//------------------------------// // When Things Get Interesting // Story: This is... // by WatchMeShadow //------------------------------// “Ahaha-ha okay, okay, that’s enough of that! …I said you can stop now!” “Oh! Sorry miss Charity I thought you were talking to the crowd. Thank you for letting me stop. I was getting tired, but as long as it made a great pony like you happy, I would’ve kept trying. Did I do something wrong?” “What? No. I was just thinking about what to have you do next. Oh! I know! Act like a dog about to get a treat...” *...B-Bark, bark, whine.* “Nice touch with your wagging tail. Who’s been a good girl?” *Bark, bark, bark.* “Okay, now chase your tail… and I’m already bored of this. Stop. How about you act like somepony with severe educational problems, and sound like this?” “That sounds really rude, ponies with severe educa-educational proo-proooblems sh-shoould n-nooot be moooocked by a Princess such as myself, even if you’re the only good citizen we have.” *Sigh.* “You’re right I guess they shouldn’t be. That doesn’t mean it’s not hilarious, well at least when it's done right. Unfortunately, you don’t have the kind of voice or attitude for it, and ruined it for me.” *Gasp,* “oh no, I’m sorry, I can practise and get it right. I can use my magic and-” “Stop! Power down your horn right now!” “What? Why? ...Sorry, I-I Di-.” “Calm down, Look just don't use your magic and wings. Now what to do with you next…” ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It had been a good few moments since Twilight inexplicably started following the word of the dull yellow pegasus mare on stage. Applejack was completely at a loss at what happened. One moment Twilight looked ready for an argument against this ‘Charity Well’ and the next she’s happily ‘bawking’ like a chicken about to get feed. That wasn’t what really confused her though. The fact it was a pegasus that ordered her friend around was what left her stumped. She would’ve maybe understood if it was a unicorn onstage, but it wasn’t, and she refused to believe that the CSA failed it’s only job at stopping changeling infiltration. After the long lines she had to endure only for them to still manage to infiltrate the city? The very idea set her mind aflame with indignation that she refused to believe for a second. Still, that left her in the dark at what in tartarus was going on. The day started out in a rush. They were late for their breakfast meet up, after sleeping in. On top of that Rainbow disappeared under some puzzling circumstances. They almost got pepper sprayed by some crazy mare in the street on their way to the restaurant, the ponies there were nerve-wrackingly silent, and now Twilight was on a stage in the middle of the street making a total foal of herself, literally. She couldn’t make heads or tails of what all that meant, outside of the fact it was nothing good. She didn’t know what to do. Her friend was treated like some filly who’d lost a bet. She would’ve thought her friend acted like it to, if it weren’t for the fact Twilight seemed very enthusiastic about it all, which this Charity pony apparently found hilarious. Applejack didn’t find it funny. In fact, it really ticked her off, ”Applebloom, let's go get the guard, before AH lose my temper and put a stop this sick sideshow myself.” “But…” Applebloom’s brow creased, “why is Twilight even listening to her? Ah’m glad Ah can’t see her like this, it sounds awful,” she said her ears perched high towards the stage. “I can barely hear what’s going on,” Sweetie complained, “this crowd is too huge, what’s she doing now?” She asked while fruitlessly jumping from her spot for a glimpse of the stage. Scootaloo seemed to be scouting out the crowd itself, probable to hoping to spot Rainbow. “It don’ matter what that mare has Twilight doing now,” Applejack insisted turning to address her three charges, “we’re going ta get help. Ah swear this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. One moment ya feel on top the world because ya got the best little sister ever and then the next thing ya know your friend went mi-” “Applejack,” Applebloom interrupted. “Right,” she said, “Ah was starting ta ramble. Now let’s get out of here,” she turned around and walked away. “Applejack!” Applebloom said forcefully this time. She turned back, “Wha-” only to see her sister pointing behind herself with an entire crowd of ponies watching her, parted revealing Twilight glaring and pointing at her from the stage. She frowned, “Alright, yall stay here,” she commanded gritting her teeth, “Ah’m puttin’ an end to this little charade, as apparently, Ah ain’t got no choice.” She said before walking past the CMC and through the crowd made lane. The suspicious and down near hostile looks were unnerving. She didn’t waver though. She merely picked up the pace a little. Glancing behind her revealed they didn’t bother closing her potential escape route, though at this point it’d be better to book it for the stage and run to the other end where there was nothing but empty street for whatever reason. She also could see the CMC did stay, like she asked, and nopony seemed to even acknowledge them, so that was