-----------------------Chapter 6: Applejack, and no not the cereal
As if things couldn’t get any worse. Not only was it now evident that Fluttershy wasn’t the only one who was brought here, but now one of them is causing a scene, at a frickin Walmart no less! Things were not okay, no beyond not okay! It was more like catastrophic!
I sighed, calming myself down. Getting worked up was definitely not gonna solve things. If anything, it’d probably raise more questions. How did she not get found out by now? Crap, here come the questions. Now’s not the time for it!
I ran to my room, the sound of Fluttershy mumbling to herself in worry filling the entire house. As I slid to a stop, I grabbed all the essentials: My backpack, a hoodie, and my skate shoes. These things will definitely come in handy, especially the hoodie, since I’ll need something to hide my face. With all those things collected, I bolted to the front door, as I slipped my shoes on.
“Fluttershy, stay here, I’ll bring AJ back soon.” I called, to which she trotted towards me in a worried manner.
“Z-Zac, let me go too! I-I know I could help i-in some sort of way!”.
Hell no, that was not gonna happen! Not because she couldn’t help, but because it was hella dangerous to even think about taking her out of this house. With all the security cameras, police, and even nosey citizens with their cameras always ready on their phones, it’d be impossible to keep her from being spotted, and there would be no way to hide her in my backpack. Last time I checked, she wasn’t the same size as a frickin plushie.
“Sorry Fluttershy, but that’s a terrible idea,” I stated bluntly, “If someone saw you, then all hell will break loose. It’ll be a miracle if I can even get Applejack out of this mess.”.
She frowned, which caused my heart to literally drop all the way to my left foot, and yes I know that’s scientifically impossible.
“But I-” I placed a finger on her lips, shushing her.
“Just stay here. I don’t need anymore trouble to deal with. I’ll bring back Applejack safe and sound, so just wait here for a bit.”.
And before she could say anything, I rushed off. I know I could have stated that in a more “sensitive” way, but facts are facts. If she came with me, I’d have to watch her and save Ponyville’s southern belle as well. Hey that rhymed!
With my backpack in tow, I blasted straight toward my destination. Let’s just hope that there aren’t any issues like police cars, swat, TV crew, or a large crowd of people around. I mean, let’s be real here, this is New York, I’m sure that something bigger is going on somewhere in this city...right?
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Me and my stupid, jinxing, loud mouth. The entire Walmart parking lot was literally filled to the frickin brim with people! Camera crew, News reporters, civilians, police, just every type of person imaginable! I think I even saw hot dog vendors! Damn it, this was not just catastrophic, this was disastrous! Okay, let’s not panic, let’s just assess the situation. As they say, “Keep calm and flutter on.”.
I glanced around the area, pulling the hood on my jacket over my head. There was a multitude of people everywhere. Police tape was around the front entrance, and camera crew has the entire place on, well camera. I pushed through the bumbling New Yorkers, all of them not even noticing me. As I got closer to the entrance, upon closer inspection, the police seemed to only have the front entrance taped off, so that means that the back entrance would be my best bet!
I slithered through the crowd, making sure my face was completely covered. No one could see my face, not until I’d say, a month after this event. With everyone distracted, I slipped towards the back of the super store. That’s when I stopped. Wait a minute, this is strange. Police are usually more thorough when it comes to these situations, so why was the back, and even the sides of the store, not guarded. I shrugged. It wasn’t any skin off my nose. It's actually a hell of a lot easier now. With that in mind, I continued my easy trek to the back entrance. No one was there, not even a lost civilian. Perfect, this will be a piece of cake! I ran up to the back door and snuck my way into the store.
Silence. Nothing but silence.
“This is oddly creepy.” I muttered to myself.
I mean it kinda was, right? Even in the wee early hours of the morning, the place would still be bustling with early shoppers going out for those early bird deals. To see it completely quiet was a bit of a strange site.
“What the hay is this?!”. And there goes the silence. Wait, that voice though, and did it just say “hay”?! That was Applejack, no doubt! I sprinted towards the sound. It seemed to be coming from the produce section. Why am I not surprised? I skidded to a halt, the produce section in my sites, and there she was. The orange, blonde maned, cowgirl hat wearing, southern belle mare that I was looking for. Wait, this could be a trick... Just to be safe...
“Raise this barn!” I shouted with all the energy and inner country boy that I could muster.
It seemed to have worked, because she turned her head with a surprised and all around confused look.
“You’re Applejack right?” I asked inching closer to her slowly.
“What’s it to yah partner?”. She stared at me with a very serious look. Guess she wasn’t in the mood for games.
“Look, just listen to me. I have your friend Fluttershy and-”.
Without warning, a quick and painful sensation ran through my abdomen knocking me into a nearby shelf. This mare just frickin bullrushed me! Her glare was anything but calming. In fact, I think it could have probably killed me 7 times already!
“What did y’all do to Fluttershy?! Y’all better not have touched ‘er!”.
“N-no no! I didn’t,” I picked myself off the ground as I explained, “Fluttershy is at my house. She asked me to come and get you before you got hurt.”. She looked at me with a suspicious face. I guess she didn’t believe me, but let’s be honest, would you of you were in her shoes.... Er, hooves?
Before I could open my mouth, the sound of crashes and footsteps could be heard. Crap, looks like the cops finally decided to take action. I got to get her outta here and fast! Without a second thought I grabbed Applejack and held her under my right arm. Her face was full of nothing but shock and confusion.
“Hey, lemme go you creep!” She demanded, kicking her legs aggressively.
“Look, you don’t have a choice here! I’m getting you out of this place, intact!”. And with that, I bolted back out the back door.
The sounds of shouting and searching could be heard from behind me, as I skated my way out of the Walmart parking lot and through the allies of the town. Funny, not once did I get caught, Guess I was lucky back there.
After a few minutes, although it felt like hours listening to AJ shout at me, I was back at the front door to my house. I unlocked the door and entered in one swift motion, shutting the door as I entered.
“I’m not gonna tell y’all again, put me down now!”. As you wish, I thought, as I dropped her to the ground, causing her to fall on her stomach. I snickered as I made my way into the living room.
“Fluttershy, come out! I brought Applejack, just like I promised!”.
In mere milliseconds, she as embracing AJ, to which I smiled. Applejack’s face was priceless by the way. I basically just proved to her single handedly that I was telling the truth. Booyah! She hugged her friend tightly, smiling in relief that her friend was okay.
“Y’all okay Fluttershy? This weird... Thing didn’t harm yah?”. Fluttershy shook her head.
“Of course not. Mr. Zac was very helpful towards me. He even said he’d come and get you.” She explained.
Applejack blinked a few times before blushing a light red from embarrassment. Ha, that’s what you get for making assumptions. She trotted towards me with an embarrassed smile, her face growing a darker shade of red.
“Uh, sorry partner, kinda took yah for an enemy, and sorry for the, er, headbutt to yah stomach.”.
I chuckled a bit. She at least apologized, so it’s not that big a deal I guess. I shrugged, smiling as warmly as I could.
“Hey, you live and you learn as I always say.”. She smiled back with a nod in agreement. Hahaha... Wait... Hold on, this is bad!
“This means there’s more of you here!”.
To be continued...