//------------------------------// // Applebloom (3) // Story: The Legend of Everfree Creek // by ShadowWalking18 //------------------------------// We Crusaders made it our mission to catch this monster. Course I wasn't stupid, and I knew that tryin' ta do this ourselves was dangerous. We had ta plan fer this sort of task, and not go runnin' inta the Everfree. Course, we knew we couldn't just build a trap for it either. Last time we tried that we uh...well its not important. We needed somethin' easy ta use and mobile while we went lookin'. So Me, Scootaloo and Sweetie pooled our allowance together and managed ta buy one o' them fancy new photo cameras they sell now...... -Applebloom. FLASH "AH! I'm blind!" "Sweetie Belle, your not blind. You had the flash on." Scootaloo said, snatching the new camera from her unicorn friend. Sweetie Belle looked around with glazed eyes, then rubbed them till her eyes returned to normal. "Oh....I knew that." Sweetie smiled nervously. "Hey, can ta two be careful with that. It wasn't cheap ya know." Applebloom called behind her friends, as they made their way toward the clubhouse. "Yeah, tell me about it. I hope this was worth it Applebloom, I had to help my mom clean the house so many times to get them I still have prune lines on my hooves. "Trust me. When we get that picture of that monster, not only will we shut Diamond Tiara up, but we will be famous!" Applebloom cheered. "Really?" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "Hey, yeah!" Scootaloo said, excited now. Applebloom nodded, "Exactly. Now come on, we want to get to the clubhouse and get ready." The three made off at a jog for the last stretch of the walk to the clubhouse. They had planned to use it as their base of operations, under the guise of a sleepover/camp out. Given it was the weekend, the girls figured they had two days to try and capture an image of the monster that Applebloom had seen. The clubhouse made the most sense. It was just close enough to Sweet Apple Acres farm to run for help, or shelter. Yet it was close enough to both the area where Applebloom saw the creature and the rest of the Everfree to have a wide area to search. Just like they learned in their wilderness lessons in the Filly Guide scouts. It was late afternoon, with the sun beginning its descent over the horizon when the girls reached the clubhouse. They began setting up their base. Sleeping bags and flashlights. Soda to help them stay awake, and the camera. They also had various foods, mostly for themselves, but they also had some for bait. Once they were set up, they went down to the spot where Applebloom had first seen the creature. She pointed at the spot across the creek where she had seen it to them. "It was right there when I saw it." She said, as they hopped across a few rocks to the other side. Scootaloo nodded, "Right we should see if it left any clues then." "Are you sure about this? What if it comes back?" Sweetie asked, fearful. "Then that will make it easier to get a picture. Sweetie Belle, you keep an eye out and have the camera ready. Me and Applebloom will look around." Scootaloo ordered. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle nodded, and all three of them got to work. They looked for prints or hair, figuring that it would be the easiest to find. The creek had a muddy bank, but the water itself raised and fell over the day so if there had been any prints they were no longer there. They spent perhaps almost an hour or more, just as the sun was falling over the horizon and night fall was starting. They didn't find anything, and returned to the clubhouse somewhat disappointed. As night full ascended, the girls lay in the clubhouse, the girls spent it watching the forest, coloring, drawing, homework, eating cookies and drinking cider and soda and other assortments of snacks they had brought. As the night grew darker, the three settled themselves into their sleeping bags, huddled in a circle beside a lamp. There they talked about school, what they did after school, and if they had any crushes in school. And slowly, with the quiet night around them the three slowly started to fall asleep. Sometime later, Applebloom woke with a yawn and rubbing her eyes. A feeling in her body, forced her up and out of her bag and to grab a flashlight to guide her path out of the club house to answer the call of nature as it were. "Stupid soda." Applebloom muttered to herself as she moved around a bush to do her business. As she sleepily fumbled with the flash light and her pajama pants, Applebloom bent down to attend to business when her noise twitched picking up a noise. She looked around, her ears moving to pinpoint the sound. Again