nice. Relief struck her by the time she made it on stage, which was immediately followed by confusion. Why was Twilight looking at her with such contempt? “Hey Twilight,” she started, “mind telling me what the hay is going on here?” “So she’s Applejack?” Came the amused voice of Charity. “What of it?” Applejack spat. She could hardly stand this mare, not after all the embarrassing things she had Twilight do. “You’re going to do what Princess Twilight tells you to do,” Charity said lazily raising a hoof and spinning it, “after all she is your pwincess,” she mocked with a slight smirk, “Okay, Pwincess she’s all yours.” Twilight squeed, “Oh, Thank you! Thank you Charity Well,” she said with a huge smile, “the possibilities are just endless. What to do, what to do,” she said bringing a hoof to her chin, “Applejack, you seemed to want to hog all the fame and glory for yourself. Little miss go back to Ponyville while we get all the notoriety that comes with saving the world," Applejack had an idea of what she referenced and it wasn't one of her best moments. "Oh!" Twilight's face lit up dawning a creepy grin, "I order you to oink like the fame pig you are.” Applejack grit her teeth. She sure as tartarus wasn’t about to do that, “What did yall do to her?” she asked bitterly, glaring at Charity and ignoring Twilight altogether. “I said, you’re going to do what Princess Twilight tells you to do…” Charity said confusedly. Her eyes widened when Applejack started approaching. “And just why would Ah do that?” Applejack asked as she got closer. “Because she’s the best citizen in all of Equestria and she deserves anything she wants! Now oink like a pig." Twilight answered loudly, "you stubborn mule!” “Uhuh,” she barely acknowledged her clearly brainwashed friend as she came face to face with Charity. Green eyes glared down dull blue eyes. “Listen to Princess Twilight already,” Charity demanded, “or, do I have to order you to oink like a pig myself!?” She asked glancing down at something perplexed. “Ah don’t rightly know what kind a game yer playin’ bu-” “Oink like a pig!” she demanded watching her expectantly with a broad smile. “-but Ah’m gonn-” “Oink like a pig,” She said cutting her off again with much less enthusiasm, smile faltering in of place confusion. “-Ah’m gonna put an end to thi-” “OINK YOU FILTHY MUD PONY!” she yelled glaring at Applejack who bristled at being interrupted for the umptenth time, the ringing in her ears, and being called a 'mud pony.' Enraged, Applejack firmly brought a hoof to Charities chest in order to make a point, “Listen ta me-” “AHHHHH~” Charity screamed tears formed in her eyes. It sounded like she thought her wings were being ripped off or something and the expression on her face told as much. The crowd and Twilight rubbed their heads, not that Applejack noticed. She was transfixed to the mare screaming in agony before her in shock. She removed her hoof afraid she might’ve actually hurt the mare somehow. Charity quickly retreated from Applejack a hoof held to her chest, “Wha-” she breathed heavily, “What-ha did you-ha do to me!” she demanded all while gulping in air and blinking away the tears. “Ah don’t reckon Ah put that much force into it,” Applejack said confusedly looking at her hoof alarmed, “Ah never meant ta hurt ya,” she explained as she re-approached calmly. “N-No, sta-stay away-ha from me, You!” Charity pleaded backing up more and then shakily taking to the air, wings beating frantically. Her breath normalized. “You… I’ll pay you back ten fold for that!” she shouted from above. “Listen here Miss, Ah dun rightly know what y'all are doing ta my friend or everypony else for that matter, but Ah’ve seen enough, and Ah’m putting an end to it!” Applejack yelled. “Stay away from me! Princess help me!” Charity shouted as she flew higher, far out of Applejacks reach. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The CMC watched from their spot as the mare took to the skies. The crowds sudden migraine didn’t go unnoticed by, well, most of them. The crowd, for whatever reason, never closed the lane they made for Applejack which gave them a good view of everything that happened. Now that Charity was in the air Sweetie Belle noticed she wore something on her foreleg. It was a bracelet. She couldn’t quite place it but something about it drew her attention to it. It nagged at her for some reason, but she was simply too far away to get a good look at it. She lost focus when the airborne mare yelled for Twilight's help. It was dead silent, and now that ponies were no longer completely blocking the stage, even Sweetie could hear what they were saying. It doesn’t hurt that they were yelling at each other and the pony made lane seemed to heighten the sounds coming from the stage. “He-help you with what Charity?” Twilight asked rubbing her head. “That mare!” she jabbed with her hoof, “Applejack you called her. Arrest her for assault!” Charity demanded. “But that’s Applejack, w-we,” she looked down, “on stage, because I-I thought…” Twilight rubbed her head, “no, I felt you were worth it, but why?” She asked bringing a hoof to her chin. All the while Applejack was glaring up at