ain't drunk, and I ain't an idiot," was all that she could manage.

The police pony walked over to her, smelling her breath and looking at the bag in her hoof. He said, "Evidence suggests otherwise."

Applejack frowned, pulling the bottle away from him. She said, "Listen! I ain't drunk, and I ain't causing no trouble. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a train to catch."

She tried pushing past him, but the police pony barred her path, always stepping to make sure he was in front of her. She shoved him a little, and he shoved back.

"Get outta my way," she said, becoming very irritated, "I ain't done nothing! You have no reason to be treating me like this."

He pointed at her paper bag, saying, "That's an open container, ma'am, and if I'm not mistaken, you're drunk in public."

That was enough of this. This conversation was stupid. She said, "Get the hell out of my way! I ain't drunk, and it's an 'open container' because I'm drinking from it."

"Ma'am," he said, "You're being belligerent. You can't have an open container in public. That's the law. I just need you to come with me down to the-"

"I ain't going nowhere," she screamed, "You stupid sack of shit! You're harassing me. Just step out of the way and let me get on my train!"

"Calm down, ma'am," he said, "Just come down to the station. I don't want any trouble."

She spit on the ground and said, "Well, if you don't want no trouble, then you'd best be getting out of my way."

He took a step toward her, saying, "Is that a threat?"

She was well past the point of caring what happened to her, at this point. Taking a couple steps back, she said, "Yeah, asshole. It is."

"Ma'am," he said, "You have to come with me."

She turned her rear legs towards him and leaned up on her front ones. She said, gritting her teeth, "Fuck you, asshole! I told you to just get out of my way!"

The police pony let out a cry for help, screaming something over his radio, just as Applejack swung. She was plenty strong. Hard lives did that to folks; it made them strong. She was the best shot she knew, and all of her shots carried all the power of a herd of buffalo. Not even one time had she failed to floor any poor fool who decided to pick a fight with her.

Her legs swung out, kicking sharply into the air.

The whole thing whiffed. She missed the police pony, entirely. Over-stretching herself, she lost balance and toppled to the ground, harmlessly. Maybe she was drunker than she thought.

As soon as she hit the ground, the police pony piled on top of her, screaming for back-up. She kicked and spit and swore and screamed, but it was all for nothing. After just a few moments, other officers watching the train station ran up to them, dog-piling her, too.

There was about five of them and only one of her, but Applejack never stopped fighting. Never stop fighting. That was the law that her pappy had lived by, and it was what she lived by, too. The police ponies tried to constrain her. She even managed to clock a couple of them, knocking out one of the officers in one hit.

And just like that, the fight was over. The last thing Applejack saw was the brawl, before one of her combatants hit over the back of the head with something. She immediately blacked out, falling listlessly to the ground.

***

Applejack woke up, in a cell. Her brain pounded against her skull, seeming to swell up every single time that her heart beat. She licked the inside of her mouth. It tasted like blood, and it was really dry.

Really dry. Her tongue felt swollen. She moved it around, feeling around. It felt like she was licking something sick and wrong. Water. Or whiskey. She would settle for either one of those things, preferably both.

Standing up slowly and woozily, a pain shot through her skull, and Applejack grabbed it. She had been hit over the head, and she was hungover. What a great day. Wiping her bleary eyes, she looked around.

It was a dank cell. Very cold. She would have killed for a cigarette right then, or a nice tall beer. Anything. Even a glass of water would feel like drinking water straight out of a glacier. She was damned thirsty. The assholes who locked her up in there knew that, too.

She walked up to her bars and kicked them, saying, "Hey! Assholes! I want some water! And a phone call, goddammit! I get a phone call!" She kicked the bars again, making as much noise as she could manage.

After a few moments of this, the door opened to the room and a police pony walked in. It was the same cop from earlier; he had a black eye. Applejack looked at the cop and smiled to herself. That's what he got for taking the bull by the horns.

He walked up to the cell bars and said, "Sleep well?"

Applejack lost her temper again. She said, "No, I didn't sleep well, asshole! I want some water, and I want my phone call."

He ignored her cries for water and just walked to his desk, picking up the keys to her cell. He said, "There won't be no need for a phone call today, miss. Your brother's here."

Her brother. Bic Mac. Luna bless him. He was always there when she needed him. She said, "Well, great. When can I see him?"

"I was thinking about letting him in now," he said, "He seems like an all-right feller."

"He is," said AJ, rattling her bars again, "Let me see him."

"I don't know if I like your attitude, little girl," said the cop, "You wouldn't even be here right now if you just followed the law and didn't cause no trouble."

"I didn't cause trouble," screamed the imprisoned earth pony, "You started the damned fight! Let me out of here!"

