//------------------------------// // Ch.16: Extreme Inconvenience // Story: A Hairy Problem // by BlueBastard //------------------------------// Chapter 16: Extreme Inconvenience The level of ecstasy that Applejack felt as she went on her first forest run in weeks was impossible to describe. She’d decided to take two weeks off from running after the incident with the dogs, not even trying to go running around the farm after nearly giving herself away the first time, just to be safe. The urge to run had been sated somewhat with an intense race with Rainbow Dash earlier in the week, but she couldn't fully feed the need for speed without the extra traction her padded paws gave her. The hunger to let loose, to indulge that wild side, was finally being met; and Applejack couldn't be happier. But there were other thoughts nagging at her as she followed the old path from that first night back to Castle Everfree. During the race with Rainbow Dash, the desire Applejack had of winning was in conflict with another desire. One to keep looking at the plot of the pegasus she was racing. While the idea of her wanting to stare at another mare’s plot was uncomfortable enough simply because Applejack didn't swing that way, it was why Rainbow’s butt was so appealing that truly horrified Applejack. Rainbow had a very tasty looking plot. With “tasty” being used to describe something she actually wanted to eat. Like food. Applejack ran harder, shaking her head to try and get the horrifying mental images out of her head. But the images of Rainbow Dash being bloodily cut up to be rendered into food just wouldn't leave. To try and make things slightly easier on her psyche, Applejack tried to think of Rainbow Dash being horribly mutilated and turned into cupcakes. However, the idea was no less horrifying, and the result only generated another mental image of Pinkie Pie’s “alternate” mood where she was wearing parts of other ponies she’d murdered like some kind of sick dress. Worst of all, though, had to be how Applejack envisioned herself in the middle of all this. In her mind’s eye, she could only see herself as the wolf she was now, with a few differences that truly made her look more canine than equine. Internally, however, this Applejack was a much different pony, if she could even be called that anymore. Feral and uncontrollable, there was no trace of the farm pony in the beast rampaging on a bloody mission. Rainbow Dash had only been the first victim, the other element bearers soon found themselves viciously ripped apart by fangs and claws to feed the monster, neither pony nor wolf. Then it was the rest of her family; Granny was easily dispatched, Big Mac soon after. Finally, all there was left in the mental nightmare was a wounded, bleeding Apple Bloom, caught in a corner and begging for Applejack’s mercy. But this monstrosity only saw her sister as food and with a sudden leap the corrupted element of honesty flew at the helpless filly… …and in reality Applejack slammed headfirst into a tree. It took a few moments to recover from the resulting daze, but otherwise she was unharmed physically. Mentally, however, AJ knew she was losing control of herself, of this werewolf thing. Surely her friends could help, or maybe Zecora could make some kind of potion that would lessen the urges to eat ponies. Yet at the same time the feeling inside of her, the one that wanted her to keep this werewolf thing a secret, was protesting those ideas. What am Ah gonna do? lamented the troubled lycanthrope as she sat on the forest ground, torn on what she was to do. She couldn't keep up the lying forever, sooner or later she’d make a mistake and the whole town would fear her, the next monster to terrorize the town. But her friends would need to know, it was bad enough none of them knew while Sandalwood and Lyra, two ponies she didn't interact with nearly as much, had forced the secret from her. There would be a time to spill the beans, that much was true, but there was no way to know when that time would come. And until then, Applejack would be a prisoner within her own body, fighting a losing struggle against the thing she was turning into. She felt it coming, but did nothing to stop it. Tilting her head towards the moon, she let out a weak howl, mirroring her own self-perception. It was so weak that nothing in the forest seemed to pay it any heed, as if it had never happened. Applejack was jealous of the Everfree Forest for that: if there was anything it wanted to ignore; it could do so without problem. The same could not be said of the poor farmer, not when it her problem influenced her very behavior. Except she had something the forest did not: she had the smartest unicorn in all of Equestria for a best friend. Ah gotta stop hidin’ this from mah own friends, thought Applejack, mentally shouting down that other feeling that kept trying to tell her doing so was a bad idea. It’s only hurtin’ everypony the longer Ah keep this under wraps. Tomorrow…the truth comes out. With her resolve boosted, she took off back to the farm to hopefully get some sleep. If everything went to plan, it would be a long day ahead of her, but at least she wouldn't have to fight against her own element afterwards. _____________________________________________________________________________________ “H-hold on, please!” Fluttershy called out as she descended the steps. She could have simply glided down, but it was extremely early in the morning, Luna hadn’t even lowered the moon yet, so the rudely awakened pegasus wasn't going to risk crashing due to a groggy head. The fact remained, however, that somepony was banging on the door and had rudely awakened her. The most confusing part of it all, though, was that she didn't know who could possibly be calling at this hour. Opening the door, she found a strangely hyper Twilight standing outside, a letter written on royal parchment floating in midair next to her and surrounded by the unicorn’s purple magic aura. “Ohthankgoodnessyou’reawakeFluttershyIreallydoapplologizebutrightnowthereisasituationinFillydelphiathatIreallyneedyourhelpwith!” Before Fluttershy could ask for clarification, Spike, who happened to be standing next to the out-of-character Twilight, provided it; “Princess Celestia sent a letter asking for Twilight’s help. According to the princess, there’s an ursa minor causing problems all along the forest border near Fillydelphia and since Twilight dealt