“Applejack! Applejack!” Apple Bloom shouted, darting towards the big water pump. Applejack kept moving the drive wheel slowly as Big Macintosh oiled the mechanisms bearings.
Applejack's little sister collapsed near the pump, panting before she could pick herself up again to answer to her siblings questioning glances. Her Cutie Mark Crusaders cape gave away that her reportings would revolve around the three fillies experiences today.
Noticing the cape that covered her sisters flanks, potentially hiding a fresh cutie mark, Applejack got ready to jump her sister for a congratulatory hug.
Apple Bloom took a deep breath before she launched into a rapid account of what had happened, her voice heightening as she ran out of air.
“We went crusadin’ for our cutie marks and today Scootaloo wanted to try ‘n’ earn a weather science cutie mark, so we borrowed Twilight's telescope to look at some clouds but then we saw a rainbow colored hurricane. It is moving towards the orchard so I immediately ran off as fast as I could to warn you!” Apple Bloom’s breath had reached an end, rendering her legs wobbly for a second as she nearly fainted from exhaustion.
“A rainbow colored what now?” Applejack wasn’t quite sure she had heard right.
“A tor-na-do, Applejack! You know - big swirly thing that sucks up stuff from the ground and spews it out its top.” Apple Bloom repeated herself rolling her eyes at the fact that she had to explain this phenomenon to a grownup.
“Horse Apples! There was no storm scheduled for today! Oh I’ll buck ‘em a new one if ma’ trees get hurt!” Applejack was furious and flung her tail hard against the inside of the wooden drive wheel. The wooden plank twisted itself, absorbing the blow from the blonde maned earth pony.
“Simmer down sis’... Foal’s already down the well, nothin’ you could do ‘bout it now,” Applejack's brother said, hitting the definition of ‘calm giant’ right on its head.
He adjusted his yoke a bit, as he was reminded that any shortfall in their orchards harvest would need compensation, partly coming out of his ‘yoke-fund’. The apple red stallion had almost saved up enough bits to pay for a new custom fit, Canterlot made, high durability yoke that would finally allow him to load up a few more pounds in muscle without having to deal with the yoke grating against his body.
“Oh you go ‘head ‘n’ fool ya‘ self ‘Lumber Mac’ !” Applejack snapped at her brother.
“Another tale ‘bout how I used to lose ma temper...” Big Macintosh yawned as he produced a wheat stalk and started chewing on it.
“Lose ya temper, huh?! Disappearin’ into the buckin’ woods for three days don’t ‘xactly qualify as losin’ one’s temper!” The bearer of the element of honesty called her hypocritical brother out.
“Where did you go Big Mac?” Apple Bloom interjected curiously.
“I strolled down along the river near Ghastly Gorge, soul-searchin’ after an argument with ya sis’ ‘bout droppin’ family tradition in favour o’ more yield on the orchard...” Big Mac summarized his dispute with his sister calmly.
“The Ghastly Gorge? There’s no trees along the river there!” Applebloom sensed that something about Big Macintosh's story wasn’t right and suspected that her siblings were keeping something from her. She thought of herself as a ‘big pony’, and didn’t take kindly to being shut out of adult conversations.
Before Big Macintosh could answer to his suspecting sister, Applejack stepped down from the pumps drive wheel and let her glace pass over her brother and younger sister. “Aww shucks, if its gonna cost us we might ‘s well stick around for the show, eh?” As much as Apple Bloom wanted to pry for details, walking her siblings to where the Cutie Mark Crusaders had made their discovery was much more pressing than her curiosity for the story Applejack held back from her.
Near the beaten path that passed the orchard and led towards the farm they found the abandoned Telescope, that the fillies had borrowed from Twilight. Sweetie Belle raised a hoof to the sky pointing out the rainbow hued tornado.
“I haven't laid ma eyes on anythin’ like that ‘till today...” Applejack stated flabbergasted, slightly nudging her brothers hoof with hers. “What ‘bout you Big Mac?”
“Nnnope... sure looks mighty impressive...”
Applejack trotted towards a small mound to get a better look at the formation above the orchard. The red stallion stood frozen in his steps until he was startled by Apple Bloom that jumped up and down in front of him.