"All right. All right," said the cop, "I'll let you see him. Like I said, he seems like an all-right feller."

The police pony walked out of the room without saying a word. Applejack was still thirsty, but she would have rather drunken her own piss right then than get a glass of water from anypony there. She just went over and sat down on her bed. This was bullshit, she thought.

She fell asleep again. A short while, thereafter, she was woken up by the sound of something being hit against her cell bars. Slowly opening her eyes and nursing her pounding headache, the imprisoned Applejack looked over at the racket. It was really awful, and it made her head hurt worse. Everything made her head hurt worse.

The police pony stood at the cell bars, along with a very sturdy and tall colt. Applejack immediately recognized her brother. He was red, with a dirty blonde mane, which was entirely covered by a big bandanna that he kept wrapped around his head.

Applejack immediately jumped out of bed and ran over to her brother, putting her hooves on her bars. She said, "Big Mac!"

He shook his head, not greeting her. Disappointment was thick in his voice. He said, "AJ. Why'd you have to go and get into a fight?"

She immediately defended herself, shaking her bars. She said, "But Mac! I didn't! They started it!"

He shook his head, saying, "No, they didn't, AJ. You know that. You started a fight with the police, and now you're in jail. Don't blame this on anypony else."

The police pony nodded and turned around, saying, "Well, I'll leave you two alone for now. Don't bother trying to break out. I've got the key. Besides, your brother here is good enough. Just chat for a while."

And he left, slamming the door behind himself on the way out. Applejack looked at her brother, saying, "So why the hell are you all buddy-buddy with that cop?"

Big Mac just shrugged, saying, "You be nice to folks, and they'll be nice back. Including the police. I managed to cut you quite a deal, today."

"Whatever," she screamed, "This is bullshit, Mac! You know that! I wasn't doing anything wrong."

He shook his head, saying, "It don't matter, now. You're in jail. We missed our train, you know."

AJ huffed, saying, "I damn well know we missed our train. Are they going to give us our money back."

Bic Mac shook his head, saying, "Not on account of why we missed the train."

She swore, profusely and loudly. This was an awful day. They missed their train, she had gotten through in the drunk tank, and now all the money they had spent on their tickets had just been pissed away.

"Well," said the younger Apple, "Go back to them. Tell them it was all a misunderstanding."

Big Mac said, "They ain't giving us our money back, AJ. They said no."

She said, "So what's next, then? What's your plan?"

Big Mac always had a plan. Ever since they had been little kids, he had always been the one leading them onto their next adventure or bailing them out the frequent trouble they got into. He said, "Well, this generous fellow-"

"Generous, my ass," snapped Applejack, "What did he say to you?"

"He's willing to ignore everything you done and let you out of here," he said.

She couldn't believe that, falling completely silent. How had Big Mac managed to sweet-talk his way into a deal like that?

But nothing was free. Applejack said, "What's the price?"

The older brother shook his head, saying, "Don't you worry about that. Just be glad that you're getting out of here."

"No, seriously," said Applejack, "How much are you bribing this jackass?"

Big Mac frowned and shook his head again, saying, "It don't matter none-"

"Of course it matters," she screamed, hitting the bars, "That's our money! We ain't got much! How much does this asshole want?"

Big Mac said, "Almost the whole rest of what's left."

Applejack's mouth fell open. Almost all of it? How much was the greedy son of a bitch going to leave them?

The older brother glared at her and said, "We wouldn't be in this mess if you could just be a nice pony for one day in your life! Why are you going around, starting fights?"

AJ frowned and glared right back, saying, "I'm plenty nice! What're we going to do, now?"

"Well," said Big Mac, "For now, you're going to sit here. He'll let you out in the morning. I'm going to go see if I can scrounge us up a train ticket to somewhere with what little money we got left. Understand?"

Applejack just nodded, skulking and walking away from her cell bars. She laid down on her bed, crossing her arms. Her older brother said, "Hey. Don't worry. We'll make it. Now, I'm going to go. I gotta go scrounge us up a couple of tickets."

Waving bye to his sister, who returned no such sentiments, he slowly left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Applejack just laid on her bed, her arms behind her head. She didn't have anything better to do than wait for the morning to come.

"This is shit," she said.

***

Big Mac's words hadn't rung exactly true. They hadn't let her out, in the morning. She hadn't been surprised. All cops were assholes; she hated all of them. All they had ever done for her and her family was cause trouble and run them out of towns.

Nothing more. Sure as hell nothing less.

Applejack didn't see another pony until about noon, when the kindly police pony from the day before came and let her out her cell. She said nothing to him, and he said very little to her, aside from telling her to not start fights and stay out of trouble.