she caught it, and she quickly turned off the flashlight, and waited. Her eyes slowly getting use to the darkness, with only the light of the moon above. She watched out towards the forest, and she watched with horror as a dark figure as tall as a tree began moving out of the forest. Appplebloom ducked down, glad she had already crouched low to attend to business now, or she would certainly have peed in her pants. She peeked through holes in the bushes and watched the large dark shape, walk on two legs stepping out of the woods and into a patch of moonlight. It was the same creature from before! Applebloom fumbled carefully with her pants before popping the flashlight into her mouth and crouched low to crawl towards the clubhouse stairs. She was both afraid, terrified and yet at the same time excited. Now she could get the proof she needed. She crawled on all fours up the stairs, but nearly cursed when she ascended the last step and the wood creaked loudly. She laid herself flat and watched the creature, that looked in her direction of the sound. Her heartbeat raced as she watched the creature as she peeked over the small rail of the clubhouse. The creature kept still before moving off towards the orchard. 'It's after our apples!' Applebloom thought. She wasn't sure if she should be worried for her family, or complimented that even this creature knew where to get the best apples in Equestria. As the creature walked off, Applelboom crawled back into the clubhouse and shook her friends vigorously. "Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle." She whispered with a hiss. "Ugh, no more for me thanks." Scootaloo said in her sleep, before Applebloom shook her again. "MMmm, is it time for breakfast?" Sweetie asked, yawning as she rubbed her eyes. "Girls get up!" Applebloom hissed again, "I saw it. It's near here!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at Applebloom confused. "The monster!" Applebloom whispered again with exasperation. Scoots and Sweetie both jumped, with Sweetie ducking low and Scootaloo crawling to the window. "Where?" the daring Pegasus filly asked, looking around with her eyes squinting to see. "It's heading toward the farm. It must be after the apples. If we hurry we can catch a picture of it." Applebloom said as she snatched the camera up. "What!?" Sweetie Belle squeaked in fear, "You want us to go out there in the dark with it around!?" "Are you sure that's safe?" Scootaloo asked. "We just need ta get one picture. We will be close to the farm. We just snap the picture, then run ta the farmhouse. Now come on!" Applebloom stated, before moving out into the darkness. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other, before snatching up flashlights, and following after their friend. The girls moved carefully through the dark woods, Applebloo taking the lead, holding the camera defiantly, while Scootaloo followed behind with Sweetie Belle clinging to her in fright. Applebloom wouldn't admit it, but she was afraid as well and she kept close to her friends for comfort. "What if it sees us?" Sweetie Belle whispered, almost in a sob as she looked around. "Just be quiet." Scootaloo hissed. Sweetie Belle made a slight whimper, as Applebloom turned a corner to take them into the orchard. The sound of snapping twigs or branches, and the crunch of apples, made all three fillies go still. All three girls jumped behind a tree, with Sweetie Belle now clinging tightly to Scootaloo, eyes clenched shut and her body shaking. Even Scootaloo, eyes wide now, looked scared. Applebloom felt her breathing pick up as she and Scootaloo slowly peeked around a tree. "There it is..." She whispered. Scootaloo peeked around and sucked in a breath. Even Sweetie Belle opened an eye to see, and her eyes shot open wide with fear as all three of them saw the creature. It was huddled as a dark, black shape that was difficult to make out in the darkness. Only small spots of moonlight poking through the tree leaves made it distinct amongst the dark shapes of the trees. The creature seemed to be eating something, before standing up and dropping what Applebloom guessed was a cored apple and reaching up to grab another. Sweetie Belle choked back a whimper as she saw the full size of the creature, its long arm pulling a branch low to pluck an apple. With its new food in its grasp, the creature crouched low and proceeded to eat again. "Take the picture." Scootaloo hissed. Applebloom blinked, then realized she was holding the camera. "Oh right...uh...n-now how do I do that?" The young apple whispered. Scootaloo looked at her friend in shock, "What?" "Well sorry, I haven't used one o' these before." Applebloom