Applejack rushed alongside the carriage's trail until it faded away into the cobblestone streets of Ponyville. She glanced around, hoping to find any kind of indication as to where it may have gone. The only lead she could find was a red droplet staining the stone a few yards in front of her.
"APPLEJACK!" Pinkie Pie screamed joyfully, leaping out in front of her.
"Not now Pinkie Pie!" Applejack said impatiently.
"Oh! Okay! I'll see you later!" A cloud of confetti appeared, and Pinkie Pie vanished.
"Wait, Pinkie Pie!" Applejack called out to the puff of settling shredded papers. The pink pony suddenly re-appeared behind her. "Uh, how'd you do that?" Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders, acting as if she had no idea what Applejack was referring too. The orange pony shook her head, "That isn't important right now. Did yah see a carriage drive by anytime today?"
"Oh my gosh! I did! I thought it was kind of strange, it was being pulled by two ponies I had never seen before and I know everypony in Ponyville!" The pony shouted her frizzy hair bouncing as she spoke. "Anyway, so I tried to follow them, I asked them where they were going, and they were like 'Meh!' and kept going!"
"Pinkie, which way were they headed?" Applejack asked urgently.
"Oh-oh! They were headed um…" Pinkie Pie trotted in circles, doing strange maneuvers with her neck as she did. "They went this way! Follow me!" she shouted again as she hopped down one of the streets. "So whatcha doing?"
"Ah don't want to cause a ruckus-"
"FRACAS!" Pinkie interrupted gleefully.
Applejack rolled her eyes, "a fracas, but ah think those ponies may have ponynapped Rainbow Dash!"
Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically and then pulled a police cap from seemingly nowhere and placed it on her cotton candy mane. "Don't you worry your pretty little head; Sergeant Pinkie Pie is on the case!"
Once again, Applejack found herself baffled as to where this pony could possibly have had that hat hidden. "Thanks Pinkie, ah'd sure hate to go looking for Rainbow Dash all on mah own."
"Well of course! What are friends for?" Pinkie Pie let out another excited gasp. "They went this way!" she said, taking a sharp turn off their current path.
"How could yah possibly know that?" Applejack asked as she studied her surroundings, trying to pick up on whatever clue her companion had.
"Well silly, the road is made of dirt over here!" Pinkie Pie giggled as she continued skipping down the road, following a new trail of tire tracks.
"Oh…" Applejack let out a soft chuckle of embarrassment as she followed. "Ah knew that." She found herself much more grateful that Pinkie was tagging along, or rather that she was now tagging along with Pinkie Pie and her incredible eye for detail.
"So why would anypony want to kidnap Rainbow Dash anyway, that seems kind of silly." Pinkie Pie looked quizzically at the orange pony that straggled behind her, trying to meet her pace.
"Ah don't know Pinkie, some ponies are just crazy like that." Applejack frowned as she spoke, and pushed herself as she began to lag behind.
"Oh Applejack, I'm sure nopony wants to hurt Rainbow Dash! I'm sure it's all just a big misunderstanding." Pinkie Pie slowed down a bit, taking note that the orange pony was getting worn out trying to keep up.
"Ah sure hope yer right Pinkie, but ah can't take any chances, not with what happened at the Gorge." Applejack shivered as she remembered the events.
"This way!" Pinkie Pie shouted making another quick turn. Once again Applejack found she was trying to search for whatever details Pinkie Pie may have spotted, and again, she was unable to detect it. Pinkie Pie laughed, "There are hoof prints at the end of tracks!" she pointed her pink hoof at the ground.
Applejack tried to figure out where they were, but they had left the town limits awhile back and were in a part of Equestria she was not familiar with. "Uh, where are we?"
Pinkie Pie answered with a shrug "Beats me! I think we are somewhere in between Hoofington, and Coltsdale, but I'm not really sure." She prodded herself in the head with her hoof trying to force out a more exact answer, but she gave up, and shrugged again.
"So ah take it yah've never been out here before then?" Applejack began to get worried, the sun was going down, and she was in unfamiliar territory.
"Well, not really." Pinkie Pie said shamefully, "I mean, it's kind of hard to know EVERYPONY and EVERYPLACE as well. Besides, places can't really smile, so I don't think they feel bad about me not getting to know them… I hope" she frowned at the darkening forest, silently apologizing to it just in case.