with the ursa here in Ponyville she felt it would be wise for her to handle the problem in Filly.” “ButI’drathernotresorttoasmuchpropertydamageasIwasforcedtoperformlasttimesoIwashopingyoucouldcomealongandhelpcalmtheursadownbeingthatyourspecialtalentworksongiantcreaturesaswellassmallones,” blurted Twilight, clearly not used to speaking in the same fashion as Pinkie Pie. Fortunately, Fluttershy had caught enough of the words to understand the situation. “Oh, of course I’ll come! That ursa is probably just distraught over something and can’t find its mother. Just let me go pack some things, but before that…erm…” Fluttershy brushed the ground with her hoof nervously before asking “are you feeling alright, Twilight?” “WhyyesIactuallyfeelquiteenergeticwellnotinamagicalsenseasIdon’thavethepowerofanalicornoranythingbutmaybeit’smoreofaphyiscialsenseas-“ Spike cut his adoptive big sister off; “Twilight wanted to try coffee so she could be as awake this early as she normally is during the lighted part of the day. Unfortunately, she tried to make the coffee herself and I suspect may have put one too many scoops of sugar into the mix.” “Scoops?” asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow at her lifelong companion, “Thebookdidn’tsayanythingaboutaddingsugarintothecoffeeonlythatitwasprettycaffinatedexceptIwasn’tsurehowcaffinateditwassoIjustmadethesamebatchofcoffeeoverandovertotryandincreasetheamountofcaffinesoIwouldbeenergeticenoughforthisendevor.ObviouslyIsucceeedno?” Spike faceplamed and Fluttershy just cringed. This was going to be a long trip with hyperactive Twilight, and then even longer once the energy rush died and made the unicorn into a sluggish mass of fur, horn, and limbs. Hidden in the woods, out of both sight and hearing, a dark figure overheard the entire conversation. He grinned, revealing his sharpened canines. This was the moment he’d been waiting for, to begin the more “interactive” part of his plan. With Celestia’s favored pupil and the weak-willed pegasus out of the way, there was only one pony who could stop what was in store. Of course, that was exactly what he wanted. Taking care to not be noticed, the inequine presence made his way to another side of Ponyville. This time, his destination was The Meatery. Oh, how he wanted to partake in the succulent delights that no doubt resided within the kitchens! However, doing so would throw suspicion onto whatever disguise he was using due to most ponies refusing to acknowledge the fact meat was a perfectly good item on the menu, and he was above having to scrounge through refuse for edibles. For materials to enable his plans, however, was a perfectly justifiable reason for dumpster diving. Especially since The Meatery was the only establishment for miles that would throw out the things he needed. It was harder than he thought. The tantalizing smell of all that meat just inside the back door to the kitchen almost made him go completely feral and just raid the place right then and there. Only the promise of eventually being able to eat such meats to his heart’s content through his current objective kept him focused. On the other hoof, it was exactly what he wanted, because he’d need the best meat smells he could get if the plan was to work. Once again, lady luck was on his side, as the things he sought were still fresh from the preparation work, more than enough was available for his purposes. With his resources gathered, there was no time to lose as he bolted off into the night. He had a long way to travel, longer still when factoring in the return trip, but the end result was going to be so worth the hardship. ___________________________________________________________________________________ The next morning… “Sweetie Belle, you’re going to be late for school!”  Rarity tapped her hoof impatiently. Normally her little sister was better about being on time for school, but right now the tiny unicorn had taken over the bathroom and had been working on something for a period of time much longer than what she usually devoted to things. “Alright, alright! I’m done!” called back Sweetie, the sound of her decent following close behind. Yet, the…thing…that came to a stop in front of Rarity, while looking like Sweetie Belle, did not look like Sweetie Belle at the same time. “Sweetie, have you been trying to use my hair styling tools again?!” intoned Rarity, the answer already obvious. While it was easy enough to see the younger sister had actually tried to replicate the big sister’s hair curls on her own, inexperience and complete lack of knowledge on how to use said tools had turned Sweetie Belle’s mane into a stark parody of Rarity’s hair so horrid that words simply do not exist to aptly describe what sat on top of her head. “Um…yes?” replied the offender, hoping that honesty would mean less trouble. Rarity just rolled her eyes as she magically summoned the abused tools from the upstairs water closet. Now back in the grip of their master, the devices made short work of restoring Sweetie’s mane back to its usual large curls. “You know I've told you not to use these things, sister, they’re not meant to be held physically in one’s hooves.” Scolded Rarity, “since we both know your magic hasn't yet manifested itself beyond the occasional spark or two, I suspect that’s exactly what happened isn't it?” “Yeah…” Sweetie despondently confirmed.  “I was just trying to make myself look more fashionable to show up Diamond Tiara! She’s been going on and on about how her daddy got her a private hair stylist and just won’t shut up about it!” “Don’t let her boasts about how much better she is than you get under your fur, Sweetie. Besides, was she one of three fillies chosen to be a flowerfilly at a royal wedding?” “No.” “Does she have a big sister who happens to be an element bearer and so is one of the most important ponies in the entire land?” “No.” “And does she always end up late for school?” “No.” “Well, that’s what somepony is going to be if they don’t get going!” teased Rarity as she nuzzled her smaller counterpart. Taking the hint, Sweetie just giggled before grabbing her saddlebag and heading out the door, off to another day of adventure in learning and ignoring the biggest brat in the entire town. Rarity watched her sister leave the Boutique, shaking her head in bewilderment at Sweetie’s antics. “At least she was doing it for reasons other than trying to get her cutie mark in hair styling again.” With