protested, trying to figure out how to prepare the camera. "Oh give me that." Scootaloo huffed, trying to take the camera. "I can do it!" Applebloom protested, pushing her friend away. "Girls..." Sweetie Belle whispered. Scootaloo didn't hear, "No you can't, you're gonna break it." "I got it, just stop gettin' in my way." Applebloom responded, also not hearing Sweetie Belle. "Girls!" Sweetie Squeaked, her voice terrified now. "What?" Both girls said, turning to their friend. Then their ears went flat and their eyes slowly went up at the tall, large black form that stood before them. It was the creature, standing right before them and looking down at them. All three girls looked up with wide, horror filled eyes. No pony made a sound, until finally the silence was broken. "AAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sweetie Belle shriekd, letting off a high pitched squeal of fear. Scootaloo joined in as did Applebloom, she brought the camera up and hit the first button her hoof felt and a wide flash went from the camera. The creature roared, its voice a loud booming shriek or roar. It stopped around, waving its arm wildly and stepped toward them in a rampage. It's screaming picking up. "RUN!" The three fillies turned and ran, screaming as they rushed toward the farm house. The screams of the creature behind them, following them even as they broke through the orchard onto the farmstead. The farmhouse, once dark, now went alight with lights turning on. The girls ran, just as two ponies, Applejack and Big Mac, burst through out the door with bats. The girls rushed to the ponies, throwing themselves at them as they cried. "What in tarnation!?" Applejack shouted, both surprised, scared and angry, "What's goin' on?" "We saw it!" Scootaloo shouted. "It's in the orchard!" Sweetie added. "We got a picture!" Applebloom finished. "What are you three fillies talkin' about?" AJ asked, confused. "The monster!" All three fillies said at once. AJ and Big Mac stared at the three fillies, then each other and both of them facehoofed. "Oh ponyfeathers, not all three o' ya." AJ sighed, exasperated. "It's the truth!" Applebloom said, "It was in the orchard eating our apples. And we got a picture." "It's probably still there!" Scootaloo added. "You girls...." AJ said with a shake of her head. "Please sis, just let us show ya." Applebloom begged. Applejack sighed, "Alright. Where did ya see this monster?" It took some convincing, but soon the girls were leading AJ back to where they had seen the creature. When they arrived, they were greeted to a scene. "Well, I will tell ya this. It does look like somethin' was here." AJ said, noting the apple cores on the ground. "But...it was here. We saw it." Sweetie said, looking around. Around there was apple cores, snapped twigs and branches. But no creature. "It was eating our apples. It just plucked them right out of the tree." Applebloom stated, desperate to find something that proved that the monster had been here. Applejack however, was done with it all. "Ya know what I see. I see the signs of some apple thieving varmint. No doubt those raccoons again, or even a bear, but I don't see any monster. " "But-" Applebloom started, but her sister cut her off. "I also see three little fillies who were out at night when they shouldn' 'ave been. And causing a ruckus for no reason." Applejack went on, leveling a disapproving look at the girls. The three girls frowned and looked down. "Now, we're gonna march back ta the house and we are all gonna go back ta sleep. Ya can get yerstuff from the clubhouse in the morning. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle ya'll can sleep on the couch tonight. Now march." Applejack stated, pointing toward the direction of the farm house. The three fillies grumbled but obeyed, and all four of them walked back to the farmhouse. Applebloom was rather sad that her sister still didn't believe her, but a small smile curled on her lips as she hugged the camera to her chest. 'Least we got a photo. I'll show em.' She thought, sure that she had the proof she needed. The following day, the girls went down to the photoshop to have their camera film developed, eager to see the picture. But what they got....was not what they had hoped for. Applebloom sat at a park table, face planted against the table in despair as she held the blank, black photos. "Oh, so this thing is the lens cap." Sweetie Belle said, as she removed the object that had been covering the lens the whole night they had used the camera." "Wow, uh...I guess this is a set back huh Applebloom?" Scootaloo said nervously, rubbing the back of her head. Applebloom just groaned and covered her head with her hooves.