//------------------------------// // A hissing defeat // Story: The Applegrove // by Princess //------------------------------// Applejack let out a breath of relief as the ponies strolled on, the twisted fruit rolling about at their feet. She accidentally smash one, hearing the wince behind her as she noticed there must have been spider eggs inside. She examined her hoof to confirm this, when a shaking leg poked the back of her knee, making her almost jump. Looking back at what must have scared her, became face to face with herself. "Well shoot..." The mimic of her said, squinting at the real Applejack. "If I reckon I fine that impersonator wandering around here..." Fluttershy squeaked, apparently finding that herself had one as well. Nudging her over, Applejack swore to take on both of them if she had to. However, instead of like with Discord where they were the exact opposite of their element, these clones seemed to take on the worst aspects of them in general. The other Fluttershy was perched in a nearby tree, and when noticed, flapped away in a hurry. Looking down, she could already assume the battle with herself would probably be more or less long, since determination was her biggest flaw. Keeping this from her mind, she casually replied with, "Well I guess you haven't looked in a mirror lately, you look mighty fine darker than me." She huffed, noticing the pelt difference easily. "More like an... overcooked orange..." The fake Applejack spat at her feet, already digging her hoof into the ground with anticipation. "Well you best be on your rocker for this one, for I ain't holding back." Already charging at her, she ran full speed into the real one with as much force her hard head could accomplish. She didn't even get to say "Well isn't that a corny way to talk..." before being pummeled by this new comer, who apparently didn't think twice about her apple bucking hardened hindlegs. Easily punting her off, she twirled a snake like vine around her tail, snapping it off as she prepared a hasty noose. Using the new tool, she waved it over her head, hooked down the duplicate, and promptly tied her up. "Well I guess I might be thinking a bit clearer than you." She said coldly, keeping a hoof over the pony's vicious struggles as she tightens the restraints. Spitting fury, tail lashing, the duplicate fought with all her strength until she couldn't output anymore. "You just gonna leave me here to die now?" She raised an eyebrow, hoping the element of honesty wasn't just going to walk away just like that. "No I ain't." Replied the original, already clopping away. "I'm leaving myself here to die." Without another word, she beckoned the other pony along in her group to come with her. She walked for a while, not bothering to see if she was actually over her shoulder. She noticed this because the trees were thinning, and she already knew this was bad since the forest was highly dense around Ponyville. Must be getting to the center, she thought biting her lip, at least I can have a sense of direction. This didn't fair well however, and but finding a new buddy probably cheered her up than her predicament. "Applejack!" Rainbow Dash's voice cracked as she swooped over, oddly enough not flying in the open sky. "I can't believe I FOUND you! We've been looking everywhere, I mean..." "Hold your horses there, lover girl." Applejack joked, since it was a common tease to call Rainbow a bit flirty. "Any news of where everypony else is?" A solemn shake from Rainbow already answered her question, but then she asked "Do you know where we are? I mean, I can't fly higher than the tree tops. I think it's some kinda magical thingy that Twilight said when I wasn't listening." She gave a casual shrug, since not listening to anything was a pretty common thing for Rainbow. "It's called a force field, ya know." Applejack replied with a sort of smirk, now deciding that heading to Ponyville wasn't a great idea. What Rainbow made her think of finally was her friends were probably stuck out here wandering about, not even comprehending where they were. For all she knew, one of them could fall a tragic end as they exchanged idly banter, and they haven't raised a single hoof in help. Waving her tail over to the grumbling Rainbow, she hurried on, eager to reach her friends. Her luck did not fare well however, and they finally met another Manticore. It might have been the same one like earlier, but no amount of Fluttershy pleading could still the bloodlust in its eyes, or the odd, fire radiating from them. "Fluttershy uh... you ever seen this?" She called back over her shoulder, curiously looking at her. "I-I never..." She began, meeping as it let out a roar and starting to stalk forward, not even bothering to give a leap. "It's not a normal o-one... it's... has rabies or something..." She concluded to herself, shriveling down into the mess that couldn't fake courage anymore. Rainbow however, stood fast, and pushed onto a resisting Applejack. "Come on, I can take him!" She yelped, staking the ground to not be easily pushed back. "I can take all of you, anything else out there trying to scare us?" "Quiet Rainbow! You're going to get us all eaten alive or something!" Applejack hushed her, already stepping forward with the wildly pony. They could take this, and she knew it. They had years of training with all sorts of weights and other types of physical exertion, and they simply outnumbered it. That would be the case if a sheet of ice didn't trip the clumsy thing, and wasn't pummeled by an avalanche of floating pebbles. "Quickly, over here! There is not much time to waste, for time is gone and a pony should make haste!" A familiar rhyme rolled over, and they saw the certain Zebra they were looking for. Of course it was crude, for there wasn't much time to properly form it for the tongue. "Zecora!" They all said, shocked not only by her appearance, but the new ligaments added as well. Whoever made this game or whatever this was, also gave Zecora the appearance of one of the Princesses. She had the horn and wings and everything except the flowing manes, and an actively glowing horn. Hurriedly, Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy made their way over to her, just as soon as the landscape changed. "What in tarnation-" Said Applejack, and a sudden wing blocked their vision as a snow storm appeared, buffeting the area in ice, hail, and snow. "Did you do this Zecora?" She called over the howling winds, curling at the tips of her ears and freezing them fast. "Nopony would ever do this, for I do not wish to hear flesh hiss!" She called back, and it occurred to Applejack to try and peak over the wing to notice the feathers were indeed hissing. Also, a snake breathing poison and the flurry above them was assaulting them, and Zecora was not harmed. Yet, anyhow. Taking the next course of action, she beckoned rainbow to try and sneak around. The snake did not notice them, and she also saw a Tiara on its head that look strikingly like Twilight's when the Elements of Harmony were joined. Taking a gallop, there were no words needed to be spoken. They punched straight into the snake, taking it to the ground and delivering a kick to what she thought was it's stomach. The snake hissed in rage, and Zecora coughed a bit. Some of her fur was gone, and raw, red hide shown under it. Her horn glowed against as the snake started to rise into the air by the glow, and flew off into the distance, to a mountain or somewhere perhaps, since they were still sticking to the no fatal wound rule it seemed. "That was a close one..." Mouthed Fluttershy, nuzzling into the large pony's side. Zecora nodded as she gathered them around in her wings again, looking up into the sky to see the moon. She reckoned that they should at least rest a while, since Applejack and Rainbow Dash were panting now, and all of them had a rough journey. "A camp should be laid so that we can sleep and not be depraved." All ponies nodded to that, even though she probably meant deprived. Exhaustion hung over them as they soundly went to sleep, not even bothering to conceal themselves. The bush would have to do, for there was nothing else here for them to hide under.