A big bag full of bits had a habit of making anypony much nicer to you.

Luckily, she found out that Big Mac had been the one who had gotten all of her things, so there wasn't anything for the cops to confiscate. Thank Luna for small miracles.

So, after going through some more short processes, Applejack found herself out of her jail cell and back into the real world. Back into the real, harsh, unforgiving world. Standing on the stairs of the county jail, she adjusted her hat and stared out into the sun.

It was hot, today. Way hotter than it was cold inside. She wiped her forehead. Maybe she would have been better off in jail, after all. Applejack started going down the steps, slowly. She still had the same headache from yesterday. She would need some good old-fashioned medicine to make it feel better.

Her brother was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Applejack walked up to him and gave him a big hug.

She said, "Thanks for watching out for me."

He smiled and nodded, tousling her hair. He said, "No problem. That's what kin's for, right?"

"Yeah," she said, looking around him for her saddlebags, "That's what kin's for."

Big Mac picked her saddlebags up off the ground and put them on her. AJ immediately rifled through one of the bags for her cigarettes. Pulling out the pack, she put one in her mouth and lit it, taking a big drag.

As her smoke began to drift in the air, Big Mac said, "You should try and save that pack. I don't know when you'll be able to buy another."

"Duly noted," she said, enjoying her smoke too much to care.

The pair began to walk through the train station, again. They were silent, for a few minutes. AJ was too busy enjoying her freedom, and Big Mac didn't want to break the news to her. That could come later, after they had already left. He felt kind of dirty, doing her like this, but if he didn't do it this way, then she would never get on the train.

"So," she said, after a few minutes, "Did you manage to get us some new tickets?"

"Uh...eeyup," he said, "I did."

"To the same place," she asked.

"Nope," he said.

"Oh," she said, unconcerned, "But we are going somewhere, right? Somewhere that ain't here?"

"Eeyup," he said, "Somewhere that ain't here."

"Great, then. I don't care," she said, taking out her bottle and taking the lid off. They both stopped, and Big Mac watched as she took an enormous swallow from it. Pulling the bottle away from her mouth with a pop, smacking her lips, she said, "Boy. That sure did feel great. I'd have killed for a sip of whiskey, when I was in that cell."

Big Mac said, "You should try to stretch out that bottle, too. I don't know when you'll be able to get another one."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, "I get it. We're poor. Really poor, now. I ain't worried about it."

"Well good," said Big Mac, "Me neither."

"So, I assume we ain't riding first class, right," said Applejack.

"Nope," he said.

"That's fine," she said, "I didn't want to be stuck on a train for who-knows-how-long with a bunch of rich, fancy-schmancy ponies who can't even wipe their asses without pulling the stick out of it, first. We riding coach?"

"Nope," he said, "We're riding in a boxcar."

"Is there hay in there?" she asked.

"Eeyup."

Applejack smiled and nodded her head. She said, "Well, that's something, at least. I hope it's soft hay."

"Me, too," he said.

Suddenly, there was a great racket from behind the two siblings. Applejack turned around to see what all the commotion was, and what she saw made her want to break off into a run. Grabbing her brother and turning his head, she pointed behind them, in a panic.

"It's Braeburn!" she screamed.

Big Mac looked at where she pointed, seeing a big crowd of folks being pushed aside by an even bigger group of deputies. Big badges rested on their chests, proclaiming them as officers of the law. At the head of this large group was a sheriff. The sheriff.

The sheriff of Appaloosa. Their cousin: Braeburn. He was a strong stallion, yellow with an orange and yellow mane. Where he came from, he was the law, and he was looking for somepony.

He was looking for them.

Applejack tried to keep her voice quiet, although she shook a little from anxiety. She said, "Big Mac! It's Braeburn! How the hell did he find us here?"

Big Mac never showed worry or panic. He was always stolid and calm. He said, "I dunno, sis."

"He's following us," she said, starting to move even more quickly down the train platform than she had been, before, "If he catches us, we ain't going to no county jail! We're going to prison!"

"I know," said Big Mac, moving down the platform, too, "Just stay calm. I don't know how he got here, but we just need to move real quick and calm-like. Okay?"

Applejack tried to stay calm, puffing on her cigarette. They were in a big crowd, and nopony had seen them yet. Nopony had-

Then the crowd broke. The two outlaws wandered into an open patch on the platform. AJ looked over at the crowd of deputies, with a frown. One of them immediately made eye contact with her. The entire world slowed down. All of it. All of the ponies around them seemed to crawl, as opposed to walk. Even her cigarette smoke seemed to halt in the air.

