Sugarcubes (Private)

Applejack was thinking about Sugary's idea when she saw the rush of activity, realising even as Sugary said it that if they didn't take advantage of the situation now, they would lose their opportunity and probably a lot of ponies would lose a lot of pie due to them hesitating too long to decide on what seemed to be in all fairness a very solid plan.

"Consarn it!" She sighed and grabbed onto Sugary's hand while also popping up from behind their cover on her knees. "Hey, point those over here ya darn varmints, if'n you're lucky you might even get a bullet to miss before I kick your flanks right back to the gulch you crawled out of!"

"She's not normally this scary." Braeburn noted as Applejack called out the robbers with a frightening temper.

"I won't say I didn't give fair warning miss." Big Macintosh commented from inside his prison; truthfully he was hoping she had a better plan than this, and hopefully one that didn't involve guns.

"Hey! Let me finish this first!" Sugary tensed up as he pulled Applejack back into cover, but her outburst caught the attention of some of the volunteers and guards, and most of all, caught the eyes of the bandit on the roof briefly. She did not know the voice, but she briefly saw what she thought was the one mare she had hoped would not show up this soon.

((An Apple to the core, a Hero of the land.))

Sugary brought Applejack to stand, and looked her straight in the eyes. "I wish you hadn't done that, so I'll just get to it." said he as various colors and spells began to pour from him onto her little by little through her arms. "You're gonna feel several sensations..." Her muscles would become even more defined as she briefly got engulfed and merged by a spike of energy bearing a sword illusion and a Dragon Force fiery aura to Temper her strength. "It's temporary, but each will make you stronger and tougher..." Another spike and flow that looked as though she were covered in an opaque Shell of light and what seemed to be turtle-like scales would Protect her from harm even as they seemingly disappeared from sight within her. "I can tell you're resigned to do this anyway though... I got your back... Make them regret ever stepping on this land!" He smiled as one more flow of a golden glowing energy spike ran through her being as a whole, and her body became engulfed in a fierce Aura to help bring out the best of what she had and what she was just given. Sugary would then slowly cover himself in what appeared to be crystal molecules that slowly made him less and less visible, including the glow of his magic, though his voice and the fact he was still holding Applejack showed he was still very close by. "Let's set things right..." He'd become fully invisible right before her and Braeburn's eyes, and would slowly release his grip on her as he then made the hay stacks float away, revealing all but him to all others as well as slowly making the surrounding ground near her tremble like a small Quake, forcing the soil to rise and fall back into place.

The mare on the rooftop's expression slowly went from a stoic one, to a perplexed one, to a worried one, to a frightened one, and was slowly beginning to shiver. "I-I-I-I-It's her... It's her!? IT'S HER!?!?!?" She flew at a rapid speed onto the back of the building to meet up with the others prematurely, nearly dropping her rifle,to the point where the pink mare below was very puzzled as to why she was there as they were finally placing the pies in the wagon quickly. "WE GOTTA GO! NOW!! SHE'S HERE!!!"

"What!? Who the hell is here!? And why did you lea-...!?" said the pink mare as she still watched over Big Mac with disdain and caution, before getting interrupted by the frantic pegasus.

"Apl... A-Applej-... HIS SISTER IS HERE!!!" The pegasus pointed frantically at Big Mac with her finger. "Let him go! Applejack is here! The Elements might be here too!!"

"No... No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO!! That can't be right! Please tell me you're kidding!" By that point, the entire group looked both afraid and stunned as their worst of fears were slowly becoming reality.

"She was glowing! Hay moved by itself, she looked mad! Ground shaking-!"

"WHAT!?" said the group in unison, slowing themselves down further as their own fears slowly demoralized them all.

Back up the front of the building, all the others were briefly stunned as well as none had ever seen Applejack the way she looked now. All of them assumed that she was currently showing herself to be that mare of tales that helped defeat the likes of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and even Tirek. While the power flowing through her was not the same, however, it was very real, it was strong, and it was for her to make use of however she pleased of it came down to it. Needless to say, she looked imposing to all. She also had time to follow the bandits before the others would get to them if she hurried, and Sugary would make sure to not slow her down with the very ground he was manipulating by allowing her to move on even grounds. It was now all on her what to do and say...