“Tell me - ‘bout the - Ghastly - Gorge - Forest! - Pleeeeeease?” Apple Bloom pleaded between her jumps.
“Alright squirt, but this’ll have to stay ‘tween us understand?” The red stallion had lowered himself down to Apple Blooms eye-level, pulling her in with one hoof.
“You know your sister is very passionate about earth pony tradition right? And I’m more open minded to innovate if it helps me doin’ what I do best.” Big Macintosh started into his explanation. His ears drooped a little at what he said next.
“Because of a big hailstorm our apple harvest was going to be small that year and so I was very stubborn ‘bout wanting to hire a unicorn to help us with the zap apple harvest so that we could get more out of those trees. I said some stupid, hurtful things and your sister hit me right back - she was right doin’ so.” The stallion looked down at the ground where he dragged his hoof about the grass.
“And thats why you ran into the woods? Why didn’t you talk to anypony else about it?” Apple Bloom said, feeling with her brother.
“Quick Apple Bloom, your sister’s comin’ back round’!” He shoved her to his side, pretending to look at the colourful spectacle.
“Seems like it gets bigger an’ bigger, we better head back into town and warn the others.” Applejack suggested adjusting her hat.
“What ‘cha lookin at?” Rainbow Dash's voice sounded from behind them, startling the three members of the Apple family.
“What’d I tell ya about sneakin’ up on me?” Applejack's rhetorical question shot over Dashie’s head.
The blue pegasus ignored Applejack's complaint with great confidence and silently congratulating herself on her ability to fly very stealthy.
“What’cha looking...” Rainbow Dash repeated herself before she fell silent at the sight of the unusual tornado.
Suddenly Rainbow Dash found herself confronted with three pairs of questioning eyes. This feeling bothered her until she felt something vaguely familiar, mistakable for a bit of air that wanted to escape her stomach. On any other day she’d simply swing herself up a few hundred feet to belch unnoticed, but with the escapade in her bathroom she felt that a bit of embarrassment would be easier to live off than the injuries inflicted by a head first crash.
“Uhh god... Hmmmpp... Buhurrrpp!” Yet another ochre slimeball escaped between Rainbows teeth. According to Zecora this would go on for a couple of hours, before the antiparasitic potion would take effect and clean out Rainbow Dash’s stomachs.
If the taste and scent were any indicator, the blue pegasus felt confident that this would bring her back to normal. Under the influence of the substances the growing parasprites emitted into her body, the potion had tasted sweet like nectar and smelled of daffodil-chocolate cake in the morning dew. Rainbow Dash had asked for a refill but only earned disgusted and slightly nauseated looks from Zecora.
Her little slimeball had grown wings by now and was headed towards the growing rainbow tornado.
“Mind t’ share what the hay’s goin’ on here? Am I seein’ things again?” After her last encounter with the effects of prolonged exposure to paint fumes inside of a closed shed, Applejack knew what to look for. The mare examined her hooves for the tell tale signs of hallucination. This time she didn’t see little ponies on her hooves that seemed to plot against her - a good sign that this was really happening.
Rainbow Dash was about to begin her explanation of the events that had put her in the current, slimeball spewing state, but her voice was drowned out by an increasing buzzing sound. Apple Bloom was the first to notice that the tornado was getting closer to the orchard.
The buzzing and swirling swarm of parasprites consumed anything that stood in their path, from big apple trees and empty carts to the roots of weeds. Not even the fertile mother soil was spared by the insatiable horde of flying fluff balls.
Suddenly the swarm of parasprites lifted itself off the ground, to hover above the swath it had cut into the orchard and its surroundings. The constant buzzing faded out, making way for a normal conversation.
Unfortunately Rainbow Dash hadn’t covered her ears, thinking that her experience with the loud hissing sounds she dealt with while flying at high speeds, would enable her to endure these levels of loudness. She looked at the three ponies in front of her and noticed that they were moving their muzzles, but all they seemed to produce was a distant whistling noise that was accented by the throbbing sound and feel of blood coursing through her eardrums.
“Stop it with the mumbling, for Lunas sake!” Rainbow Dash said with the loudness of a retired earth pony that had lost most of its hearing working as a blacksmith.