Sweetie Belle out for the day, Rarity proceeded to get to what she’d planned for the day. Mostly it was just housekeeping and working on an order of fine tuxedo shirts for Canterlot clientele. The plans changed when Pinkie Pie came over to visit while Rarity was hanging up some finished tuxedos that had just come out of their first wash. “Hi, Rarity!” called out the party pony. “A good afternoon to you, too, Pinkie.” “Watcha doin’?” “Oh, just setting out these tuxedos to dry. They’re just the first ones of this order I need to fill for some big name director over in Canterlot. He’s doing some kind of musical, A Chorus Line or something.” “That sounds…productive!” chirped Pinkie, who really thought it actually sounded kind of boring. But it made for a great subject to change topic from. “At least, more productive than what Twilight and Fluttershy are doing.” “Oh?” Rarity finished putting up the last tuxedo on the line and turned to focus her attention on Pinkie. “What are they up to today?” “Actually, they've probably been at it since last night, but considering how long it would take them to get to Fillydelphia I guess it would have already been past sunrise when they actually started doing what they went to do.” “Which was…?” questioned Rarity. A normal pony would have begun to lose their temper at Pinkie, but having known the excitable mare for so long made Rarity understand that Pinkie eventually would get to her point. “From what I overheard from Gummy, it would seem Fillydelphia is experiencing a problem with an Ursa Minor and since Twilight dealt with the one Snips and Snails angered about a year ago Princess Celestia requested she go assist Filly. She also took along Fluttershy since she’s good with animals and Twilight theorizes that the Ursa is just cranky, which Fluttershy is usually good at fixing.” “I see.” Replied Rarity. While the idea that Gummy was a reputable source of information, much less a source at all, was ridiculous, Pinkie worked in ways that nopony could explain and the only resolve for anypony dealing with her was “just go with it”. Plus, as a close friend, Pinkie had no reason to try and fool Rarity with a story like that. Then the fashionista remembered she’d had a planned project that Fluttershy’s absence worked out wonderfully for allowing. “Say, Pinkie, do you know when Twilight and Fluttershy will be returning?” “I dunno, why?” “Well, there’s something I want to do for Fluttershy, but you have to keep it a secret, alright?” Pinkie nodded vigorously. Despite her free spirited nature suggesting otherwise, she was definitely one who could be relied upon as a confidant. Even for such a small matter like this. “Well, I know Fluttershy could probably use a new light jacket, one with wing slits, for those chilly morning when she tends to her animals, so I was going to make one for her. However, it’s a surprise, so you can’t tell, alright?” “Okey Dokey Lokey!” answered Pinkie, motioning to indicate zipping her mouth, locking it with the key, digging a hole, burying the key in that hole, building a house atop that hole, and then moving into that house. “Right. Well, I’d best be getting to work on that before these tuxedos dry. I’ll see you later then, Pinkie!” Rarity then trotted into her house-slash-workplace to begin work on her next generous gift. Pinkie, however, did not leave her spot. The moment Rarity closed her front door, the “Pinkie Sense” (Pat. Pend.) began giving the party pony Sizzerific convulsions, which Pinkie knew to mean “stay right where you are”. Sure enough, five minutes later a much more distressed Rarity came out and looked like she was at a loss as to what to do. “Oh, Pinkie, it’s terrible!” lamented Rarity, totally not noticing Pinkie had been standing outside her house for no discernable reason, “I had this fabulous shade of burnt umber that I wanted to use for Fluttershy’s new jacket but I don’t have enough material, and there’s no way I’ll make it to the fabric warehouse in time to get more!” Pinkie, however, knew there was plenty of time. “Rarity” said Pinkie, sticking out a hoof, “grab my hoof.” Rarity looked quizzically at the extended hoof. “Why would I want to do that, darling?” “Trust me on this, Rarity” answered Pinkie, winking. With nothing to lose, Rarity grabbed Pinkie’s hoof. “Okay, I’ve got your hoof. Now what is suppo-“ The world seemed to grow bright all of a sudden, as if everything began to irradiate light brighter than the sun. Except it didn't instantly blind Rarity. Instead, it was if everything was erased from existence, only for it to suddenly begin reforming in a split second. “-sed to happen?” Rarity was shocked. Somehow, Pinkie and Rarity were now standing in front of the local fabric warehouse on the other side of town, despite having been in front of Carousel Boutique but a second ago. The pale gray unicorn looked around to make sure this wasn't a hallucination, that what had just happened, happened. “Pinkie, how did you-“ “Sorry, Rarity, I can’t tell you how I did that. I made a Pinkie Promise not to tell!” preempted Pinkie, giving a shrug of apology. All Rarity could do was shake her head in disbelief once again. This was turning out to be a very interesting, if not perplexing, day. __________________________________________________________________________________ If at that very moment, one were to ask Pursuit how his day was going, he would answer “what do you think?” So far, things had technically gone to plan. He’d made the trip in record time, and of course his simple plan of luring the beast away with the bones had worked, but the lack of available information proved to almost be his downfall once again. He knew the creature was fast, he just didn't know it was just as fast as he was when not in his preferred form. The creature was also extremely tough, but while he could have taken it on easily that would have defeated the entire point of this misadventure. No, he had to lead it to Ponyville. After all the casing he’d done of the settlement, he was sure the only way to defeat the creature was to have superequine abilities. And to his knowledge, the only two such ponies currently living in Ponyville were himself and Applejack. The crashing of footfalls behind him prompted him to quicken the pace so that he could keep the cretin behind him on his trail. Just over the horizon of the next hill he could see the familiar windmill just outside of the town. Just