//------------------------------// // Little Trouble in the Big Orchard // Story: High Noon At Dodge Junction // by Gpizano //------------------------------// Applejack seemed to be getting a lot of restless nights lately, although last night it had been because she was thinking about what had happened in the saloon. She still felt scummy for feeling jealous over a little thing like that and she tried to push it out of her mind but it kept showing her worst case scenarios, like where Cherry fell in love with Draw Out again and they got re-married. Dangit she had to stop listening to Rarity go on about her dumb romance novels... Once again she was going down the stairs, greeted by Cherry with coffee and breakfast once more that gave way to a tantalizing thought that this could be her mornings from now on if she told the older mare how she really felt. And of course once more this thought was pushed aside as they greeted each other and enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Unfortunately it couldn't last and soon Cherry spoke up "Ah'm gonna go check on Draw, see how he's doin' this mornin'." she said, taking her plate to the sink to wash it off "Will ya' be fine tendin' the orchard yerself fer a bit?" "Sure." said Applejack, taking care of the last few bites on her plate, doing her best to fight back that stupid jealousy she felt. "Ah can handle it jes' fine Cherry, no worries." "Thanks darlin', yer a real peach." said Cherry, smiling before giving a soft giggle as she added "Or should Ah say apple? Not that Ah'm sure it'd make as much sense fer the sayin'." She gave a small bump of the shoulder, keeping Applejack's heart skipping before she trotted out of the kitchen. Once Applejack heard the front door open and close, she plopped her rump down and double face hoofed. That... had been too cute. God she wished she could just tell Cherry how she felt! But after taking a moment to compose herself, Applejack stood and headed out into the orchard to get to work. The serenity was still there but it was a little lonely without Cherry working out there with her. She just focused on the work as best as she could though, going at a good click as she collected cherries in baskets and put the baskets into the cart. It was around the time she was hauling it towards the farmhouse that she spotted something, something that looked like three ponies heading for Cherry's place. After quickly unhitching herself, Applejack galloped back to the house and saw that the front door was left open and there was indeed a ruckus coming from inside. "She ain't here!" Applejack heard from the floor above, along with some generalized searching. One pony came out from the kitchen, a fritter in hoof when he paused and looked right at her. It wasn't hard to recognize the second stallion from the saloon last night! "Boss! The mare from last night is here!" he called, dropping his fritter all together as there came a clattering of hooves from upstairs, the large stallion and the female soon coming into view from up top. "Well, well. N' here Ah thought Ah'd ne'er get the chance ta' see you again." said the leader, a big stallion with a dark black coat and white spots on him, his light blue-grey eyes narrowing at the mare as he headed down the stairs, the creme colored mare following behind him. "Now look, y'all leave n' Ah'll go easy on ya'." warned Applejack, narrowing her eyes and widening her stance just a bit, standing more aggressively as she prepared herself for a fight. "Ain't that a laugh!" scoffed the big stallion as he finally reached the bottom, clearly not backing down "Ya' got lucky last night, but we'll see how ya' fair without a posse backin' ya' up!" With that he charged in, ready to tackle Applejack to the ground but the mare was agile enough to get out of the way in time before once more bucking the stallion away from her. Of course that left her open for the other stallion to come right in and tackle her to the ground, starting to punch at her before Applejack pushed him off of her. That was about the time that the mare started to chuck random pieces of furniture at her, from as big as chairs to as small as knick knacks that Applejack was pretty sure Cherry would be pissed to find had been broken. Maybe. Between that there was also the two stallions back on their feet and trying to get at her but they caught a projectile every now and then we Applejack ducked out of the way of the mare's shot. The blonde was getting confident, perhaps even cocky as she dodged another knick knack "That the best ya' varmints got? Ya' couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!" she crowed. That was about the time the stallion picked up one of the sitting couches and chucked it at her, which Applejack of course dodged but at that same split second the mare had chucked one final knick knack at her, striking her at the side of her head and stunning her. Which left an opening for the smaller stallion to tackle her to the ground and the mare to come up as well, the two raining punches down on Applejack as she tried to cover her head and face. "Not so smug now, are ya' ya' little bitch!" snarled the large stallion, trotting over to the battered Applejack and raising a hoof before slamming it down onto her head, making the orange mare black out. About an hour later, Cherry would return home and find the main foyer wrecked. She'd call the farmhands and what not, asking what in the world happened and noticing that Applejack was missing. She'd gone to the sheriff to launch a search party but that was about the time a telegram pony delivered a letter to the sheriff, addressed for Cherry which read as thus. Miss Jubilee, We have your guest and if you ever want to see her alive again then come South to the Macintosh Gorge. Bring 100,000 bits. Just you and no pony else. "... Sprout, we're headin' home." said Cherry to a farmhand, a determined look in her eye as she turned to leave the sheriff's office. "Wait now Miss Jubilee! Ya' can't just-" protested the sheriff but he was immediately cowed with a look. With his protest dying on his lips, Cherry turned and headed back towards her estate, intent on gathering what she needed and heading to Macintosh Gorge.