Somehow, I got stuck with Joshua in the mayhem, while Rainbow Dash, of course, did Rainbow Dash stuck by my side. We raced through the heavy foliage and stopped after looking back.
"Do you see them?" Joshua asked, out of breath.
"Na" I replied, trying to catch my own breath.
We walked from then on instead of running, making sure to look back every so often to make sure we were not being sneaked upon.
We both continued our march, trying to reach… Well whatever was in front of us. it was all jungle in front of us, but it had to stop eventually.
I hope.
"Hey, uh, while we are here by ourselves," Joshua studdered.
"Yea?"
"Well, I wanted to apologize for bullying you back when we were kids…"
I still vaguely remember that. I was that kid that everyone picked on, well was, until Jenna found out about it. We were new, and it only took her a week to establish herself as the queen bee. Even the fifth graders respected her. There was one that didn't, and that one was Joshua, the old king of the playground. So, when he had the feeling to make me eat dirt during one lunch period, Jenna was there and waiting. The fight didn't last long and they both were rolling on the floor hitting each other. Both were suspended for a few days, but when they both came back Jenna earned the respect of Joshua. From there on the rest was history. So, to bring it back up now…
"What are you trying to do, Josh?" I said with a raised eyebrow.
"You catch on quick!" he said with a nervous laugh.
He fished in his pockets for a second and pulled out a velvet ring box. The small, but stunning gold and diamond ring was in the middle, glistening in the sunlight. I began to smile, and the gasp of happiness from Rainbow Dash ringed in my ear.
"I wanted your permission to marry your sister, I wanted your family to be okay with me being a part of your family."
My smile never faded as I looked at him and said: "of course!"
* * *
"You're not getting what I'm telling you, Nas. He is fucking a pony, Rainbow Dash or not," Jenna said.
Cmon girl, I thought you were over this.
"It's not about the body, mama. It's about the soul. Your brother sees the inner beauty, and I have to respect that!" I replied
"You say that because you are eyeing Applejack yourself!" She said.
We had been at this for nearly an hour. Jenna was always worried about her brother and Dash dating from the start. The same problem always came up too
"It's just," she said as she sighed "our first separation from Equestria was hard for my brother. I had to watch him in agony for weeks, and it was tough to see. I'm worried that they might have to do it all over again soon, and this time it might be permanent, you know?"
"I totes understand, and when that time comes, at least they will have a better chance of saying goodbye on a good note. heck, they might find a way to make the portal open perminatley."
"Well, I wouldn't mind going here from time to time," Jenna said, admiring the Everfree Forest.
"Look, we got a long walk ahead of us, but I'll say this: Love is like Ray Charles: and that mother fucker is blind like a mother fucker, you dig?"
"I guess so," Jenna said with a smirk.
* * *
"He is dating a horse," I said in disbelief
"Didn't know you were that much into him, Trish?" Brock said sarcastically
"I'm over him, just the fact its a horse!"
"Not just any horse. This 'horse' turned our football season around, brought our school together, and gave us the upset win over your school," Brock said with a playful grin.
Not helping!
"So you're saying I never stood a chance," I said.
"Basically, ya, Trish."
"Well shit,"
I saw that Brock fidget a little bit, so I knew what he was going to say, and to be honest: it made my heart flutter a little.
"Well, we still have that deal, right?"
"Yep!" I said, trying to keep my cool.
I would totally do the 'fall to his arms' trick if we weren't running for our lives here
Oh well.
* * *
We saw the train tracks as soon as Joshua, Rainbow Dash and I cleared the tree line. We gave the forest behind us one last look to look for our pursuers and gave a sigh. We then heard rustling further down the track which made us jump, but were relieved that it was only our friends that came out of the forest and into the open. There was also the fact that the train we just hopped off of hours ago was right in front of us. There was no one inside, which meant that they were taken by the invaders as well.
"Well, so much for trying to get out of danger," Jenna lamented as she helped herself up the train. Everyone else did the same. For some reason or another, we all felt better being back on the train. Not the "I'm glad I'm back on the train" feeling, but an "I'm glad I got to talk to the person I did, it really cleared any bad blood between us," vibe. Inside the passenger cars were empty, save for a note that was left behind.
"I think I found something!" Brock yelled from the caboose. We all raced over to him as he walked to us, holding a sticky note in his hand.
"it's in foreign."
everyone cocked an eyebrow at Brocks bad grammar before Trisha snatched it out of his hands.
"Yea, some idiot dropped their plans" Trisha announced as she kept reading. Her smile turned into a frown really quickly.
"They are on their way to some place called Appaloosa," She said.
Our group's emotion turned from chill to fear really quickly.
"That's where everyone decided to evacuate to!" Nash hollered.
"Well, what are we waiting for!?" Rainbow shouted, trying to decide between staying or bolting to Appleoosa to help.
"Okay! Hang on!" Jenna hollered as she ran to the engine car, grabbing Joshua by the shirt to join her.
I went after them, seeing if they would need help.
"Start shoveling!" Jenna commanded, pointing to the shovel on top of the coal next to the chute. Since there was a second shovel I joined in, trying to get the engine up and firing.
It didn't take long for our train to scream down the line to Appaloosa. The countryside became a blur as we went on.
It took us half the time it normally would of, which was how we saw a column of smoke starting to emerge from the horizon, right where Appaloosa was supposed to be
"We're too late!" Trish cried.
"Fuck!" Brock shouted.