Rainbow Dash tried to make sense of the gestures that Applejack now made.
“No Applejack, I’m not going insane! You just have to speak more clearly.” Rainbow Dash interpreted the orange earth ponies hoof that tapped on her ear as a comment on her mental health.
The blue mare finally became aware that her ears had been affected by the extremely loud noises of the parasprite swarm when she flapped her wings to lift herself off the grounds. A nosedive into the grass beneath her later, she knew that her sense of balance was also disrupted, ruling out flying as an option in the foreseeable future.
She had learned about the inner workings of the pegasus ear at her school up in Cloudsdale. What she experienced was mostly temporary, likely to disappear in the next couple of days. Rainbow Dash was not as sure if that would also apply to her hearing.
Applejack examined the blue pegasuses head for injuries, knowing that even a low drop could result in a concussion. The earth pony had a hard time instructing the blue mare to fix her eyes on a hoof she moved from side to side in front of her head.
A few steps away from them, Apple Bloom poked her brother to gain his attention. The red stallion had his eyes and ears fixed on the mares that took turns screaming and gesturing wildly at each other, trying to communicate. His youngest sister could see that it was hard for him not to break into laughter.
Big Macintosh managed to turn away from the scene, now facing Apple Bloom again. He knew what she wanted to know and blinked a tear of laughter away before starting into the rest of his explanation.
“I went bucking for firewood because I was furious about the stubbornness of your sister. She put her own will above the good for the farm. But mostly I was furious about the hurtful words she used while dismissing my arguments.”
“And how’d you make up with her? I don’t see unicorns working in our orchard...” Apple Bloom asked.
“That’s why your sis’ called me ‘Lumber Mac’. I was pretty steamed up about our fight and worked it off, bucking down many many trees in the progress. But this didn’t help, no, it made things even worse. My thoughts always came back to your sis and how she insulted me. One night I was ready to leave the farm and Ponyville altogether.” He shook his head at his past self.
“I wanted to give Applejack something to think about before leaving the farm, so I stacked up the freshly bucked firewood about three times as high as myself, making it clear that I’m not the namby-pamby earth pony she had insulted me as.” The red stallion reared up and stretched one leg upwards to indicate the approximate height he was talking about. Apple Bloom had always been impressed by her brother’s strength, but this left her in awe.
“Nothin’ to be proud of Apple Bloom. Your sis’ found me passed out on top of that pile. She wrapped a blanket ‘round me in the mornin’ hours and nursed me in the following days. I had exhausted myself to the point the doctors were really concerned.”
“Well stop braggin’, will ya ‘Big Axe-ingtosh’ ?” Applejack had stepped up beside her brother.
“Lemme’ wrap this up real quick for ya Apple Bloom. I apologised to your brother as soon as he was awake for more than ten minutes. Hell, I even called in some unicorns for a tryout. But your brother here changed his mind, talkin’ ‘bout keepin’ true to our family traditions even if it meant dealin’ with the consequences.”
“But wouldn’t it be easier to grow the zap apples with the help of unicorns?” Apple Bloom asked innocently.
Applejack and Big Macintosh looked at each other for a second and responded in unison.
“NO!”
“See Apple Bloom, if we’d drop our family tradition, we’d lose the the thing that united the Apple family for generations.” Applejack explained, pulling her Brother closer.
"Eeyup.” The red stallion concurred. He had sworn himself to do anything in his power to keep the family united. Big Macintosh had been changed ever since that conflict, forming him into the calm and well-adjusted stallion he was now.
“I can’t hear what you’re jappin’ about but from the looks it’s something sappy! Now hug it out or whatever and get moving, we need to get to Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash still had no concept of how loud her voice was.
“Deaf pegasus says ‘What?’...” Applejack chafed the pegasus that motioned them to follow her into Ponyville.
“What?”
***
Twilight and her assistant had returned to the library, without any success in locating Pinkie Pie. Spike transcribed what Twilight dictated at an unusually rapid pace since the librarian had stretched the definition of noon quite a bit and was now struggling to get the report finalized and sent off to Celestia.
Going over the letter, Spike added the finishing touches to the formal report when suddenly a fiery dragons breath escaped his mouth, setting the parchments edges on fire.
