//------------------------------//
// Chp 3. The chase is on 
// Story: New guy in town 
// by DarkShadow95 
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'I'm a normal pony, I am just a normal pony doing normal things'

That was what Light Bite kept thinking as he slowly moved through the crowds of ponies. For a large village it had a thriving market, ponies were everywhere some selling and plenty more buying. Too bad Light Bite could not be a part of it. He watched the days deals going on. He saw a variety of stands from food and drink to lamps and quills.

He stepped through carefully keeping his head low just enough so he could see where he was going. His stomach started to hurt from not being fed. He hadn't eaten for a few days now since he ran out of supplies coming here, hence him coming to sugarcube corner the day before. It was a problem being a bat pony with high metabolism, sugar was a basic requirement. Unlike most other ponies whose diet was 70% carbohydrates for a bat pony it was 70% sugar. And one thing Light bite loved more than anything was apples. His mouth drooled over the thought of the sweet succulent fruit being in his mouth. All the sweet tingle and the smooth aftertaste of the juice lingering in his mouth. This just made the hunger pains more worse.

He took a quick glance up revealing some of his face to look around. He looked in the distance trying to look for some sort of fruit stand, In particular apples.

He carried on deeper into the market till his eyes locked onto what he was looking for. Just a few hoof steps away was a stall with bright red apples. His mind became clouded and a heavenly aura blurred out all that was around the apples. All he could see was the apples all neatly placed, calling to him 'eat me bite, eat us!' he heard.

"I'm coming my darlings!" He shouted out loud deluded from the vision.

Back in reality he simply bounded up to the apples breaking his cover. Grabbing the attention of a few ponies around him who now stared at him confused. He took out a hoof and grabbed one of the apples from the stand admiring it for two seconds before it vanished into the shadow of his hood and appeared a moment later, remaining the core of the apple. He felt the juice in his mouth and savoured the flavour before taking another apple. But just as he was about to a voice caught his attention.

"Hey ya gonna pay for those, or are ya just gonna keep scoffing them?" He heard in his ears, 
he noted the southern accent and looked to the source of the voice.

Before him stood a orange mare with a brown Stetson hat. She looked at him with green emerald eyes. He didn't really notice that she looked a little angry at him. In his mind all he saw was an angel.

Her orange coat and blond mane that was the stuff of stallion dreams. He noticed her mane that was held together with cute red bands that just made her even more attractive. But the best thing he noticed on her where her green, emerald eyes. How the sparkled in the light and freckles on the sides just made her stunning. Those eyes he could stare all day at and never get bored.

He didn't feel hunger for the apples no more, instead he felt a different sensation, one that he had no idea what it was. His heart started to race and his body temperature  shot up. Even his wings were starting to ruffle under his cloak from the sudden feeling. Just as he was about to say something she reached a hoof out for him. 'Oh Celestia she's going to touch me! he shouted in his head, this was all going to fast for him to comprehend. As the hoof reached up, his heart picked up an extra beat now he was on the verge of a heart attack. His mind tried to understand what was going on, but his heart was moving too fast for him to understand. 
'Shes moving in to kiss me!'.Out of reaction to the hoof he leaned forward and stretched out his neck. His lips puckered expecting the next move of the mare to kiss him in response. He closed his eyes and stayed in the same position expecting to feel her lips on his.

But instead of feeling the soft touch of angel lips on his he felt a nudge to his shoulder.
"Hey, Mister are you okay?" He heard, he quickly came out of his own little world to acknowledge what he had just heard.

"Wha...wait, what?" Was all he said. Still stuck in state of shock.

"Ah said 'mister are you okay?'" The orange mare repeated.

"Erm, ya I am, wait what?" His mind started to catch up now, taking back control of his body from his heart. He was confused at what just happened to him. Lucky for him his cloak hid his Now he was thinking straight he could finally see the look of worry in the orange mare's face. "Sorry I am fine, just erm... really good apple! Yes! Just a little shocked at the taste that's all! Best apple I have ever eaten!" He tried to give a toothy smile under his coat, even if his face was still concealed.

The mare stared at him suspiciously for a while before responding "Well ah know we sell the best apples this side of Equestria, but that still doesn't answer my original question"

"What was the original question?" Light queried.

"Are ya gonna pay for that?" The mare now pointed to the apple core discarded on the ground.  Light saw the core and realised what he had just done, he had just taken the apple and ate it, without paying a single bit.

"Oh right! Sorry!" He chuckled nervously and turned to reach for his bag of bits in his saddle bags. "Here, take 6 bits, I got  bit hungry and ate before I paid. I am sorry, I really am."
the mare took the bits from his hoof and placed the on the counter beside her. "Well that's mighty kind of ya! Even if it is just 2 bits and apple." She laughed at the irony of it all and grabbed 5 apples from the stand. "Here, take 5 more if ya that hungry mister. Maybe some apples from apple acres will set your mind straight."