The sun's light had completely vanished, and the moon's glow was not yet bright enough to make tracking a feasible plan. "Ah can't see a darned thing out here, what 'bout yah?" Applejack asked, straining her eyes just so she could see in front of herself.
Pinkie Pie let out another childish laugh, "Nope! I wouldn't even be able to see a giant chocolate cake if I walked into it!"
"Uh maybe we should stop fer the night, until mornin'." Applejack suggested anxiously as she tried to scout out a safe place to stay for the night.
"You mean like a camping trip? I have just the thing!" Pinkie Pie grinned widely and jumped away from her spot, up into the air, a small tent appearing where she had stood. "I've been waiting to use this for such a long time now!"
Applejack stared dumbfounded, "Yah know what, Ah'm not even gonna ask." She said as she crawled into the tent, with
Pinkie Pie soon joined her inside, looking a little confused. "Ask what?"
Applejack wasn't sure whether she should be more amazed at some of the stunts Pinkie could do, or the fact that Pinkie Pie didn't even pick up on the fact that she was the only pony who could do some of the things she did. "Uh, Nothin' don't worry yerself 'bout it. Let's just try an' get some sleep."
"Okay!" Pinkie Pie covered herself with her fluffy tail, using it as a blanket, and the tent went silent.
Applejack hadn't realized how much Pinkie Pie had been distracting her during the journey, now that everything had gone quiet, her mind wandered to horrifying scenarios that Rainbow Dash could be enduring. The orange pony rolled around restlessly, trying not to think of what could be happening to the captured blue Pegasus.
"PSST, HEY APPLEJACK! ARE YOU AWAKE?" Pinkie Pie screeched, trying to mask her voice to make it sound like she was whispering.
The incredibly loud whispering startled Applejack, "Shoot, Pinkie, if anypony wasn't awake in all of Equestria, they sure are now!"
Pinkie Pie let out another one of her giggles, "Oops! So what do you think is happening to Rainbow Dash?"
Applejack let out a noise to show she was thinking before she spoke. "Ah don't know, but whoever they are, they sure aren't takin' her for a picnic."
"Why would they ponynap her, just to take her on a picnic?" Pinkie Pie gasped when she thought she solved the mystery.
"Unless… oh my gosh, Applejack, they must be throwing her a surprise party!"
"What? Why in the-" Applejack was yet again boggled as to how Pinkie Pie had come up with this assumption. "Nevermind Pinkie."
Pinkie Pie rolled over to Applejack, "I know you're scared for Rainbow Dash, but don't worry, she'll be fine! I pinky promise!" she squeezed Applejack tightly, and then she started to make a squeaking noise that could only be the pink pony's way of snoring.
Applejack smiled at her goofy friend's extension of comfort, "Thanks, Pinkie." she said as she snuggled her sleeping friend.
Her mind couldn't help but return to her mistakes she had made since the night before. "Rainbow Dash, this is all mah fault, ah'm so sorry." She thought to herself as hushed tears slipped down her face. Applejack whispered quietly to the world, hoping that somehow she would be heard, "Ah'll find yah soon, and ah hope yer okay. Ah love you so much Rainbow."
Applejack awoke to the sensation of Pinkie Pie's body trembling from the cold air that had infiltrated the small tent. The grayish gloom of a cloud covered sun immersed the outside, the faint light revealing tiny specks that drifted above them.
Applejack shook the quaking Pink Pony that rested on top of her. "Pinkie, ah think we should get moving!"
The tired fluffy pony squeaked a small yawn before bursting into life. "It sure is cold out here!" Pinkie let out a shiver and rubbed her hooves on her shoulders to warm herself. "Ooh, it's snowing!" she squealed as she looked outside the tent.
Applejack didn't share the enthusiasm; a new layer of snow would make tracking nearly impossible. She exited the tent to witness Pinkie Pie had begun dancing awkwardly in the snow. "Uh, Pinkie, ah don't mean to dampen yer spirits or anything, but how are we gonna find Rainbow if we can't even see the road anymore?"
Pinkie Pie stopped dancing for a moment and thought. "Well! If we came from that way…" she pointed her pink hoof behind them, "then they must have gone this way!" she rotated her hoof pointing in front of her.
Applejack covered her face with her hoof when Pinkie Pie had failed to see the point she was making, "Well, yeah… but what if we come tah a fork in the road, then what? We could end up running into dozens of intersections and then we'd be completely lost!"