Charity. “Well? Arrest her already!” Charity demanded, but Twilight stood there like a zombie deep in thought. She sighed in annoyance, “can somepony else get rid of this mare for me!” “Say! That sounds like our cue boys! See.” came a greasy low down voice that oozed mistrust and danger from somepony near the front of the crowd. “Okay, boss!” came dim witted sounding responses. One was high pitched while the other was much lower and slower. Soon enough three stallions joined the stage. All earth ponies wearing black suits. One was smaller than most stallions who also wore a black panama hat. He seemed very shady despite how well dressed he was. The next stallion was thinner than most stallions but walked very arrogantly with a twisted smirk. The last stallion was huge, although he wasn't rippling with muscles, it only took only one look to see he was a force to be reckoned with. Applejack ignored them and kept her gaze on the mare in the sky. “Well, what are you waiting for? Get her already!” Charity demanded. “You heard the pretty lady, boys, let’s take out the trash,” the small stallion said sinisterly, “Say, big fella under my employ hold ‘er down, See. So your compatriot can pummel ‘er to a pulp.” The huge stallion rather swiftly went to Applejacks side while the slim stallion approached her head on. She made an effort to get away from them, but she hadn’t expected the big guy to be so fast. “Stop!” Twilight yelled before the huge stallion could wrap his forehooves around Applejack much to Applebloom’s relief. “Why’d you stop them?” Charity demanded from above. “That’s Applejack!” Twilight answered, “and I won’t let any of my citizens receive corporal punishment, regardless of how despicable they are. Even a selfish fame hog like Applejack” “...Gee, Thanks for saving review Twi,” Applejack snarked, trying to get away from the two stallions, who stalked her. “So, tell me if I got this straight Princess Twilight,” Charity spoke alarmingly calm, “You won’t let them beat her up because she’s a citizen of Equestria?” “Yes, even after she assaulted you, unfortunately,” Twilight explained, “I can’t let ponies start beating her up regardless of how badly I may want them to. I’m a Princess after all and even though you’re the only good citizen we have. I have to do things by the book.” “Come on Twi,” Applejack pleaded, “snap out of it and get these two outta my mane. They’re gettin’ on my nerves.” Twilight glared at her and opened her mouth. “What if she wasn’t a citizen?” Charity asked interrupting whatever Twilight was about to say. “Well, if she was a diplomat then she’d have some immunity,” Twilight explained, “if she was a foreign spy. Well then, I’d have no reason to stop anything that happened to her, but I know for a fact she’s neither of those. Just a criminal who assaulted you. You of all ponies. The best citizen we have. Don’t worry though, she’ll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Her horn began to glow. “Wait…” Charity interrupted. “Oh right, you told me not to use my magic, sorry,” Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Uhh, yeah,” Charity said before wickedly rubbing her hooves together with a crooked smile, “what if I told you she was actually a changeling in disguise?” “Wha- Ah ain’t no danged changeling!” Applejack barked. “Just what a changeling would say,” Charity argued. Twilight gasped as if she made great realization, “you’re right Charity. How’d I miss it!? I’m sorry for stopping them, please forgive me.” she begged. “A changeling?” The short stallion asked his voice restrained and seething, “See, Those pests made business pretty hard for me after what they did in the Capital,” he sighed and looked happy, “ and this fine lady was kind enough to bring one right to me. See, Now that the Princess is looking the other way, go get ‘em boys!” “Hey!,” Applejack yelled as the big stallion wrapped his hooves around her, firmly holding her in place, “get off m-” she began only for a strong hoof to the chin to interrupt her followed by more punches. She struggled to get free, before they knocked her out or worse, but he wouldn’t budge. “MY HEAD,” the huge stallion yelled suddenly, releasing Applejack and bringing his fore hooves to his head diving to the ground, “IT HUUURTS!” She didn’t know what hurt him, nor did she care, as she quickly turned and ran for the other side of the stage. “YOU DIMWIT!” the Short stallion yelled. She stopped near the edge almost falling off as pain and numbness both fought for dominance of her face. “THAT’S IT!” Charity shouted, “THE FIRST PONY TO GET RID OF HER WILL EARN MY PRAISE!!!” she offered, which everypony readily accepted as one they would eagerly pursue. “Not you Princess! You stay right there!” The stage was soon swarmed by the crowd, all after the farm pony. "I'll DESTROY her for you Charity!!!" "Say, she'll be swimming with the fishes!" "BACK OFF! her praise is MINE!!!" “Woah nelly,” Applejack let out as she realized there was an angry mob after her. Panicked, she leapt off the stage. Unprepared for the fall, forelegs skidded across the pavement earning some nasty scratches. She got up drunkenly and booked it down the street, mind numb