Applejack gulped. More of the deputies saw them. One of them tapped Braeburn on the shoulder and pointed at them. The sheriff's eyes scanned the crowd for what seemed like an eternity, although it was only just a single moment. His eyes locked with hers, and realization suddenly dawned on him.

He started yelling, barking out orders to his deputies and pointing towards the sibling Apples.

To her credit, Applejack always knew when it was time to run. That time was upon them, now. Grabbing her brother, she broke out into a full sprint, saddlebags jangling all around her. Big Mac followed.

She panicked, huffing and puffing as she ran. Big Mac just ran, without all the ruckus. Taking a spare moment to glance backwards, she saw that her cousin and his goons were all trying to catch up to them. They moved quickly, for such a large group. That had been on this chase for a long time, and they had finally found their quarry. Bystanders on the train platform either ran out of their way or were shoved aside.

Applejack and her brother weaved in-and-out of the large crowd, trying to stay as far ahead of the law as they could manage.

The younger Apple said, breathing heavily, "Hey...Big Mac...Where's our train? Where're we going?"

He didn't want to answer that. Not until they got to where they couldn't turn back. Applejack wouldn't like the answer, and he wanted to belay telling her as long as he could. Pointing to a train that was just starting to pull out, he said, "There! There's our train! Get on!"

AJ didn't need to be told twice, running to a pace that kept up with that of the train, she threw her saddlebags into an open boxcar. Big Mac did the same. The train picked up the pace, and Applejack barely managed to jump inside of it. The older Apple ran as fast as he could. He was stronger than his little sister, but not as fast.

The train almost got away from him, when he took the biggest jump of his life, landing half in the boxcar. His back legs dangled precariously from the open space. AJ helped him swing his way into the train, and then they were off.

After just a few more moments, the train escaped from the loading platform, and the Apples escaped from prison, once again. Braeburn and his deputies ran right up to the end of the platform, watching helplessly as the train carried their quarry away from them, again.

Applejack gave a sigh of relief, fishing out another cigarette. She lit it with her lighter and took a deep puff. Leaning back against the wall of the car, sitting on a pile of hay, she closed her eyes.

"That was close," said Big Mac.

"Yeah, it was," responded his younger sister, "Those bastards almost had us, this time."

She took her hat off of her head and placed it on the floor next to her. She took another hit from her cigarette and unstoppered her bottle of whiskey, taking a swig. Applejack held the bottle out to her brother, who shook his head.

She shrugged her shoulders, saying, "Your loss," and she took another swig.

Big Mac sat in silence. The time to break the news to her was now.

Applejack said, "So where are we headed?"

Her older brother just sat there, staring at her. He took his bandanna off of his head.

"What," she said, staring right back at him, "What's wrong? Where are we going?"

He swallowed, not wanting to say. He decided to just get it over with, though. He said, "Ponyville."

Applejack had been right in the middle of taking a nice, relaxing swallow from her bottle, when he spoke. She immediately spit it all out, sitting straight up. Her cigarette tumbled out of her mouth and onto the floor, rolling out of the open boxcar.

She said, "What? We're going where?"

"Ponyville," he repeated.

She was in shock. She didn't know what to say. So, she said, "You big fucking idiot! Why the hell would you buy us train tickets to Ponyville?!"

Big Mac wasn't bothered by the name. He was more than used to his sister's verbal abuses; she didn't cuss him out often, but she did when she was real angry. Right now, she was real angry.

Applejack said, "Big Mac! Please tell me you're kidding! Why would we be going to Ponyville?!"

He shook his head, saying, "Nope. I'm dead serious. We're going to Ponyville."

Applejack lit another cigarette. There was only silence, between them. The last place she wanted to go in the whole wide world was Ponyville. Granny Smith was there. Old memories were there. That's where they were from.

The air suddenly seemed heavy, in that little boxcar. Neither sibling said anything to the other. Applejack just smoked her cigarette and looked at her brother. What had gone so wrong? When had it all gone so wrong? She couldn't believe he would do this.

All she could manage to ask was, "Why?"

Big Mac said, "It's just time, AJ. It's time to go back."

She frowned, saying, "I don't want to. Fuck you, and fuck Ponyville."

"AJ," said her big brother, trying to smooth things over, "It's been a long time. It's time to go back. We ain't got nowheres else to go."

That much was true. They didn't, especially not now, with no money and the law right on their tail. AJ didn't want to admit all that, though. She wanted to fight it more. She said, "But we can try. We can't stop fighting. That's what pa always said. Never stop fighting."

Big Mac shook his head, saying, "No, AJ. I think it's time to quit."