a few more minutes running and then he could ditch the bones, still smelling of meat, and run away. A “Boom and Zoom” technique he’d adapted from what he knew of pegasus combat maneuvers in some book he’d read years ago. “War Thunder” or something stupid like that, it had been written in Loshad and he’d never really been good at reading that language. But it was beside the point. All that mattered right now was getting his charge to the town and seeing if his split second choice months ago had been the right one. _____________________________________________________________________________________ It had taken some fiddling, but Rarity finally managed to get all her things through the front door of the fabric warehouse. In addition to a fresh bolt of the burnt umber for Fluttershy’s jacket, Rarity had seen fit to pick up some other things she’d been meaning to restock on for the shop. In the end, she was hauling out an entire cartload of goods all with her telekinesis. Following behind her was Pinkie Pie, reared up and carrying more of Rarity’s goods. “Are you…sure that you…need all this?” groaned Pinkie, although mostly just out of humor. While not as strong as Applejack, Pinkie still had the natural above average strength of all Earth ponies and so really wasn't having problems with the weight. “You wouldn't believe how much fabric I've had to use lately, Pinkie dear.” Replied Rarity, who unwisely was beginning to behave as if she was just as haughty as a rich countess in Canterlot. “Why, just for the jacket I’m making for you-know-who, I not only need a bolt of the burnt umber but also a few yards of whHHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA!” Out of nowhere, a fast moving, cream colored blur barreled right into Rarity, knocking her down and causing her telekinesis to fail, which meant all of her stuff also fell to the ground. The rude pony didn’t seem affected; still running even though he dropped a sack of something due to the impact. Rarity instantly could smell something horrid in the sack, but she had little time to react before the burnt umber bolt came loose and covered both Rarity and the sack. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Cerberus was tired, hungry, and angry. Its three heads were all in agreement that there had been something that smelled juicy and absolutely delicious, something irresistible. Thus, it had journeyed a very long way from its home in search of that tantalizing meal. Now, as it finally caught up to the scent, it was like a dream come true. On the ground lay what was unmistakably a gigantic serving of baby back ribs. The burnt sienna color was unmistakably meat bathed in a delicious barbecue sauce, and the bones sticking out were only further confirmation that this was a perfectly sized slab of meat for the three headed guard dog. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Rarity, having just been knocked to the ground by some rude pony  and then having all her goods tossed to the ground, wasn't having a good day. It would have been made worse had Pinkie not quickly grabbed Rarity and dragged her just in time to avoid the crashing paw of Cerberus. “Wh-hat?!” cried Rarity, still trying to process the sudden turn of events. “Don’t worry, I got it!” shouted Pinkie, who quickly zipped over to an inconspicuous, hollow tree and began reaching up into it. However, a look of surprise and then frustration washed over the earth pony’s face as she began to try digging harder into the tree. “Pinkie, what are you doing?!” “This is supposed to be one of my emergency ball stashes, but the ball isn’t here! I know it’s the yellow ball and the blue stripe with the red star!” “Well, I’m sure you did something with it but now is not the-“ “Oh! I remember! I gave that ball to a blue dalmatian and a periwinkle cat some time ago! Guess I need to get a replacement, huh?” Rarity just gave a nondescript annoyed look at Pinkie, “Yes, really, that’s so important to remember something like that instead of trying to help me recover my things from not getting destroyed by that…that…beast!” To underline her point, she gestured to Cerberus, who had already scared off most of the town back into their homes and was now apparently rummaging through the scattered fabric goods Rarity had bought. “Hmm…okay!” replied Pinkie, oddly cheerful in a situation Rarity would classify as a complete disaster, “I think I know how to fix this!” “Oh, that’s right, that hoof trick thing!” exclaimed Rarity, now glad that her sugar-blooded friend worked in ways beyond explanation. She stuck out a hoof, expecting Pinkie to take it. Instead, Pinkie just looked confused. “What do you want me to do, exactly?” “That thing you did, when you somehow took me and you from my house to the warehouse! Can’t you do it now?” “Oh, yeah that. Well, erm, I could, but it doesn't work on nonliving things such as your fabrics. Because then I could possibly go invade the private property of other ponies like banks and museums where I could steal things and become rich off of ill-gotten goods that don’t belong to me!” Rarity rolled her eyes, of course Pinkie wouldn't be able to save her things. And just when this day had been looking so good… “But there is possibly another way” said Pinkie, determination setting in on her face. “Can you use your magic to hold all of the things?” “Well, yes, but that would take a lot of concentration and I wouldn't be able to walk more than at a snail’s pace. What good would that do?” “Speed isn't the problem, believe me on that. What I need you to do is sit on my back.” “You want me to WHAT?!” Rarity was aghast. The only reason ponies would ever ride another pony bareback is if there was no other option of transporting a pony for a number of reasons, such as leg injury or being infants. “We don’t have time for this!” countered Pinkie, throwing Rarity’s own concern over the fabrics being destroyed a few feet away against her. “Oh, alright…” conceded Rarity, who proceeded to climb onto Pinkie’s back. It was a very strange sight; a light gray, purple maned unicorn sitting on the back of the color pink given equine form. It was like something out of children’s entertainment for the level of silly it had. “Good, now pick up all your stuff!” Rarity did so, the remains of her shopping trip glowing in a blue aura and rising off of the ground, much to the confusion of Cerberus, whose three heads just looked around trying