Applejack just strode forward, casually casting an Aura around herself with Sugary's borrowed magic as every step she took was deliberate and at a snail's pace, increasing the intimidation value as she took all the time in the world dealing with these ponies who had dared to threaten and kidnap her family members. In truth she didn't intend anything too severe; she was a pony of her word, obviously, and hadn't been lying when she said she just wanted to scare them off.

Braeburn just stayed back. "Is she supposed to glow?" He asked to no one in particular.

Big Mac observed his sister with a strange look as she advanced, only able to catch a brief glimpse out of the window given where his prison was located. Applejack locked eyes with the nearest bandit who was still in view, wordlessly threatening pain beyond compare.

Initially, Sugary was somewhat surprised at the ease in which Applejack had gotten used to the magic he had used to enhance and protect her, and even more so when she willfully controlled some of it despite not being a unicorn. "Could this have to do with her experience with magic as an Element...? She's remarkably calm and composed about it too..." Keeping his distance, yet still close enough to watch over her, he addressed Braeburn as they made their way towards the bandits in a hushed voice. "Braeburn! Please, tell the others to move on stand-by. Backing up your cousins should be our priority for now if this doesn't work."

For the most part, the group of bandits were still making their preparations to depart as they remained in their position without direct opposition, still armed, and still with a hostage, though it was clear several of them were struggling to do much of anything over fear of something that was beyond them in every way. That is, until one of the mares holding a flintlock stared at the right place at the wrong time towards Applejack, shaking in place for a moment before frantically running at the pink mare holding Big Mac hostage, and immediately trying to wrestle away the wand keeping him captive while the other struggled to keep the wand.

"It's for real!! She's coming!! Just let him go!!"

"S-Stop that!!! W-We can't!!! We'll lose everything!!!"

As the mares and stallions struggled on what to do at such a unexpected and critical moment while panic began to sink in further, they'd all remain stiff as stone once Applejack was visible to all of them. They huddled into a tight group, still armed, all shaking, and with the nearby wagon filled nearly to the brim with the reserves of pies as they all looked upon her with dread, none uttering a single sound, almost as if they were looking at a ghost, and half expecting to get blown up by it.

Applejack focused on them, her eyes glowing with the power flowing through her courtesy of Sugary, while in his prison Big Macintosh looked like he was playing I Spy with himself, not even in the least concerned about the potential for disaster here. It was AJ, he knew the worst outcome that could happen was that she gave the bandits a good hidin', something he wouldn't object an awful lot to at this point.

Applejack looked over at the cart of pies. "Oh silly varmints, you won't lose anything, I promise." Applejack's tone was like she was scolding a slow two year old as she aimed her magic at one of the pies on top of the pile, instantly the pie sprang up in an aura of life, flew across to the group of bandits and splatted in the pink mare's face.

The pink mare just stood stunned as pie hit her in the face, partially because she could not believe Applejack just ruined one of the remaining pies without a second thought, and partially because she had effortlessly levitated said pie into her face even though she could swear that Applejack wasn't a unicorn or an alicorn. Where as she was panicking earlier, she now felt well and trully scared.

And said fear wasn't limited to just the apparent leader of the bunch as the others had similar thoughts about how AJ didn't seem to care about what they were stealing for all they knew. They also began to think that she probably thought little of their lives as well, and so they did what any rational frightened adults would do... "WE SURRENDER!! SPARE US!!"

Most of them tossed their weapons a fair distance away to show they were being serious and fell flat on the ground with their arms spread out for just about everyone present to see. It was somewhat different for the tallest mare and the shortest stallion though as she still held him like a weapon, and instinctively tossed him in another direction, still away from other weapons, but clearly lacking in tact as he landed in a hard thump on his back and groaned afterwards "... Whyyy~...?", and promtly passed out.