Light bite took the apples and started to place them into his other saddle bags. "Thank you, your very kind miss....?"

"Applejack!" She perked.

"Thank you, Miss applejack," Applejack smiled back at the pony from the mention of her name. She wasn't sure what this pony was up to, and she was curious as to why a pony would need to wear a cloak. "I'm light bite. You don't mind if I buy some more for my journey do you?" He asked with a blush, than Celestia his hood was up.

"Sure thang!" Apple jack went to put some apples in a paper bag for her new customer. "So where is it your heading? If ya don't mind mah askin?"

"Just home" Was his reply.

"Why you came here on vacation or sommin?"

"No I was just, well on a business trip I suppose"

"What is it ya do?"

Light bite was then caught off guard again, unsure of what to say he said the first thing that came to his mind "Oh, I'm just a food critic. Yep just a food critic. Ben traveling all around Equestria, trying all varieties of food." He let out a nervous laugh, he was still unsure what happened with himself earlier. But he could still feel the after affects, his stomach was now churning not of hunger now but of something else and he still had a blush on his face.

"Well then, Mister Bite hope these apples will help you in your next review, don't forget to mention our farm," She could tell there was a slight lie in his voice but couldn't see it in him since his face was hidden from her, so she decided to question him on it "One last thing though, why are ya wearing that cloak and hiding ya face? It is mighty rude of a pony not to see who they're talking to."

Thrown back by the question Light tried to come up with an answer "Well... urm.. its cold! Really cold."

"It's 75 degrees," She pointed at the thermometer on the stall, as Applejack said it was indeed 75 degrees Fahrenheit "Now why would a pony want to keep that cloak on?" She started to take a step forward, making Light back off a little. Applejack could tell a liar when she heard one after all she was the element of honesty, which meant she could detect a lie easily.

"Well urm..." The bat pony was still being pushed back as she kept moving forward. She gave him a steely eyed look, expecting the truth to come out. But if light revealed himself who knows what kind of chaos he would cause.

"C'mon. Spit it out" She kept pressing. Light felt something behind him preventing his slow escape, she had him now. She started to lift her hoof to reach for the hood of the cloak, but she did it slow to let the unknown pony answer.

"Well I..." closer the hoof came.

"Tell me!" closer.

"I should..."

"Stop avoiding me," closer

"Please don't!"

"What in tarnation do you have to hide!?" The hoof finally made contact with the fabric and she began to pull back the hood. Light closed his eyes expecting a scream from her and for another scene of Frankenstein's pony to play out. But just as his identity was about to come to light, and almighty crash was heard from behind.

"Cutie mark crusaders! Bounty hunters yay!"





"Applebloom what did Twilight say exactly we are looking for?" Whined Scootaloo, as the 
three fillies rode through town on the CMC mobile.

The CMC mobile consisted of Scootaloo at the front riding on her scooter, while attached to the scooter was a red trailer carrying Applebloom and Sweetiebell.

"She said we ah looking for a hooded, suspicious pony and should capture him!" quirked Applebloom the earth pony.

"Are you sure that's what miss twilight said?" Responded the other passenger, Sweetiebell, the unicorn of the group.

Together all 3 fillies made up the CMC, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo the orange coated and purple manned pegasi, Applebloom the pale yellow and cherry and Sweetiebell white with 2 shades of pink in her mane. Together they were all best friends from their school but outside the where the CMC. All united in their quest to find their cutie marks. Every day they tried all sorts of antics just to get their marks. Everyone else in their school had them why not them?

So with every spare hour they spent, they tried a variety of tasks to see if a cutie mark appeared on one of them. But now they were on a mission.

"Hey maybe we could get our mark for this!" Explained sweetie bell.

"Don't be daft sweetie, how do you get a mark in fugitive hunting?" Replied Scootaloo.

"Well... like a bounty hunter!"

"Bounty hunter?" Questioned Applebloom.

"Yeah, my sister explained that when a pony escapes jail, or 'skips bail'. They send another pony to hunt them down and bring them back. They get paid for it, and get honoured by the princesses!" Sweetie belle tried to explain to her friends. Scootaloo picked up on this at the front on their convoy.

"So, now we are bounty hunters? I thought we were trying fitness instructors for today!?"

"We can do that tomorrow. For now imagine if one of us got our mark being a bounty hunter? I wonder what it would look like."

Scootaloo thought about what her friend just said. It did all sound fun, plus with the attempt to get a possible cutie mark. Who could deny trying at least. "Okay we'll do it, but we are doing fitness tomorrow!"

And with a unanimous agreement the CMC set out on their next adventure. "Cutie mark crusader bounty hunters, yay!".





CRASH!

All in a second all Light bite saw was sky ground, sky ground, sky ground and more, sky ground. Until the ground stayed being ground with an almighty impact. The CMC convoy had smashed straight into him. After the trio of fillies had spotted their desired target, Scootaloo set off at full speed. She could get up to speed easily, just that it was the stopping part she had trouble with.