and vision impaired. On high alert, adrenaline completely overrode any pain. ------------------- Applebloom ------------------- “APPLEJACK! NO! ” Applebloom yelled amongst the crowd's threats. The angry mob chased her sister like one would expect a mob to chase Franken-Stallion or something. Time seemed to slow down as they crammed to get onto and past the stage like a bunch of her classmates making for the door on the last day of school at the start of summer break. She had to do something, and soon. An idea came to her, and time seemed to move regularly again. She didn't have time to tell her friends. She had to act now. Without a word, she ran for the crowd then jumped on top the nearest member. She heard Sweetie call out for her, but ignored it and jumped to the next pony. This was something she'd done in the past with sheep for fun and as a chore. Needless to say, she had no problems jumping from pony to pony. Her sister had a bloody nose, bruised eye, and beaten face thanks to two brainwashed stallions. She could only imagine what an angry mob would do. She can't let them near her sister. All while the sun shined on, heating up the city enough to make just about any pony sweat after standing outside for a couple moments. The towering buildings stood tall above them, locking them in place, but otherwise ignored by all. She made it to the stage in short order, jumping a little higher to get on her next moving platform. The next jump revealed her sister racing down the street a good distance away and some ponies who’d recently got off the stage. They seemed fast. She had to hurry. Going on instinct she bent her knees and jumped, “Woo~aaahhh,” she half yelled in surprise. The pony she’d been on slammed onto the stages floor as she went flying past the rest of the stage and several ponies. She landed just ahead of the leading crowd member sliding on her legs, swiftly turning to face the approaching crowd as if she was on ice, such was the speed the jump had left her going. All the while she hoped her idea would work. There was an angry mob after her sister. It had to work. She reached into her saddle bag and literally threw her rushed plan between herself and the oncoming mob. She reared up and brought down her fore hooves, firmly closing her mouth in hard concentration. From skyscraper on one side of the street all the way across the street to another skyscraper, trees instantaneously grew in a giant line. They blocked the crowd from her sister. Pavement crumbled under the might of their roots. It sounded like a mini-rockslide for a moment. The threats and arguments of the mob became muffled. That took a bit out of her. She wiped away some sweat, then checked on her sister who still ran down the road. Her breathing normalized slowly 'that was close,' she thought. She smiled at a job well done, 'noponies gonna hurt my sister,' she thought before her attention was brought back in front as she heard wings. Above her a pegasus flew towards her sister, and fast. It was like watching Rainbow practice. She turned to follow only to hear some tree branches snapping. She spared a glance behind herself only to see a well built stallion had barrelled through her living barrier and more ponies were filtering through. Another pony dressed in all black jumped down from a tree landing lightly on the ground. This pony had to be a ninja, if the outfit and impressive landing was anything to go by. Some branches got cut clean through and fell to the ground. She gasped as she recognized the old donkey who was on the other side. He currently wore a tie dye t-shirt and straw hat, but she'd recognize him anywhere after she watched him take down a minotaur with ease. He walked past the newly cut opening, his eyes targeting the running pony in the distance. First a ninja and now that donkey. Shouldn't they be at the Martial Arts Festival? 'Oh,' she thought when recalled Scootaloo telling them the Martial Arts Festival was on break for one day and that day happened to be today. How many other ponies from there are here? Either way, she couldn't let that donkey near her sister at all cost, even if her sister was a good distance away. She had no doubt that pegasus racing forward could stall her sister at the least. Which would then allow the few ponies who continued to filter through the few holes in the barrier to catch up to her sister. Which ultimately would leave her sister surrounded by an angry mob. She shuddered at the thought. She could not let them pass. She needed to stop the flow of ponies before their numbers became too great. She concentrated, reared up and brought down her hooves again. "Errr," she grunted gritting her teeth as the trees natural magical defences protested her will while she forced them to renew their branches, and make more, effectively stopping anypony else from getting past. She sucked in more air as more sweat formed on her forehead, and she felt almost woozy for a moment there. "If you have wings, USE THEM!" Charity could be heard and seen yelling above the trees. Applebloom glared at Charity, only to be shocked as a flock the pegasi arose simultaneously above the trees. She couldn't let a bunch of pegasi swarm her sister like fruit bats on apple trees. Thinking fast, she threw the rest of the seeds in her saddlebags all around herself and reared up. The pegasi all began to fly down the street. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she looked for her seeds and the pegasi that began to fly towards her sister. She once again, she brought her hooves down. She's done it two times already in such a short time and on quite a large scale. She felt like a littler filly having a temper tantrum, and admittedly she was getting pretty ticked off with all these ponies following that mares word as if it was divine. Even Twilight was doing it. This time large vines shot out of the ground randomly to an on-looker and tightly coiled around the pegasi. She targeted the ones that already passed her first before moving to the ones slacking behind. She ignored the ache her whole body gave and checked on her sister, bypassing the vines that almost blocked her line of sight. That pegasus was hot on her sisters trail who finally was able to turn down another road. “You’re not getting away that easily!” a stallion said, drawing her attention back up front. Frowning she faced the few that made it past her tree barrier, “If-ha," she breathed in heavily, "if any of yall want to get to my sister!" She yelled gesturing behind herself before breathing in again, "then you’ll have to get through ME!” She pounded a hoof to a ground with her declaration. “Pht, ahaha,” the stallion laughed, as she glared, “Oh, You’re serious? Sorry, little filly but that’s not your sister, that’s a changeling,” he explained. “No she ain’t!” she barked as the stallion walked up to her. “Listen here little filly, I don’t got time to argue with you,” he sneered, “I have a bug to squash.” She scowled at the threat as the stallion walked to her side and then began running past her, only to be stopped as she bit on his tail. She jumped into the air and with a flick of her head tossed him back in front of herself, hooves skidding on the smooth pavement. "Ah won't let any of you pass!" she pawed the ground threateningly. The stallion grunted in disdain, “Okay little filly. You’ve wasted enough of my time,” the stallion spat, as Applebloom glared at him, “time for you to take a nap.” He swiftly moved up, taking her by surprise briefly, and raised a hoof for a swift knockout. She moved her head out of the way in the last moment, at the same time she reared up and grabbed ahold of his extended foreleg with both of hers. She swung them around once, twice, and three times before letting go and sending him flying and screaming towards her trees. She paused and looked at her hooves. She’d never done anything like that before. She saw it done a couple times at the Martial Arts Festival, but never thought herself capable of such a feat. She was so surprised she didn’t even see how/where the stallion landed. She looked up and noticed some missing ponies. Her eyes widened as she heard frantic running from behind, “Oh no ya’ll don’t!” She did a one-eighty and double timed it, weaving through a couple vines, towards the few that thought they could by pass her while she dealt with the stallion. "STOP!" she yelled at the first pony she reached, only to have to dodge a blind swat to the head. "She's not a changeling!" she yelled trying to reason with the mare, which only brought another swat but this one reached its mark. Her face stung. She growled before delivering a swift kick to one of the mares forelegs. That was immediately followed by a sickening crack. The sound sent shivers down her spine as they escaped the scarce landscape of vines holding peeved pegasi. The mare screamed in agony and rolled to the ground clutching her now limp leg. What had she just done? She stopped and looked at the mare. Shocked and reviled at her own strength. It was just last night she healed ponies from this kind of injury, and now she was inflicting it? Time once again came to a crawl. The mare slowly withered in pain on the ground. Her mind raced and suddenly it felt like she was somewhere else entirely, but not really. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ About one week ago "So... what're yall planning on doin'?" Applejack asked from the stairs of Twilight's basement. Applebloom watched from her spot just past the bottom of the stairs, as her sister sat down. She could smell the oil and machinery that still lingered from Twilights and Scootaloo’s efforts to fix the machine Sweetie fried. "After Applebloom achieved such a monumental breakthrough in medical magic last time we tested her abilities even if nothing of value was gained. Well, outside the fact it can be done," Twilight proudly explained, "I felt it was necessary to have you with us for all future tests. Applejack you don't know what you missed. Your sister helped soo many ponies. You just had to be there to know what I'm still feeling after witnessing it. You should've been there." "Ah get it already Twi," Applejack groaned, "We've been getting lots of letters thanking her for her help. We've gotten enough visitors that we've had ta put up a sign saying ta only send letters, and it's only been