Sugary, who had been attentive and quiet in the role of support till now was very briefly stunned, but for a different reason. Once again, AJ had manipulated the magic he was using on her to her own needs but in a much more direct manner than he thought her capable of. He was well and truly fascinated at this point. But he wasn't so fascinated that he forgot what was happening, and took advantage of the opening the bandits had made for themselves to drag the weapons slowly towards AJ while aiming for the pink mare's arms for a different move. Since she was still stunned and could clearly hear her entire crew giving up, Sugary forcefully pulled her quivering hands open with telekinesis and flung the wands away as well from her. Afterwards, he stomped on the ground and made two small pillars of dirt rise from the soil behind her to hit her in the back and force her to the ground as well.

The bubble Big Mac was in was briefly moved away slowly before it popped in mid-air, dropping him a short distance. While many of the others that were watching felt their hearts sink a little as AJ used up a pie, it would be the last one lost to the bandits as the Sheriff came to his senses and made the decisive call to all. "Arrest those vermin! And get those pies back where they belong!" Everyone practically dogpiled the group that had time and again aggravated their lifestyle, up till now. During the seemingly frantic dash to deliver swift justice in numbers, cheers could be heard from among many of the locals like it was a festival, and once in a while, AJ's name would be heard loud and clear as they slowly sang her praises... Sugary mostly just kept quietly watching with a very broad smile while invisible for good measure.

Applejack smiled as her big brother walked out of the bandits base, calmly dusting off his shirt and waving away the deputies who tried to offer him medical aid, insisting he was fine. He had eyes only for his sister, who he lifted off the ground in a grateful hug then perched on his shoulders to bask in the admiration.

Applejack grinned and went along with it for a moment before she looked to Sugary and Braeburn's hiding place. "You gonna hide behind there all day Mr Market or are ya gonna come out and take the credit like you should?" She asked over the noise of the crowd.

Sugary felt Braeburn lightly give him a shove on the shoulder, in a friendly fashion. "You've impressed her." He said with a grin at Sugary. "That ain't easy."

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=17aaNqgbCVI

"Impressed? If anyone's impressed, it's me." said Sugary in a low voice as he returned Applejack's call with a broad smile and stepped forward. He rather appreciated being beckoned right into the Fanfare. So much so, that he focused his magic and began pumping his fists into the air while laughing and cheering along as sparks of light shot to the air in small fireworks, prolonging the euphoria of what had been a single decisive blow against the most recent scorn of the Appleloosans...

Once the cheer began to go down enough that he could talk again after the prisoners were fully disarmed and imprisoned, he'd try to address the Apple siblings once more. "Wow... That went spectacularly well! That said, I should get back to patrolling. For good measure at least... By the way, if that offer for a meal is still good, I'd be happy to come by later." He'd await briefly for confirmation from any of the Apples before he went back to his task.

"After what you've done? You can walk into my house and demand a four course feast and I'll serve it up." Braeburn promised, walking up to the group and giving Sugary a friendly thump on the back. "Remind me to hire you to stand outside the gates and be scary sometime when bandits roll through again." Braeburn half joked while Applejack hoped down from her brother's shoulders.

"Same for us." Applejack said, indicating her and Big Mac. "The rest of the Apples will hear about it too; ya made yourself a friend of the entire Apple family today Mr Market." Applejack assured him, offering out a hoofbump. "See you tonight for dinner?"

Sugary's smile broadened further as the Apples praised him for the aid he lent. He personally thought he hadn't done much to deserve it, but maybe it was just the years of working as a mercenary making things look seemingly less than they were really worth to others by now. Then again, it wasn't often he met others like the Apple family, who seemed rather pleasant and generous.

He cheerily returned the fist(Anthro, OP. o3o)bump with Applejack and looked at the trio. "Gosh, how could I not after the praise? You can bet I'll be there." He respectfully tipped his hat. "Better get going now though. The mood all over is great. I'd hate to see it go sour again... Not that you can't talk to me along the way again. I'm still in town." He chuckled, and would once again go about what he was virtually hired for in the first place aside from dealing with the bandits, with or without company: Help keep the peace of the town.

Applejack put a hand on her chin and let out a "hmmmm" before she gave a quick nod to Braeburn and Big Mac to go back and start the ovens. The mare herself handed Big Mac her guns and then jogged to catch up to Sugary, walking alongside him after giving him a friendly shoulder bump.

