//------------------------------// // 5 // Story: The Truth // by Jet Cannon //------------------------------// “… and that’s the plan, ok?” “Right!” The group of friends, six mares and one large stallion, all got ready to split into groups of two (or three) and begin their search of Ponyville. After Twilight and Applejack had reached the town square it hadn’t taken long for Big Macintosh to join them, a thoroughly soaked letter clutched in his mouth. He had refused any assistance Twilight had offered to combat the rain, insisting that he was fine as he was, and to be honest Twilight believed him. Even in Luna’s shaded moonlight steam could easily be seen rising from the farmer’s mighty frame, and he showed no signs of succumbing to the cold quite yet. Pinkie Pie had been the first to arrive after Macintosh, dressed in a bright pink overcoat (what other colour would it have been?) and bouncing through every puddle she came across. Even her playful demeanour was dampened somewhat upon being told what was happening, but she quickly rallied herself with the idea of a “We Found Apple Bloom Again!” party, and went back to bouncing in puddles whilst they waited for the others. Rarity arrived soon after with Fluttershy; they had been on one of their spa trips earlier in the day and Rarity had invited Fluttershy to stay for a while until the rain abated somewhat. Unfortunately, even now the rain only seemed to be getting heavier, and the alabaster Unicorn was, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather aggrieved at the prospect of ruining her new hooficure. Although she was rather more understanding after hearing of Apple Bloom’s plight. “Goodness gracious, how awful! The poor little thing must be frozen out here in this rain!” “Yeah, Ah know,” Applejack agreed unhappily. “And to think of how scared she must be!” “Yeah, Ah know,” Applejack agreed again, even more unhappily. “Who knows what might happen to her? It’s ever so easy to get hurt in the dark! She might trip over something, slip up in a puddle, bang her head against a−” “Rarity!” Applejack cried. “Could you do me a favour’n keep that stuff t’yerself just now?!” “Oh, sorry darling.” “Look out below!” Before any of them could react, an indistinguishable blur crashed into the ground between them, showering everypony in muddy water. “Ehehe, sorry guys. Even for a pony as awesome as me, this rain’s pretty tough to fly through!” Rainbow Dash had arrived. Twilight had quickly formed a plan of breaking into small groups and searching several different areas at once. “We’ll cover more ground this way, so there’s more chance of finding Apple Bloom more quickly. She probably won’t have gone very far, I don’t see how she could have in this weather…” The rain was unrelenting. It had, for now at least, decided to stop getting any heavier, but it still hadn’t lessened. “Couldn’t you do something about that, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy had asked. “’fraid not. For one thing this storm’s scheduled in to make up for lost time earlier in the month, things have been getting too dry in some areas.” The Apples nodded at this; some of their outer fields hadn’t been rained on for some time now, and had been beginning to show it. “Also it’s not my shift, so I don’t have the authority to do anything about it, and to be honest even I would struggle to make headway with all of those storm clouds by myself. I’d be twenty percent more soaked and exhausted than I am already in 10 seconds flat! And I wouldn’t even have anything to show for it!” “Then we’re just going to have to fight through the weather!” Twilight stood in the centre of the small group. “Time to group up, everypony! If your group finds Apple Bloom, bring her back to the library so Spike can get notes to the rest of us. Be careful, try not to slip up… and that’s the plan, ok?” “Right!” they all answered, preparing to leave. “Look out below!” For the second time that night a cry sounded out above them, but this time all the ponies managed to jump back before another stricken Pegasus crashed to earth in front of them. “Der-uh, Ditzy?! Are you ok?” Rainbow Dash offered a hoof to the cross-eyed mare and helped her stand up. “Oh, thanks Rainbow Dash! Yeah, I’m fine. Nice weather, isn’t it?” “Yeah, whatever you say. Listen Ditzy, have you seen Apple Bloom around anywhere? She’s ran away from home and we’re trying to find her.” “Apple Bloom?” Ditzy looked to Applejack. “Your Apple Bloom?” Applejack nodded. “Little yellow filly with red mane and tail?” “…yes.” Applejack looked slightly confused. How could Ditzy not be sure what Apple Bloom looked like? She’d seen her enough times. “About Dinky’s age?” “Yes.” “No cutie mark yet?” “Yes.” “Big pink bow tied up in her mane?” “Yes.” Ditzy thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Nope, haven’t seen her.” “Gah!” This from everypony else. “Wait! Wait, no! I have seen her!” “You have?!” “Yeah, she ran into the Everfree Forest a little while ago. It looked like she was heading towards Zecora’s place.” The Pegasus raised a hoof to her chin. “Hmm, probably not that safe to be heading through the Everfree on a night like this,” she said thoughtfully. “Anyway, I’ve gotta get home and put Dinky to bed. Bye everypony!” she called happily as she took off again, soon disappearing into the surrounding gloom, although not without almost crashing once more. The group looked at each other fearfully. “T-the Everfree F-f-forest?” Applejack had a deep-seated fear of that dismal place, and although she had been forced to brave its boundaries on several occasions, and was more-or-less confident on the path leading to Zecora’s house, the mere mentioning of the Everfree was often enough to fill the Earth pony with dread. Tonight especially. “That path’s hard ‘nuff to follow in the daylight! And who knows what kinda nasty critters are roamin’ about at this hour?” Applejack was visibly shaking again, only this time there was no doubt as to the cause. With a mighty whinny which caused the rest to jump, Big Macintosh reared up, span around and galloped off in the direction of Zecora’s house. “Come on,” Twilight said, trying to sound strong for her friend’s benefit. “We have to try and catch up with Big Macintosh before he gets too far ahead. Your brother can run a lot faster than I thought he could!” However, before Applejack could be convinced to move even a single hoof, they saw Big Macintosh coming back to them. Stopping beside Applejack, he quickly drew her into a tight hug. “Don’t worry, Applejack, ain’t nothin’ gonna get between me and Apple Bloom! Ah’ll get her back!” And then he did something completely unexpected. He looked Applejack in the eyes, smiled at her, and kissed her. Properly kissed her. On the mouth. “Guess you’ve got some ‘splaining to do now, ‘sis’,” he said with a wink, before turning around once more and running off again. “Macintosh…” Applejack said quietly, cheeks redder than his coat, a hoof held out after him as he disappeared. She turned to her friends after a moment to gauge their reactions. Their faces were a perfect range of emotions from shock to revulsion and everything in between. Rainbow Dash’s wings were flared out. Well, now that they had told Apple Bloom, it had to come out sooner or later. “He… he ain’t mah brother.” “You what now?” asked Rainbow Dash in surprise, her wings visibly reduced in extension. “He ain’t mah brother, and Apple Bloom ain’t our little sister.” Nopony could even guess at what Applejack was talking about, so they all waited as she gathered herself together and began to explain: “Me’n’Mac are only step-brother and sister. And Apple Bloom… we never told her until tonight, but…” She stopped, swallowed hard, and looked down at the sodden earth beneath her before admitting, in a very small voice: “She’s our daughter."