a few days... Ah have a farm ta run, and my sister dun need to be swarmed by journalist everywhere she goes," she finished raising her hooves in the air. "I don't think you'll get it till your there to see it yourself, and I'll try to get those journalist out of her mane," Twilight offered. "Thanks," Applebloom said gaining their attention, like they forgot she was even there. "Oh," Twilight blushed in embarrassment, "you're welcome. Anyways, today I want to test out your strength, in terms of how Puddinghead described it. First we'll test the max weight you can carry and I already got the averages for active earth pony fillies your age from the neck, legs, tail,”  she explained before levitating a paper over to herself, “and so on... anyways let's begin." Several test later, "Wow,” Twilight said clearly impressed, “that's more weight than even a body builder could carry in their prime, and it's pretty scary." "What do ya mean?" Applejack asked from her spot on the stairs. "Well, not to freak you out or anything," Twilight started, "but Applebloom, you could really hurt somepony if you ever tried to hit somepony, even playfully." "But Ah've sparred with Scootaloo a couple times since Rainbow started teaching her karate, and Ah've never hurt her," Applebloom felt the need to point out. "Really?" to which she nodded, "Earth pony magic is weird... If you were a pegasi like Scootaloo or unicorn like Sweetie you'd have problems controlling your power considering how much I've seen you all do. Regardless, I want you to be careful you could in theory toss somepony in the air with a simple hoof shake if you’re not careful." "Ah'll be careful," she agreed, "besides, if Ah do hurt somepony, Ah can just heal them good as new." "APPLEBLOOM," Applejack yelled, "why would ya go an say a thing like that?" She scolded "A-Ah jus-j-" she sunk her head in shame. "What I think what Applebloom is trying to say," Twilight jumped in, "is if she were to accidentally injure somepony she'd heal them back and try not to do it again, isn't that right?" "Yeah, that's all Ah meant honest." "Sorry, didn't mean ta come down on ya that harsh," Applejack apologized, then sighed, "So what's next?" "We're gonna test her impact. Basically it's how hard she can hit things if she really tries, and considering how much weight she can carry, I think it will be a lot of force. Applebloom if you would please," Twilight gestured her over to a machine, but more specifically to a padded thick metal plate held out by said machine, "Okay, so all you need to do is punch it with a fore hoof as hard you can." Her first punch left a dent in the thick metal plate, and a hole through the padding. A piece of paper spewed out the side of the machine and Twilight checked it, then quickly levitated it to a desk. Twilight used a spell to undo the dent and then removed the padding before asking her to do it again with her other fore hoof with much the same result. After undoing the second dent, "Applejack before we continue and I likely lose another piece of equipment. I want you to buck it as hard as you can," she said re-adjusting the height of the metal plate to better accommodate her sister. "Well, alright," Applejack said making her way down the stairs to the thick metal plate. She turned and bucked it as hard as she could, "Ohhh, that's gonna sting for bit." "Oh, sorry Applejack. I should've put the padding back on," Twilight grinned sheepishly before lighting her horn and repositioning the thick plate for Applebloom once more, "Now Applebloom I want you to buck it as hard as you can.” She did just that. The sound that followed was like a fraction of what she imagined it'd be like if the train were to collide with a mountain. Metal ripped and crunched with the force she put into her buck. "Applebloom, ya okay?" Her back legs were sticking out the other side of the thick metal plate which now looked more like a piece of contemporary art than scientific equipment. The machine holding the destroyed metal plate was bellowing out black smoke, even though she couldn't think of a reason why it'd do that, "Yeah, Ah'm fine,” she said as she removed her back legs and checked the damage. “Well, that was somewhat expected,” Twilight said in glum acceptance, looking forlornly at her smoking machine. “Sorry Twilight, Ah didn’t mean to break it,” Applebloom apologised. “It’s okay, but I hope you can see why I asked you to be careful now right?” Twilight asked pointing at the ruined thick metal plate. She nodded in agreement. She really did a number on that thing. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The image of the mangled metal plate lingered as she came back to reality, even though not a second had gone by since she relived that memory. She never thought she’d do something like that to a pony, yet she had. She took her eyes off the mare and addressed the others who ran in the direction of her sister. Should she stop? No. She refused to take that risk. Promising to heal the mare and any others later, she gave chase. Quickly, one by one she took them down doing her best to ignore the pain she inflicted on her victims. She had tried telling them to stop, each and everyone, but they all left her no choice. If only she still had seeds. Before she knew it, they were all taken down. She breathed heavily and blinked away tears she hadn’t realized were there. Exhaustion washed over her after everything she'd done in such a short time. Taking a breather, she addressed the few who for whatever reason heeded her warning and didn’t try to book it for her sister. To her left the donkey was slowly walking towards her but now she could see a glint of his weapon as he cut down vines along his path. He didn’t bother freeing the pegasi still entrapped. Far closer to her still was two fit unicorns, but in the back she could see the earth pony stallion she’d sent packing getting up. She felt she was missing something, but ignored it and sucked in some air one last time, “Ah’ll say it again!" she yelled, "Ah won’t let any of ya-” she began but stopped as she followed the sudden strong urge to jump to the side. Sharp throwing stars landed where she had been mere moments ago, imbedding themselves in the cement road. She looked at them alarmed. What was going on? Who? ... Who would dare throw throwing stars at a filly? If it had been anypony else she had no doubt the throwing stars would’ve reached their mark. She barely dodged them as is. She didn’t want to think about what kind of damage that’d reek. She scowled at the thought gritting her teeth. Where? Almost as if possessed, she looked directly where they came from. Above her, on a lamppost to her right was the ninja. She knew she missed something. She glared at the ninja before an idea came to her. She smirked in realization of where the ninja was. Living on an apple farm her whole life gave her a unique perspective on how somepony should go about getting things down from high places. It’s one of the reasons nopony asked her sister for help to get a cat out of a tree, or a frisbee off a roof. She ran to the post zig zagging as even more throwing stars rained down. A couple grazed her, but that was more her not listening to her instincts and instead to her building rage at the pony still flinging throwing stars at a filly. Once at the lamppost she turned, reared up on her forelegs, and kicked with all her might. It ripped apart, forcing the ninja to jump off, as it slammed into the sidewalk and skidded before coming to a stop. The ninja lightly landed directly in front of her. The ninja didn’t stop at landing and quickly sprung into action running towards her while pulling out a long needle and coating it with something. Applebloom’s eyes bulged out at the sight and she dived then rolled to the side. All while the ninja jabbed at her with the needle, recoating the needle every couple jabs. Back on her hooves, she faced the ninja and gasped as the needle pierced one of her forelegs. Fear overcame her about whatever deadly poison she assumed coated the needle, was she going to die? She snarled at the thought. She grabbed the ninjas extended hoof and with a strong tug pulled the ninja into an awaiting brutal head butt. She grit her teeth as the long needle pierced out from the other side of her foreleg. The ninja collapsed in a knockout, and Applebloom tried to take the needle out  with her now free forehoof. After the second attempt, she sluggishly raised her pierced forehoof and bit down on the needle, yanking it out in one fell swoop and spat it away. A few small dots of blood dripped to the ground, before the physical wound healed. Worry written on her face, over her numb foreleg. She looked up only to see the donkey had left a trail of cut down vines in his wake and was much closer. The two unicorns had their horns glowing while the stallion charged towards her, anger etched in his face, a little too close for comfort. She jumped out of the way but stumbled her landing thanks to her numb foreleg. The stallion skidded to a stop and faced her. Not wanting to turn her back to the two unicorns who were up to something, she backed away keeping them in the edge of her vision. The problem with that was the donkey was no longer in her sight, she’d just have to hope he didn’t try anything. The stallion closed the distance between them and raised his hoof for a devastating blow. Pained seared through her jaw as the hit connected, but she stood firm, only her numb leg quacking from the force. She blinked a couple times as tears filled her eyes from said pain, and she spat out some blood as a tooth fell out of her mouth. She really hoped that was a baby tooth. Looking back up the stallion was delivering another blow but this time she head butted his incoming hoof. She grunted as they made contact but kept up the force until they were in a hoof wrestle match of sorts. Bearing the pain from her jaw, she clenched her teeth and swiftly removed her head from the match as the stallion slipped and fell to the ground, such was the force he was putting into his foreleg. She didn’t hesitate to grab his exposed head and slam it into the ground twice for good measure, and maybe pay back for her tooth. He slumped to the ground, knocked out. She faced the two unicorns, and took note that the donkey was standing to the side watching, “Aaaa,” she