"Surely you won't say no to an extra pair of eyes on patrol?" She said, walking along with Sugary. "Besides, I ain't got nothing else to do right now seeing how mysterious Braeburn's problems have stopped. Might as well tag along with a friend while we wait for dinner tonight." She said with a smile to Sugary.

Sugary smiled back at Applejack, though he honestly wasn't expecting her to accompany him out of the three so soon, and without her weapon. "But this is perfect..." he thought. He had been wanting to get to know her better considering how she handled herself with his aid as well as her knack for using magic not made by her. "Miss, I'd be honored. I could hardly ask for more... Though you must be feeling quite at ease leaving the rifle." He honestly wondered about that. Was she really at ease? Was she being overconfident? Or did she trust him that much?

Having moved further about the town, with the occasional local waving happily at them and him waving back, he felt he finally had the right time to ask as they were in a fairly quiet location in the open. "... Miss Applejack... I really need to ask you this, but how do you know how to control magic so well? Have you taken magic lessons before?"

Applejack smiled at him as they walked along. "If you were going to try any funny stuff ya had yer chance the second I let you pour magic on me." Applejack said with a shrug. "You're an alright sort Sugary, didn't take me long to suss that out.

They had walked further in when he asked her about the magic. She hesitated before giving another shrug. "To be honest with ya, I'm not so sure myself; Granny Smith reckons that one of the reasons I can be an Element of Harmony is because of my old mum, she was a unicorn ya know?" She said as they walked along, Applejack returning the waves. "Personally, I reckon some ponies just get it by nature; when you let me use that magic of yours I felt right at home with it, like whenever we use the Elements. Fluttershy and Rainbow always say it feels funny to them, to me it just felt right."

She didn't seem to feel it a big deal as they strolled along, Applejack kicking a pebble to see if she could hit a tin can on a fence. "How'd you know anyway? Could you feel how I was usin' it?"

Sugary was surprised to find the reason for Applejack leaving the rifle was due to him as he chuckled. "I meant against other dangers and bandits, but alrighty then!" He also felt even more flattered. He still barely knew her and already he liked her company plenty.

His ears and tail flickered lightly as she then revealed a simple but familiar fact about her own family. One that helped explain a few things better. But he felt a kinship with her the most when she admitted to just plain being comfortable with having a feel for magic through raw ability, rather than any special circumstance or design. Before he commented on that fact though, he quickly got to admire and confirm a rumor about her being an expert bucker when she hit the can very accurately with the pebble. Clearly, it was a well deserved rumor in her favor, he thought. "Nice shot...! And if you really wanna know, I'm more than used to using various sorts of spells myself. Magic and Mana is as normal to me as walking by now. Finding the flow without my eyes is something I got used to. The fact I was sharing mine with you while you used it just made it even easier to feel. It's kinda like you taking my hand and using it to reach something with it." He chuckled lightly at the analogy, not really having a better way to expain it without being overly technical. He then slowly looked at her, still smiling, but his expression having a more serious, not not unkind, look to it. "... But while you're right about how it can come to just about anyone naturally, you had control of it almost as if you had formal training. In all honesty, you have a rare knack of control for a pony with no formal training from the sound of it..." He didn't call her an Earth pony on purpose, simply because he just plain had an easier time referring to pegasi as pegasus, unicorns as unicorn, and ponies as pony despite the obvious similarities. "... Would you be interested in learning how to become a Mage?" He was being very serious as to the offer. He knew full well she didn't have a horn or wings or both on her, but he offered anyway.

Applejack pulled off several more trickshots with her kicks, sending small rocks clanging off of pans hung out to dry and knocking over more tin cans as they walked. Applejack listened to his explanation, not quite understanding the logic behind lots of it but still doing her best to work with his analogies; she wasn't some student from a magic school, she was an apple farmer, so not a lot of magic knowledge was tucked away in her brain.

