Hills Update

Sorry for the terrible wait, Hills fans. With updating Dancer, hockey, quitting etc etc like I mentioned in a previous blog post, it hasn't been the easiest for my favourite story to get updated. However, I think you'll be glad to know that the next chapter is next on the agenda, and is already 2k words in!

Not to mention I really really love that story, so I'll get through chapters much quicker than the Dancer, and the writing quality will also likely be higher. If you want, here's an excerpt of the first thousand or so words:

‘Apple Bloom, wake up!’

Apple Bloom hated mornings.

‘Come on, Apple Bloom!’ Sweetie Belle insisted, barely recognizable through half-asleep senses. ‘Oh boy, my sister is coming back today!’

‘It’s not like she can’t wait a few more minutes, Sweetie,’ Scootaloo replied. ‘You’ve been sleeping in every day we’ve been here. Admit it, you’d still be sleeping if she wasn’t coming today.’

Apple Bloom, moaning, slowly opened her eyes. As her sight adjusted to her bedroom’s light, her hooves began lifting her up from rest. Draped over her was a thin blue blanket—a few goosebumps still spotted her coat from the night before—and a pillow lay underneath her. She blinked, turned to her bed and saw a whole mess of sheets and pillows crumpled up in a heap.

They could have at least made the beds first.

‘Come on!’ Sweetie continued, tugging on Apple Bloom’s left hoof with her own. ‘You’re up, now we can go!’

Apple Bloom’s stomach growled. Great, she thought. Hope I don’t have to get used to this.

Sweetie continued to tug on the filly until, after several long moments for Apple Bloom, she shook out of her trance and lifted herself up from the floor. ‘Gee,’ she said, catching a glance to her bedroom window glowing a faint orange colour, ‘you could’ve at least waited until the sun was up for a few hours... got anything planned in case Rarity isn’t in town yet?’

‘I dunno, but we can kick around town if she isn’t!’ Sweetie smiled and hopped over to the bedroom door. Red was waiting on the other side, adjusting her hat’s position on her head.

‘Early mornin’, girls?’ she said, smiling. ‘Well, I’ll be! Is there something special you three had in mind?’

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and Apple Bloom groaned—both faced Sweetie Belle, who stretched her toothy grin as wide as she could. ‘Rarity’s coming back today!’ she said gleefully. Red’s eyes widened, then promptly narrowed as she glared—Sweetie quickly lost her grin, and faced a familiar jab strike her ribs. ‘Quit doing that, Scoots!’

‘Since when have you three been calling us by our real names?’ Red snarled. ‘I thought we already went over this.’

Sweetie Belle looked down on the floor and shuffled her hooves. ‘I’m awfully sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘I won’t do it again, I promise!’

Red closed her eyes and sighed. ‘I’ll take you up on that promise. As long as this doesn’t happen in public, I won’t pester you about it anymore—that aside, I bet you three are feeling mighty hungry.’

‘You have no idea,’ Apple Bloom replied, rubbing her eyes—her stomach promptly reminded her of its emptiness with another loud growl.

Red chuckled. ‘Well, let’s deal with that hunger at breakfast! Got some delicious apple pancakes just waiting to be eaten!’

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo happily followed Red out of the room—before Apple Bloom did the same, she caught a glance at a familiar tome lying on the floor. She walked over to it and dusted it off.

‘This thing?’ The filly turned the cover over—nothing. She flipped to several of the book’s pages, but nothing yet was written down. ‘Aw. Not like I expected anything from this junk.’

Apple Bloom stuffed the book in her saddlebag flung to the side of the room the night before, and promptly hung it over her back. Maybe Bookworm would still want it, she figured. Journal, maybe?

'Hey sis!' Red called out from the bottom floor. 'You gonna eat anytime soon?'

'Sure thing, I'll be right down!' Apple Bloom replied, promptly exiting the room and heading down the stairs. The breakfast table was already set, heaps of dotted-red pancakes covering four plates that rested on each side of its square surface. As if she hadn't already guessed, the filly also saw four tall mugs filled with a golden liquid beside the plates.

'Dig in!' Red insisted, motioning her hoof to the table and taking one seat for herself. All three fillies quickly and eagerly hopped into their own, eyeing their food with fervorous delight. Red picked up a fork and set to work on her pancakes first—followed closely by the three fillies.

‘So,’ Red mumbled between chews, ‘did Bookworm mention what we’ve got planned for you three?’

Apple Bloom, still feeling a little groggy, did not respond. Scootaloo shook her head.

‘Well, them pesky Argonians still think they own the darned place, so some of us have been planning to drive the varmints out of their main camp near town. We aren’t going to kill them or anything—’ Red looked to Sweetie Belle’s horrified expression. ‘—but we think it’s about time we told them to leave right where their camp is. Diplomatically.’

‘What does that have to do with us?’ Scootaloo asked—but the smile on her face and the bounce in her seat meant that she already knew. It was time for adventure.

Red nodded, as if confirming Scootaloo’s suspicions. ‘Well, you three have been spending a lot of time in the Dungeoneering Association over the past week, so Bolt figured you’d want to do something exciting! If you want to come, you would be accompanying Butterfly, myself and a few freelance adventurers that want to help out—don’t worry, I’d be keeping a close eye on you the entire time.’

‘But we can see Sapphire first, right?’ Sweetie said, eyes widening at the notion of not seeing her sister—her eyebrows curled worriedly.

Over the Hills and Far Away!

~Yipyapper