to understand what had happened. Unfortunately, Rarity’s mental maneuvering of the burnt sienna cloth back into a rolled up bolt was hurried, and so the sack of meat-smelling bones got rolled up inside. “Now hold on!” announced Pinkie suddenly. Rarity was about to ask why but then felt herself hug Pinkie’s neck tightly as the world suddenly started moving around her at a very fast pace. Pinkie, not being the competitive type, generally didn't demonstrate her natural endurance, which while not allowing speeds on the level of Applejack or Rainbow, did allow her to run at a fairly fast clip with a heavy load on her back, namely one very shocked unicorn. Cerberus, however, noted the smell of meat moving away and proceeded to barrel down the town streets after it. Having been denied his meat, he was really pissed off and somepony was going to pay. The chase lasted only maybe three minutes, but to Rarity it was like an eternity. The beast was almost upon the two when Pinkie suddenly made a sliding motion and managed to slip right inside the front door of Carousel Boutique, Rarity and her garment materials in tow. Slamming the door shut with her telekinesis, Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, at least-“ The ground shook, as something large, heavy, and fast slammed into the side of the building. Luckily for Rarity, Carousel Boutique was actually an experimental building when it was built, years before her family moved into town from Maneiappolis. It was designed to be an extremely study building, able to withstand great abuse from the elements. Right now it was demonstrating its hidden powers by resisting every attack Cerberus made against it. But there was no telling if it would eventually give into the assault. “Oh, what are we going to do?! That beast is going to destroy the Boutique because we've angered it somehow!” wailed Rarity, her dramatics a little more justified than usual in the face of losing her house. “Maybe the others can help?” suggested Pinkie, referring to the rest of the Mane Six. “No, that won’t work, Twilight and Fluttershy won’t ever make it back in time to help!” “I meant Applejack and Rainbow Dash, silly! I’m sure they can do something to at least buy time until the other two come back.” “I guess we don’t have much of a choice, but how are you-?” “Wait right here!” ordered Pinkie, before rushing over to a window, opening it, and diving to the outside through it. It happened to be a back window, one that Cerberus wasn't paying attention to, so she was able to make her escape to seek help for Rarity. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash was lounging around on her bed, reading some new action thriller novel Twilight had recently finished and recommended. As usual, the intelligent unicorn had been right and Rainbow found herself really liking Razorblade Angel. Well, most of it, anyway. The only major problem she had with the book was that it involved the presence of the most obscene monsters that had ever been conceived; giant mutant hornets who were all endowed with bull sized- “Rainbow! RAINBOW!” cried the unmistakable voice of Pinkie…outside her cloudhouse’s door? Normally, Rainbow would have rolled her eyes and enthusiastically gone to answer the door. However, the tone of urgency was clear in Pinkie’s tone, which meant something bad had happened. Thus, Rainbow rushed down to her front door to find Pinkie standing on the other side. On the clouds. “Pinkie, what’s…keeping you on the clouds?” asked Rainbow, concerned about Pinkie’s defying the laws of physics and magic combined. “No time to explain! Cerberus is back, and he’s going after Rarity for some reason! Twilight and Fluttershy are out of town, so it’s us to save her!” Rainbow just gave a quick nod and immediately shot off into the sky, heading for Carousel Boutique. She didn't know how Pinkie had gotten up to the cloudhouse, as Twilight’s old balloon was nowhere in sight, and then how Pinkie would get down, but that wasn't important. Plus, since it was Pinkie Pie, the explanation probably would make the situation make even less sense. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Applejack surveyed the part of the farm currently known as “the nursery”. It was where apple tree sprouts were being grown into places where most of the old trees had died and stopped producing. Those expired trees were replaced with saplings, then after being cut down were processed on-site into usable lumber boards. Since the farm was quite large and there was always a steady supply of old trees to harvest, the surplus of lumber was the secret reason why the Apple Family Barn managed to keep getting destroyed almost every year without in turn bankrupting the family, as outside of paint and metal the rest of the necessary materials were already in storage. But that wasn't really what Applejack was thinking about. Within her head, she was at war with herself on deciding a time to reveal her secret to her friends. And then her family would be an even bigger problem, because while her friends were effectively as close as blood relatives at this point, they at least didn't live in the same building as her. Plus, she suspected that Big Mac might have some suspicions about her, due to his odd reactions to her slightly unusual behaviors before the first transformation. Does he know somethin’ Ah don’t? wondered Applejack, questioning if her family had buried secrets that, for whatever reason, were being kept from her. It sort of made sense; Big Mac was the only male presence on the farm and had been in charge of running it alongside Granny ever since Appleseed and Cornflower had died of Pneumonia. Or did they? That chilling thought caused Applejack’s eyes to widen in shock. Pieces of information that were formerly unrelated suddenly began to connect like puzzle pieces. It wasn’t much, since her parents had died so long ago and she barely even school age at the time, but now from the perspective of a grown mare the truth began to unfold. Mom’s cutie mark…it was fadin’ like mine right before she passed… pondered the pony as she absentmindedly glanced back at her own marked flank. Despite what Twilight had said, the condition seemed to have only worsened as the once bright red was now shifted to a reddish orange. Almost as if her cutie mark was a branding from a hot iron instead of being a purely natural thing. How nopony else, not even her own family, had noticed