The expelled fire was accompanied by a scroll that bore the princesses seal. Since the royalty only uses the especially soft and yet thick parchment of highest quality, the scrolls momentum easily knocked over the inkwell that spilled over the almost finished letter to the princess of the sun, extinguishing the little flames licking at the edges of the parchment.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle,
It has come to my attention that a swarm of some
kind has formed in the outskirts of Ponyville.
Please find attached an aerial view of the affected
region.
I patiently await your report. Please do not refrain
from retreating to a safe place when you see
yourself in danger.
Signed and sealed by your majesty,
Princess Celestia
Notice: Enclosed materials are to be
treated with confidentiality.”
The silence was only disturbed by Spikes grinding teeth as he discarded the drenched parchment containing the now indecipherable report to the princess.
Twilight's focused her magic on a piece of fabric that had been fixed to the royal scroll. The obsidian coloured piece of fabric gave off a faint white glow, as she channeled more energy into her horn.
It gained a second lavender layer as the fabric started gradually changing its colour. Spike cleaned the ink of his paws while he watched as more and more threads changed their colouring. The picture that constructed itself in front of their eyes was taken from a point near the cloud level.
Twilight had read about magic imaging, but the level of detail in this picture surprised her. It showed the Apple families orchard from the pegasus eyes view, which in this case was a misstatement because pegasi obviously couldn’t cast an imaging spell.
Taking this picture would require an alicorn or an experienced aerobatic team, consisting of a pegasus flyer that entrusted the unicorn rider with control over its flight instincts using a saddle to maneuver through the air. This in itself was a challenging task which only the most experienced unicorn riders would be able to accomplish, because in opposite to the traditionally used pegasus riders, they weren’t familiar with the mechanics of aerial movement. Casting a spell while being strapped to the back of a pegasus was what convinced Twilight that this picture was taken by expertly trained members of a royal flight squad.
The librarians eyes widened as she saw the brown swarth that cut into the orchard and stopped about halfway to the other side of the plantation. Something obstructed the view onto a part of the orchard. Twilight moved slightly closer towards the piece of fabric whereupon the picture that was formed by the different coloured threads in the enchanted fabric enlarged itself, granting a close up view of the object. Though the picture wasn’t as sharp as it had been, she could make out individual members of the swarm.
“... just like in that old novel I read, where that alicorn struck her underlings with ten plagues …” Twilight muttered slowly, pondering what would be the step to take. Should this swarm move over Ponyville the consequences would be devastating for any pony, an equineitarian crisis would follow in its way.
Spike carried in a pot of hot lavender tea that Twilight regarded as thinking fuel. They needed to come up with a plan to dissipate the swarm and lure the parasprites away from any neighboring village.
Twilight gave a startled yelp as she saw that Spike dropped the pot and spilled the tea all over his scaly legs. She was glad that she wouldn’t have to calm Fluttershy this time and floated him a towel. Any pony else would have received extensive burns, but to the baby dragon the almost boiling hot tea was merely lukewarm. This hadn’t kept Fluttershy’s nursing instincts from kicking in last time, resulting in a thickly bandaged baby dragon.
Spike looked at the scroll that had formed itself from another one of his flaming outbursts and blew little angry billows of black smoke through his nostrils.
“Thats it, I’ll drown her in scrolls!” He turned in his steps and came back from the storage cabinet, pushing a big pile of empty parchment scrolls into the library.
Before he could take in enough breath to incinerate it in a notion of payback for Celestia’s bad timing when it came to sending scrolls, the vengeance breathing dragon was engulfed in a magic aura and floated towards his bed. Twilight tucked him in and stuffed an emerald gem into his mouth, sending the previously agitated baby dragon into his well deserved sleep.
“Sleep tight Spike...” Twilight said, realizing that she had put a lot of strain on her assistant.
Twilight turned back to the scroll she was greeted by streamers as she unrolled the parchment.
“Hello every pony,
Please assemble at the Sugar Cube Corner’s
delivery entrance.
Urgent matters have to be discussed.
Pinkie Pie requested me to inform you
that there will be cake.
Signed and sealed by your majesty,
Princess Celestia”