The pony paused for another moment, thinking things through once again, "That's a problem for future Pinkie Pie to solve! For now, we should go THAT WAY!" she began to bounce away from Applejack who trailed behind her, the tent had simply vanished behind them.
As they walked down the snowy path, the trees began to dwindle away. For miles all that was visible was the white snow, and the tall golden-brown grass that bordered their walkway. Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as her hooves crunched on the ice beneath her.
Applejack noticed three things that changed as they continued forward: The first thing she had noticed was that it was getting colder, her humid breath making a small fog as she exhaled. The second; was a sudden increase in silver striations that flooded the air, gently caressing her orange coat as the crystals floated downward. The third thing she spotted was a pathway of trampled golden grass that even Pinkie Pie's sharp eye hadn't caught.
The farm pony cleared her throat, "I think you missed our turn." She pointed her orange hoof at the trail. Pinkie Pie let out a small cheer and allowed Applejack a turn to lead their expedition. Pinkie Pie walked silently behind, trying to spot details so she could even the score of the game she had started playing without Applejack's knowledge.
The two monitored every last aspect of their surroundings, though for different reasons. Pinkie Pie shouted triumphantly and grabbed the golden tail of the pony in front of her, and pulled her back to the new discovery. Applejack's eyes encasing with a look of fear as she stared at the blood stained grass the pink pony had spotted.
Pinkie Pie's hair deflated when her brain made the connection of what she had most likely found. "What if RD isn't okay Pinkie?" Applejack's asked cheerlessly, breaking the silence as they gazed at the dismal sight
"Don't say that Applejack! She has to be okay!" Pinkie Pie patted the anxious pony on the head.
"What if she isn't? How can yah know?" Applejack asked in a dispirited voice.
"Because I pinky promised, and I never break a pinky promise, that's how I know! Pinkie Pie's hair re-inflated. This had been enough to comfort her, which as a result, made Applejack feel a little better as well. "Now come on, we have a Pegasus to find!" she hopped over Applejack, and bound forward.
The trail of crumpled grass came to an end, merging into a gravel road that went in only one direction. The rocks jabbed into their hooves as they marched across the unfamiliar terrain. The flakes of snow were nearly triple in size, and their rate of descent had increased as well, almost completely blocking their vision as they proceeded.
Pinkie Pie leaped up excitedly when her eyes caught glimpse of a structure off in the distance through the fog. "Applejack, I think we're here, wherever here is!" she squeaked energetically as she sped up.
"Pinkie Pie, slow down, we don't know what crazy pony lives out here!" Applejack called out after her. She tried to meet the new pace, but slipped on one of the more unsteady rocks. By the time she gathered herself off the gravel, Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen.
Applejack shouted out for the missing pony, "Pinkie Pie?" she received no answer. "PINKIE PIE!" she shouted again, much louder than before and still was given no answer. A cold sweat began to cover her as she approached a tattered brick house with no sign of her friend. "Pinkie Pie?" she attempted to shout, but her growing fear suppressed her voice.
A set of fresh hoof prints stopped a few yards from the door being replaced with the tracks of a pony that had been dragged. Applejack's first assumption was that Pinkie Pie had been clobbered over the head and dragged inside, and that they hadn't seen her because she had fallen.
The orange pony took a deep breath, and gently turned the knob of the door and pulled it open, the howling wind covering the noise of the creaking door hinges as they rotated. She prepared to trot inside, when she stopped herself.
Applejack thought better then to just bumble inside, she peaked through the crack where the door hinges met the wall, and she saw no pony. She poked her head inside the building, again, seeing no pony. Confident that she could now safely enter without having to fear being bludgeoned she slowly tip-hoofed inside the house.
Applejack looked around the square room, all she could find, was a single light switch that powered the one bulb that dangled from the ceiling. There were no windows, doorways, or hallways; the main room of the building also happened to be the only room. She looked around, confused, they couldn't have just vanished.
The orange pony walked quietly on the wooden surface, not wanting to alarm any pony of her presence in case she had been missing something. After thorough examination of the room, she still could not find anything, until she gazed back at the door. The trail of snow that had been left behind from a pony being dragged had now melted.
The trail veered off to by the wall, stopping in the corner of the room. A circular shape of different shaded wood was magnified by the droplets; it was the tiny handle of a trapdoor. Cautiously, Applejack approached it and pulled it open quietly, revealing a staircase leading down into the darkness. The sound of whimpering ponies bounced off the dimly lit stone walls, echoing in her ears.