since Twilight first pointed it out was beyond her, but if it got even worse considerations would need to be made about wearing some kind of covering to hide it. She knew there was more to the connection between what happened to her mother and the issues she herself was having, but it was interrupted by one of the apple collection buckets suddenly exploding, with apples flying everywhere. “What in tarnation?!” exclaimed AJ. “Sorry!” replied the head of Pinkie, which stuck out from the still-half-full bucket, “No time to explain, Rarity’s in trouble and needs our help!” “What kinda trouble?” inquired AJ, long since used to having Pinkie appear in places and ways that shouldn't be possible. She was also well used to Rarity considering the most minor of problems, such as one of her fake eyelashes go missing, as a national emergency. “She’s stuck in her house while it’s getting attacked by Cerberus! And no, we don’t know why, either!” “Cerberus?! Are you sure?!” “I had to carry Rarity on my back as we were running from him, so I’m super-dooper-upper sure!” Guess I’ll deal with breaking the bad news to them all later, no point when one of them is dead thought Applejack. “Alright, I’ll be right on my way once I get my lasso!” “Hurry!” cried Pinkie, sinking into the bucket as if trapped in a bottomless pit of apples. Applejack paid no attention as she raced to the barn, grabbing her trusty rope. She didn't know if it was strong enough to handle a three headed mastiff, but it was the best she had. And if that failed…Applejack shook her head before rushing to Rarity’s rescue, rope in mouth. Ah will not go that far, not unless it’s absolutely necessary! __________________________________________________________________________________ At that same moment, Celestia was holding day court, listening to the representative from some group of activist ponies go on and on about some reform that needed to be made. She was pretty sure it involved the recent hike in how much the upper class was being taxed, but she’d really just lost interest and didn’t bother. Almost everything that was being brought directly to her attention was written the exact same, to which she only needed to hear the elaborately detailed conclusion to understand what her life was being wasted on. She’d become quite adept over the years of developing a sense of when to tune back in. But until that time was necessary, she actually liked these periods of giving ponies a warm, seemingly caring smile while simultaneously imagining weird things happening to the current speaker in her head. Right now she was imagining an entire contingent of creatures that resembled bipedal monkeys who were experts in space-set battles, aiming a gigantic railgun at the droning pony holding the floor and preparing to fire a single sand grain at sufficient velocity that would deliver the force of an orbital rainnuke into the brain of the boring stallion before her. For all that she was the epitome of a wise and kind leader; Celestia had never been above imagining how to kill her subjects in increasingly horrifying and complex ways for her own enjoyment. Regrettably, she could sense the very-still-alive speaker reaching the apex, so now she had to reject her reality and substitute it with the one she was part of. However, right as he was about to go into his conclusion, a Royal Guardspony burst into the room. “Your Majesty! Your presence is needed at the garrison!” Oh thank me, thought Celestia, I seriously would prefer a short war over having to listen to rich plotholes complain about a one-percent tax exclusive to them. But she still had some royal duties to do. “Due to this sudden occurrence, day court has been canceled for the rest of the afternoon.”  Announced Celestia, before proceeding to rise from the throne and follow the guardspony out of the room so fast that there wasn't any time for the petitioners and representatives to realize they’d have to wait another day to complain to the sun princess. Celestia, on the other hand, was just absolutely delighted. “Thank you, Angel Starr, I don’t know how much longer I was going to last in there!” “I can only imagine it wasn't for much longer, your highness. You may wish you were back there after you see what’s going on, however.” That brought Celestia’s elation crashing back down to Earth. Angel Starr was one of the veterans of the Royal Guard and one of the few who preferred to remain in their natural form instead of the disguise spell which made all guard ponies look exactly the same regardless of gender. She’d been at the heart of the Changeling invasion a few months back, and many other border conflicts years before. If something was troubling her about the situation at hand, then it couldn't be good. Luna was already waiting in the garrison with about a half dozen other high ranking officers. It was still taking Celestia a while to get used to not having Shining Armor around, he’d been honorably discharged as Captain so he could take up the role of Prince Consort next to his wife Princess Cadence in the Crystal Empire. In his place now was Captain Stonewall, a very gruff but able soldier who had managed to get the guard back in shape after the humiliating failure to deal with Chrysalis’s forces. “What’s going on?” asked Celestia as she entered the room, assuming the behavior of a concerned national leader. Angel Starr followed behind, locking the door so no eavesdroppers could listen in. “It’s about that guard dog; Cerberus, your majesty” answered Stonewall, clearly concerned with this sudden added weight of responsibility, “the guard division that’s in charge of the Tartarus prison facility say he’s just up and vanished.” “Is the prison still secure?” “Thankfully, it is. The division tightened security once that mutt disappeared, but it’s straining their numbers. It’s hard enough to get troops down there, pushing them past their limits will inevitably-“ “We are well aware of the consequences, captain” interrupted Luna, cutting off Stonewall before he went into detail about what would happen if there was a jailbreak at Tartarus. “However, wasn't there a similar incident not too long ago where Cerberus had only gone to a nearby town for some reason and was later returned without incident?” “Yes, but from the reports my predecessor filed on the matter the previous incident was just Cerberus following his natural instincts. Even if he’s got three heads, you can’t