She stood up, screaming, "No! We can still manage, Mac! We don't need to go there! We don't need no handouts!"

Big Mac said, "Now, you know we ain't getting no handouts. We're gonna work hard for every bit we earn, for every bite of food we take."

Applejack didn't say anything. She just sat back down, crossing her arms. Her cigarette set smoke adrift into the air.

Her older brother said, "And we've got a little sister, AJ. Remember? Do you remember little Apple Bloom? Don't you want to go see her? We can all be a big family again."

AJ shook her head, saying, "No, we can't, Big Mac. We can't 'all be a big family again.' Ma and Pa are dead."

"But why," said Big Mac, "Why can't we? You know we can. We need to go see Apple Bloom, and we need to go see Granny."

"I don't want to see that mean old bitch," said the younger Apple.

"I know you don't, AJ," said her big brother, "But we're out of options. We ain't got no more money. None. Zero. If we go to Ponyville, we can get work at the farm."

Applejack frowned. Honest work. That's what all this came down to, she guessed. Big Mac was tired of their lifestyle, the life they had been living up to this point in time. He just wanted to settle down and work at some crummy old apple farm, day-in and day-out.

She said, "So you want to go work at the farm?"

He nodded, saying, "That's the best thing for us, right now. We can go to the farm, live in the old big house. Remember the house? Remember how warm and cozy it was? We ain't got to sleep on the cold hard ground no more, Applejack. We don't have to scrounge for money or worry about when our next meal is going to be. We don't have to rob folks, no more."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. She said, "Busting our asses all day, in the hot sun, for just a few bits? Toiling hard, every day until we die. Living in one place. That's what you want?"

Big Mac nodded, saying, "Eeyup. That's what's best for us, right now. We ain't got any other options. This is the only thing we CAN do, anymore."

She spit on the ground, crushing out her cigarette and lighting another. She said, "Sounds boring. Sounds like nothing I want a part of."

Big Mac frowned. He knew there was no sense trying to talk sense into his sister. She was so stubborn. He decided to strong-arm her. He said, "Well, I'm going to the farm, with or without you. I'm done with leading the outlaw's life. I want my days to be calm and stable and peaceful."

Applejack's mouth fell open, again. She said, "You would abandon your own sister? Just like that?"

He shook his head, saying, "Nope. I ain't abandoning you. I'm trying to give us a warm place to sleep at night and good meals in our bellies. We have that waiting for us at Ponyville. We just have to go get it. If you don't want to join me, then that's your business."

AJ leaned against the wall, laying in her pile of hay. Tipping her hat over her eyes, she relented. She wasn't happy about it, but she said, "Fine. I'll go back to the farm, but I ain't putting up with that shriveled-up old sack of shit."

Big Mac smiled. She wasn't seeing reason, but he had managed to get her to come with him, anyway, and that's all he asked for. Laying down, himself, and draping his bandanna over his eyes, he said, "Welp, time to get some shut-eye. We'll be there in a few hours. I can't help but think it'll be eventful, when we do."

Then the two siblings fell silent, again. AJ took one last swig from her bottle and stoppered it, putting it beside her. She crushed out her cigarette and rolled over on her side. Big Mac just laid on his back, peacefully resting. He hoped that the hard times were finally over. They just had to get back to the old family farm, in Ponyville.

After a few minutes of silence, Applejack broke it, saying, "Hey, Mac?"

"Eeyup," he said.

"Do you ever miss ma and pa?"

He nodded, saying, "Everyday, sis."

"Me, too," she said, falling silent again.

The only sound that could be heard was the clickety-clack of the train tracks. Applejack spoke over them, again, after a few minutes.

"Hey, Mac," she said.

"Eeyup," he said.

"Do you really think that Granny Smith is still alive and kicking," she asked.

He nodded, saying, "I hope so. If not, then there wouldn't be anypony to run the farm. She needs to be there. I wouldn't worry about it, though. You know her. Tough as a hickory switch and ten times meaner than one."

"Yeah," said Applejack, "She is, ain't she. Hey, you really miss the farm, don't you?"

The older Apple shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Welp, sis. It's just nice there. Lots of good memories. It's safe, and everypony's friendly. It's really a great place to live. That's why I want us to go back."

"Well," said AJ, "You're making it happen. I hope you're right about everything."

"I will be," said Big Mac, "You'll see."

"Yeah," she said, "I'll see. I just hope you're right."

There was more silence. Only the sounds of the train could be heard.

"Hey, Mac," said the younger Apple.

"Eeyup," said the older one.

"Good night. I love you," she said.

Big Mac smiled, even though his sister couldn't see it. He said, "I love you, too, Applejack. Good night."