Light bite Landed luckily in another stand full of vegetables a good 15 meters away from where he originally was.

All Applejack could do was watch in awe as the red trailer hit the pony that WAS in front of her. The pony somehow took most of the impact and somehow went upwards spinning, rather than flying across Equestria. The rest of the impact just sent the CMC out of their convoy all of them just lying a few feet away from the initial collision.

Applejack came to her senses and put two and two together "What in lan sakes are ya'll doing!? You just knocked that poor pony across the street! What have ya'll been told ahbout goin too fast!? Especially you Applebloom! Ah told you to be the responsible filly!" AJ said in her stern sister tone.

The three fillies just let out a groan in response. All of them splayed across the place. The cowpony let out a huff of frustration and then remembered the pony that she was just talking to. She looked around frantically to try and spot the mysterious pony. Her emerald eyes locked onto a load of broken wood and vegetable in a pony sized pile just across from her stand.
She trotted up to the pile and proceeded to peer in. All she could see was bits of wood, obscuring the odd limb of pony that she could see. She heard a groan from under all of the wood. So she began to peel away the woods slowly trying to cause an injury just by removing some wood. As she removed more timber she started to see the details of the pony. His grey coat, then his blue scruffy tail along with his lighter grey hooves. It was only till she got to his wings did she stop.

'What are those?' She questioned herself.

But as she was removing debris, Light bite started to come to. When Applejack removed the wood from his wing it was then that he came back. He tried to sit up, but found a massive weight on his chest so he fell back again.

"Hey, mister ah you okay!?" He heard from the cowpony.

He immediately responded naturally "Yeah, I'm fine. Just can't move with all this wood on me."

"Hold on, ah got ya!"

With an almighty pull, Applejack had removed a heavy piece from Light bite. which left the bat pony now free to move. Slowly he began to sit up, holding himself with his hooves. He coughed from a some of the dust and started to check himself, while also thanking Applejack.
"Thanks cough, I really was stuck there. All I remember was feeling this massive pain in my side then I was in the air. What in Luna was that anyway?" He looked over to the orange mare and saw her, gnawing at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Your..." Was all applejack could say.

"Your, what?" He repeated.

Applejack just kept her gaze on him, ignoring his repeated question. Light bite saw this and wondered why she was looking at him like that. He looked at himself and thought he seemed normal. Tail, hooves, wings, the odd cut and bruise on him, but other than that seemed normal.

Then it hit him. He wasn't wearing a cloak anymore. There it was lying on the ground a few feet away, now he was exposed, compromised.

He looked back at the pony in front of him. Seeing some fear in her face, He immediately started to have flashbacks from his previous encounters. His worst was running from a mob of ponies thinking he was some nightmare pony or something. He wasn't quite sure but all he remembered was the fear and the constant running and flying.

Both ponies stood still, as if somepony stopped the clocks from moving, motionless in time. Other ponies started to gather around them out of curiosity from the crash. Light bite saw them all starting to gather. and looked round, his fear building and his heart starting to race. His fight or flight response started to kick in. But he was just too scared to move in case anymore ponies saw him or might cause another mob. Applejack on the other hoof was trying to find something to say.

Even she was scared but could not take her eyes off the scary looking pony. She had read books and seen films of something like this pony. But all of them portrayed them being evil or dangerous to anypony. She never thought she would see an actual one like this in real life, a vampire pony. In a desperate attempt to gain control and normality her mind simple asked aloud "Are you... Are you a vampire pony?" She said in a stutter.

Those words tore into Light bites ears. Just as he had feared those words 'vampire pony'. That stigma had been the bane of his journey, and now it was back again to cause more pain. In a desperate plea he tried to reason with the orange mare, just as other ponies came around staring, wide eyed at the so called 'vampire pony'.

"No! I'm not, please just..." He tried to say as he got up heading straight for Applejack. Other ponies now saw the strange alien pony move towards AJ and jumped to a conclusion.
From out of no where a pony shouted "Look out he's going for Applejack everypony RUN!"
In an explosion of coloured ponies, the crowd all ran in every direction, stumbling over each other to get away from the apparent danger. AJ in her sister instinct, ran towards the CMC to get them to some safety.

Light bite now stood in the eye of the carnage, wondering what to do. He was now in serious trouble and had to move NOW. But he could not move anywhere, not with a storm of panicking ponies circling around him. So he did one quick move. He opened up his wings, took on massive flap, and took the sky. From above he could see the carnage unfold below him, but he had to get out of there. He dived bombed and picked up his bags from the floor next to his cloak and headed straight for out of town. 'Time to leave before the pitchforks and torches are out' he thought to himself.

He flew as hard as he could, the beauty of bat ponies was they could not fly as fast as a Pegasus but could accelerate faster due to having more power in their wings. So quickly he was at top his top speed but just as he was reaching the outskirts of the town a he felt something wrap around his left hoof, he looked to see a rope in a purple aura tighten around him and drag him straight back down to the ground.

CRASH