She looked like she was sure she'd misheard him when he asked if she'd thought about being a mage. When she double checked his expression to make sure he was serious she shook her head. "I'm flattered by the offer sugarcube but it ain't me. Savin' the world wouldn't exactly be my first choice of pass time, just kinda happened that way."

She shrugged and sat herself on a fence leading out into the plains, watching a group of buffalo practicing hunting off in the distance. "You'd think bandits would have a better place to rob wouldn't you?" She asked. "Nothing out here but pies and cider. My kinda place."

Sugary had a feeling Applejack would decline the offer, but what really and truly surprised him was what she followed it up with. He was left stunned and slightly slack-jawed. "Did she really just-...? She's..." For the first time, in a long time, he felt well and truly humbled. AJ had made her choice in such a casual way to him that he felt it was funny... So he chuckled, and then laughed heartily for a moment as he saw her before moving next to her on the fence, and leaned on it with his arms, a broad smile on his face and tears in his eyes. "T-That's not... Oh wow... Miss Applejack, I just meant if you were interested in becoming more adept at magic to use as you see fit. I really think you have a rare gift... Magic is not a hero's tool, it's just a regular tool when it comes right down to it..."

He then looked to the distance, thinking on her last words. He then muttered in a low voice something he was fairly certain of right now. "... As if you needed any special powers to be a hero... You already have a big heart..." And so he just stood there along with her for a time, looking left and right on occassion, before speaking up again. "Maybe that's just it... This town probably seemed like easy pickings... Hey, speaking of food..." He looked up to AJ's face, still smiling. "... We should probably keep moving. Don't want the others thinking we slacked off before a meal, right?" And so, he waited on her to either keep moving, or whatever seemed to suit her best.

"Heh. Maybe but I've spent my whole life knowing tools like a hoe, shovel and pitchwork Mr Market. And they've done well by me so far." She shrugged, taking her hat off to dust it as she watched the buffalo go about their business in the distance, digging a fire pit to dispose of rubbish by the looks of it.

"Maybe not Sugary but I think 'when it comes down to it' is further than I tend to think; I'm used to the simple life me." She said idly thinking back to the amount of times circumstance tried to pull her away from that simple life.

Applejack listened to his kind words and just smiled, not saying a thing but giving a look of gratitude, shuffling along the fence to sit a bit closer to him as they watched the sun begin to set. Before it actually had though Sugary made the very good point about leaving Big Mac and Braeburn waiting for too long on dinner.

"Probably right. You've seen the size on Big Mac, his appetite can almost match his build." She joked as she hopped off the fence. "Lead the way."

Sugary would look at Applejack's mane briefly as she took her hat off to dust it. He didn't feel anything in particular at that moment, but it did give him a chance to admire her mane a bit better. "Hm... Looks very healthy for a farmer's mane..."

He chuckled along with her as she spoke of her brother, and so led the way to keep patroling as they were meant to, looking forward to Dinner with the Apples. He also would occasionally stare at her briefly in thought. There was still plenty on his mind regarding her latent skill that his curiosity would simply not let go of right away, and so he thought on how to sate said curiosity over time.

There was also the fact that, while the town spirits were still high after the capture of the bandits, everything had gone relatively mellow as if no harm had been done. It didn't bother him. If anything, it helped him ease up all the more as he shared a walk with good company on a nice town. It had been some time since he got to feel so at ease during work as it were, so much so that he even went on to a topic as he hardly got any bad vibes whatsoever during patrol to just chat with her. "Say, Applejack? I gotta ask... How do you get your long mane to stay so tame and pretty?" As he asked, and lightly complimented her looks, he took off his own hat and showed his face a bit more clearly to the taller mare while showing his semi-wavy and somewhat unkept but healthy white mane to her. "I can never get mine to stay that tame for long after a shower."

Applejack seemed to enjoy the mellow atmosphere rather than being mugged by legions of ponies wanting to shout and cheer as if sore ears had become a precious gift for heroes; she had sympathised with Celestia a lot more since the first time they had saved the world and had to put up with it, though not as much as the princess of course.