brought her good hoof to her jaw. It wasn't just her jaw that hurt but her whole body felt weak, like she just got over a very bad cold and needed a couple days rest before she fully recovered. “Ah won’t," she breathed, "let any of you near my sister!” “Once I’m done with you, I’m going to tear that changeling apart!” one the unicorns said before firing some kind of spell at her. She dived out of the way staggering on her numb leg and ultimately falling to the ground hitting her jaw. Groaning in pain she looked to where the spell landed and it seemed to do nothing. It didn’t even leave a mark on the pavement. The other unicorn teleported right to her and pinned her down with a hoof, “That won’t be necessary, because that changeling is mine,” the unicorns horn began to glow, “and if I have to take you out of the picture then consider it done!” Applebloom's whole body ached, growing all those plants and then fighting some of those same plants to grow more limbs really took a lot out of her. Not to mention whatever that ninja poisoned her with. So far it seemed to only affect her leg for some reason. She didn’t know why, and it freaked her out. Her jaw hurt, and she hoped Applejack gained enough distance to be safe. The unicorn's horn charged up and she closed her eyes. *BOOM* ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mirror crept forward. The silence in the forest was deafening, especially considering it’s been constantly active since she’s entered. Whether it was bird's bickering, a cricket's spiteful call, or the many squirrels quarrels she’s encountered. Something was always happening and making noise. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. She was currently trudging through a large dense patch of bushes and going around trees she’d often run into. Every single move she made would rustle leaves. A good portion of the bushes had thorns that threatened her eyes so it was slow going. The thorns tickled against her exoskeleton, but all the leaves and branches did a good job of drowning that feeling out. That aside, the fact she was the only thing making sounds, for a while now, didn't seem right. She carefully marched forward and kept on high alert. As she moved the density of the bushes got lighter and movement much easier. She passed a bush and entered a slight clearing of sorts. Tall tree’s shot high above her, and few bushes were ahead. Far fewer than the seeming sea of them she just traversed. She wiped her brow of the sweat that hindered hear sight and walked into the open. The hot humidity of this forest was worse than the unyielding dry heat of the badlands by far. It made her feel like throwing up at times. *Growl* Her head shot up at the sudden sound, whatever it was it didn’t sound nice. Urgently, she looked around. Behind herself off to the side something stepped out of the bushes. It’s green glowing eyes glaring at her hungrily. It looked like it was made out of the very forest she traversed. It slowly prowled towards her with its thorny paws. She backed away, with no place to hide. It was so much larger than herself. She doubted she could outrun it. Terrified she kept backing away from it, unable to look away from it’s unholy glowing eyes. She had to get away. *Howl* Came another sound, from the other side of the bushes in the distance. The monster before her growled and slightly raised its head, before it continued stalking closer to her. She kept backing away. Her legs trembled as it got closer and closer. The bushes rustled the direction the previous howl as something moved quickly moved through them, until another of the same type of wooden creature bursted out of them and charged right at her. The one directly in front of her became distracted by the new ones intrusion for a moment, and in the moment she turned and ran for her life. She heard their heavy thumps as they gave chase. She didn’t dare look back as she escaped. It was short lived however as one of them swatted her with its paw, slamming her onto the dirt ground and causing her to roll to a tree with the leftover momentum of her run. She groaned as she began to get up and brought a hoof to where she’d been hit, only to realize her saddlebag took a majority of the damage with the gash it now had. Before she could get up, one of them ran towards her. She back peddled into the tree as it rapidly approached. Trembling as it lunged towards her. She dived to the side but it was quicker and bit her shoulder lightly piercing her shell before tossing her away from the tree. She screamed as pain and her own green ichor greeted her shoulder. She got it up in an attempt to get away but it pounced her. It bared its weight on her back bringing her belly to the ground. It was too heavy. Her saddlebags padded its sharp thorns. Tears streamed down her face as she uselessly struggled to get free of its weight, “anyling HELP! Mommy!? Daddy!?” She cried as she uselessly wiggled around. More weight was put on her and she just couldn’t get free. She could smell its putrid breath as it panted in victory. It exhaled alarming close to her neck, ‘I don’t want to die,’ was all she could think as she thought about her promise. ...