keep a dog chained up without him wanting to break free and push his boundaries. He was also returned without problem by your protégé’ Princess Celestia, so no lasting damage was done.” Celestia caught the implication in the captain’s voice that there was a clear difference between then and now. “How is this situation any different?” The concern was clear in Stonewall’s face, “This time, your highness, some of the guards and even some of the inmates claim to have seen something vaguely resembling a pony prowling around and trying to get Cerberus's attention.” Luna was taken aback at the idea some information had come from those imprisoned within Tartarus itself. “Why did the prisoners give such information freely? Surely there was an end of the deal that somepony agreed to that would benefit those evils.” “You won’t believe this, princesses, but from what I was told the inmates exchanged information only on the grounds that the guards do everything in their power to keep this particular pony as far away from them as possible. They may be unwilling captives in any other situation, but the mere mention of the strangest detail about our mystery pony sent them into near hysterics and pleading to not be punished by, and I quote; ‘kicking us out there to fend off the darkest of Equestria’s shadows’. No idea what that could mean.” Celestia, however, did. There was only one pony she knew of that could scare even the worst of the criminals within the country. But if what she suspected was true, then it could develop into a PR nightmare for the crown at best. She really did not want to consider the worst case scenario. “Tell me, captain, what was the most unusual detail given to describe this visitor?” Stonewall reached behind to scratch his neck, “Funny you should ask that, everypony almost universally mentioned he looked far harrier than the usual pony. Almost as if he was part pony and part hairy monster, some statements claim.” For the briefest moment, the princess of the sun felt lightheaded. Everything had pieced together just as they all began to fall apart. There might still be time, though… “Captain,” ordered Celestia, “word about this gets out to nopony, ESPECIALLY not anything about the ‘hairy visitor’ who is supposedly responsible for Cerberus disappearing again. All communication from Tartarus is to be funneled directly through Canterlot and not seen by anypony below sufficient rank to see top secret information. If you have guards looking for Cerberus, keep them on the trail . HOWEVER, should they come across anything resembling a hairy half-pony, they are to not engage and get the buck out of there. Am I clear?” “Yes, your majesty!” saluted Stonewall. He then turned and barked out orders of his own. Shortly, the only two figures left in the garrison were the Princesses. “What was that all about?” asked Luna, not quite sure what Celestia was so worried about. “How could I have been so blind, the signs were all there…” “Celestia!” shouted Luna in the RCV, forcing Celestia to snap back to reality, “What is going on?!” “He’s back, Luna,” answered Celestia in a voice that rivaled Fluttershy for being the quietest audible expression of words, “that ancient devil who has long sought to overthrow us since practically the day we ascended the throne is once again at large.”  “Who, Celestia, who could possibly be almost as old as us and still think they could overthrow the twin monarchy of Equestria?” Celestia looked into Luna’s eyes, her own pinkish-purple irises conveying a feeling of worry that she hadn't felt for a little over a decade, before uttering a name that told Luna just how bad the situation had gotten. “Sable Loam.” ____________________________________________________________________________________ As Applejack smashed through one of the remaining windows in Carousel Boutique, she had to admit the situation was becoming rapidly impossible. She’d arrived on the scene last, with Rainbow trying to conjure up various weather storms that would force Cerberus to leave while not harming Rarity’s home. However, that only made him angrier. Applejack then tried her luck, employing her rodeo skills to try lassoing one of the three heads and tying the creature up. In return, she felt the business end of a swinging paw and was now resting in an Applejack-shaped indent on the wall. As she fell out of her hole and tried to make the spinning ducks go away, she could overhear Rainbow try just ramming the creature, possibly to intimidate it. “You like hitting ponies, do ya? Well, let’s see how much you like it!” The sound of Rainbow accelerating was broken off immediately by the noise of three dog heads barking simultaneously, as if shouting a spell. in some obscure dragon tongue The result of that was Rainbow crashing through a wall and making a similar indent right next to the Applejack one. Pinkie, for her part, was doing her best to try and keep Rarity calm while the fashionista was trying not to go crazy at the destruction of her house. In her opinion, there were enough Rainbow Dash-shaped holes in the roof that had been fixed to last a lifetime. “Ungh…” groaned Rainbow, “We can’t wait for Twilight and Fluttershy to come back from wherever they are, that dog is going to kill us well before then by knocking this place down!” “Oh, it’s no use, it’s no use!” wailed Rarity, being as unhelpful as the other three ponies expected at this point. “Well something had to have drawn Cerberus to Rarity, what was she doing right before he jumped her?” Pinkie spoke up then, to cut off more of Rarity’s whining. “Rarity and I had just gone shopping for more materials for the Boutique, but she got blindsided by some other pony. The other guy seemed to drop some sack, but he didn't come back to pick it up. Then one of the fabric bolts Rarity bought came loose and covered both her and the sack up. After saving her from the falling paw of Cerberus, we made up a plan that managed to get her, all of her stuff, and me safely in here.” Another small earthquake and a shower of ceiling plaster prompted her to add “although this place may not be so safe now.” “Wait, you had Rarity pick up ALL of her things, right?” “Yeah?” “Did she pick up that other pony’s bag as well?” Rarity managed to stop wailing to say “I-I guess, it might have been wrapped up in the burnt sienna bolt that fell on me. Oh, I never should have gotten it, all I wanted to do was make a nice jacket for-“ AJ was outright ignoring Rarity at that point as she walked over to the bolt of burnt sienna fabric. It clearly needed a wash due to its earlier damage, but there was an odd lump sticking out. In the rush to get to the Boutique, it would have been easy to miss. Taking the bolt, Applejack immediately rolled it out on the ground. The moment the sack wasn't tangled in the fabric the answer to all their problems was revealed. “Oh, man ,what is that smell?” complained Rainbow Dash, “is it some kind of dog pheromone or something?” “It’s not, trust me on that” curtly answered Applejack, not wanting to actually explain why she knew it wasn't pheromones. What WAS in the sack, however, was a collection of bones clearly taken from the garbage bin behind The Meatery. “Ah know what’s goin’ on, here.” Announced Applejack to the other three ponies. “Then what are you waiting for?! Tell us so we can save my house!” replied a distraught Rarity. “Cerberus out there musta thought you looked like a pile of delicious meat, since being draped with this cloth you may have looked like some kind of meat dish, the fact these bones are from The Meatery imply that whoever it was that bumped into you did it intentionally, and originally had led Cerberus here in the first place with the smell of meat.” The other ponies looked at each other, then back at Applejack. The explanation did make sense, although Applejack’s information on how Cerberus worked was a little suspect. But that would have to be asked later. Right now the problem was saving Carousel Boutique, which kept on shaking due to Cerberus simply trying to tear the place open like a can to get inside it. “So I guess the way we get Cerberus out of here is one of us takes the sack of bones there and leads him away? I can do that, it’s pretty easy.” Suggested Rainbow. “No, you can’t.” Applejack responded. “Why not? We both know that I’m the fastest flyer in town, I can get him away from here in no time!” “The trick isn't going to be speed, the bones do have to be carried away fast enough to lead him away, but not so fast that he loses the scent. That’s what he’s after here.” “But if you don’t want Rainbow to do it, who will? I can’t outrun him, Rarity here certainly can’t, and we all know that while you’re fast, you can’t outrun a dog of that size!” reasoned Pinkie, fearing her farmer friend might be trying to run a suicide mission. “Ah know I can keep mah pace above his, don’t worry about me. Ah should handle this, after all Ah have a pretty good feelin’ Ah know what’s goin’ through his mind.” “No!” shouted Rarity, switching from tragic stage figure to concerned friend, “I cannot allow you to so recklessly throw your life away simply to save my shop! It can be rebuilt if this does end in it’s destruction, but the important thing is that we get rid of the bones so that…stench…won’t attract Cerberus and he’ll just go away.” “It’s not that simple, Rarity! You wrapped the cloth around those bones, so until you wash that entire bolt it’s gonna smell like meat as well!” Rainbow narrowed her eyes, her friend was acting really strangely all of a sudden. She wasn't lying, that was for sure, but lying wasn't the same as withholding the truth. “Applejack,” she asked, cautiously, “what’s going on? You seem to know a lot more about this situation than one would expect, but not explaining why. Care to elaborate?” Rainbow expected Applejack’s infamous “liar face” to make an appearance. Instead, Applejack just looked at her three friends in turn with an expression that made it clear whatever was about to be said was taking a lot of effort to do so. “Fine, Ah’ll come clean. Ah’ve been meanin’ to tell all of you, includin’ Twi and Fluttershy, but there never was a good time. But ya’ll have to let me handle this the way Ah want to in return, alright?” Rarity and Rainbow nodded, whereas Pinkie was about to nod before experiencing a violent shudder. Uh oh thought Pinkie, realizing what was about to be revealed was an extreme doozy. Applejack took one last look at her friends, hoping beyond hope she wasn’t about to make a huge mistake. Then she closed her eyes and allowed her friends to see the reason for her strange actions over the past few months. At this point the transformation was painless, but to her friends it must have looked horrific in the few seconds the process took. When emerald eyes reopened, the sight was more or less what the werewolf had expected. Rarity had, of course, flat out fainted. Pinkie and Rainbow, on the other hand, were trembling and clutching each other as if trying to see which pony could squeeze the other harder. “A-Applejack, is..is that…” began Rainbow, trying to comprehend what had happened. Within moments, she’d just watched one of her closest friends turn from a strong, hard working earth pony into something much more resembling the form of a wolf. Paws, longer fur and mane hair, slightly different muzzle, even a wet, black nose tip. The only details implying that this was in fact still Applejack was the splotches of what had been a red apple trio cutie mark on the creature’s flank, the orange coat, the yellow, loosely bound mane and tail, and a pair of green eyes that were unmistakably those of the farmer’s. “Yeah, Ah guess you can’t say Ah’ve been too honest with ya’ll about this, huh?” The wolf Applejack said, in Applejack’s voice except slightly huskier. Rainbow was about to launch into a tirade of questions but was silenced by Applejack raising a hoof (or was it a paw now?), “Ah said Ah’d show ya’ll this only if you let me what Ah need to do. Ah’ll explain later, Ah promise!” Without another word, the ponywolf picked up the bone sack and lept through one of the broken windows. Rushing to it and taking care not to hit any broken glass, Rainbow and Pinkie saw the form of their transformed friend easily lead the enraged Cerberus away from the broken Carousel and into the Everfree. Behind them, Rarity came to. “Oh, what a strange, yet silly dream. Between Pinkie doing impossible things, being attacked by a Cerberus, and then Applejack revealing herself to be a werewolf of all things!” She then realized the state her home was now in. “Wait…that actually happened, didn't it? All of it? Even…even the last bit?” Rainbow and Pinkie could only nod solemnly. The Pinkie Sense had been right, there had in fact been a very big doozy, something beyond expectations. If only it hadn't hit so close to their hearts.