"My mane?" She asked, looking a bit taken aback at the question. "Honestly, I don't do much with it; Apple family seems to have good genes for the mane, most ponies my Granny Smith's age start having their mane up and fall out and yet hers is fine and dandy." She shrugged as she held the gate to the homestead open for Sugary. "Why? Got a mane conditioning spell tucked away?" She half joked; she honestly wouldn't have been surprised.

Sugary graciously nodded in gratitude as Applejack let him through to the entrance of the homestead. There wasn't much he could say about her family just plain being a healthy one in terms of health. He did, however, look like Aj had come close to her guess as he stared back at her with a sheepish smile as he put his hat away in his Inventory with a soft light engulfing it and then dissapearing like it was nothing to him. "Funny you should say that, I do have a spell and recipee for growing my mane back quickly, but I still can't get it to stay neat after some time working. Otherwise, I just make do with what I can... So, yeah, kinda envy you there." He chuckled lightly, his muzzle briefly trying to pick up any scents in case someone had actually cooked something in advance before looking at AJ once more with calm approval and contentment. "... And I do believe we patroled the town well. Not a single sign of lingering trouble. It's almost too good to be true, but hey, I'm not complaining."

"Value it sugarcube. Seems everything and their mama in Equestria is way to eager to be causing a ruckus these days." Applejack nodded as she hopped over the gate herself after closing it. "If I had to be honest this is probably one of the first truly peaceful evenings I've seen this side of the season, what with crazy bats and power hungry centaurs constantly mucking up my plans."

She took a nice long whif of the scent coming from the open farmhouse doors. "Smells to me like apple fritters and a good big pile of roast potatoes and carrots. In for the long haul?" She asked him with a daring smile. "Big Mac likes to try and out eat the guests."

Sugary looked at Applejack with hopeful eyes as he lightly passed his hand over his stomach. "Haven't eaten anything since brunch... You can bet I'm in it for the long haul! ... Also... I heard about the events with Tirek, but what was that about bats again? I swear, it sounds familiar..." While he was curious genuinely curious, the constantly sniffing nose showed his mind was easily split between listening in on her, and seeing and tasting the food. Plus, he was looking forward to eating along with all of them as they would eventually enter the house...

"Vampire Fruit Bats. Pesky varmints, every farmer this side of Equestria knows how much of a hassle they are, but of course we get stick for trying to deal with 'em." Applejack explained as she guided Sugary toward the front door, sitting down on the porch steps to take off her boots. "But we got it sorted out in the end; we managed to put them in a section of the farm on their own before an animal control team wrangled em and took them off to a proper sanctuary. I can't afford to be giving up chunks of my farm just for the benefit of some uninvited pests."

Applejack called inside. "Big Mac, I hope you made surplus; we got a hungry stallion here and a starved little sister!" She called into the house.

Sugary seemed thoughtful what Applejack was telling him regarding the fruit bats. He had heard something about a bat migration once, but nothing specifically like what she was telling him. And then it clicked in his mind why the bat problem sounded familiar. "I see... And I just remembered! It was bugs, not bats. Parasprites if I recall. That was the pest problem I got to hear about... Actually, Ponyville seems to get all kinds of problems more than anywhere else on this continent... Really wish I didn't keep missing out on that stuff." He sounded almost dissapointed himself that he was always away during troubles there, but he gave AJ a respectful admiring glance as he knew she must have had to deal with even more than what he heard, and yet she was about as ordinary looking as a farmmare could be... and that fascinated him quite a lot.

He then would also call into the home with enthusiasm, but quieter as he intended to walk inside along with her. "I heard you like to compete with food! I'm all game for it you know!"

"Your funeral partner." Braeburn laughed as Sugary entered with Applejack, the farmer mare hanging her hat and duster on the hooks before heading in, not bothering to kick off her boots first, and immediately pulling a chair out for herself at the table, right out from under Big Mac who had just been about to sit.

The big stallion however didn't fall but rather managed to right himself and look at Sugary. "Eeyup." He said simply with a challenging grin before making a point of looking Sugary up and down. "Nope."

"Ohhh, them's fighting words." Braeburn laughed as Applejack rolled her eyes with a grin. She could cut the testosterone with a knife.