//------------------------------// // Reinforcing Bonds // Story: Welcome to Ponyville! // by CharcoalShift //------------------------------// Shadow, Applebloom, and Big Mac are waiting in front of the porch, hoping that Charcoal could snap Applejack back to her senses. Applebloom starts to get worried. "Are you sure they're gonna be alright?" she pouts a bit "Charcoal's a strong one. Maybe not strong enough to take a shot from mah sister... but still." Big Mac hides a small grin from his face. "What are the odds of that happenin'?" "I don't know. I think I should go in and see if they're ok...” Shadow paces back and forth in front of the barn, worrying about how to deal with Pinkie when that situation comes up. A dark cloud passes over the orchard towards the barn followed by a menacing laughter. A heavy fog leaks out of the orchard, and the apple trees start to rot from the inside out and topple over. "This is bad...” Shadow said. Applebloom quickly ran into the orchard, with the purple pegasus following suit. 'That bastard!' Shadow thought to herself 'He's cheating us! He wants us to run out of time!' She looks ahead and catches up with her. "Come on Applebloom! It was bad enough with what was happening earlier, but this is downright dangerous! You have to go back!" "No! Mr. Charcoal and mah sister are trapped in here! Ah can feel it!" "Applebloom! Now's not the time to argue!" Several trees fall behind Shadow, blocking their exit path. Shadow sighs and Applebloom smiles at her, as her reason to go back has been blocked off. "Now yew have no choice but to take me along!" she smirked as she trotted ahead. Shadow looked at her surroundings. She found it quite odd how the trees were rotten down to the center, but they aren't giving off the usual odor when it's decomposing. As a matter of fact, it's not giving off any odor at all. This only reinforces the fact that Discord is up to his schemes to stop them. Applebloom gallops ahead in a panic. "Applejack!" she cries out. Shadow follows her and sees Applejack and Charcoal lying on the ground. "Applebloom?! What in tarnation are ya doin' here? It's dangerous bein' out here!" "We came here lookin' fer you sis. We got mighty worried when Mr. Charcoal didn't come back after a while." Applejack turned towards Charcoal, who was still out cold from the brunt kick he took to the face. She tilted her hat forward and looked away. "That was uh... my fault." she said "We'll deal with him later We need to get you two out of here before things get worse!" Shadow said in a hurry. Applejack tries to stand again, but the sprain on her leg kept her from standing straight. "Darn tree nearly broke my leg in two." Applejack grunted. "How are we gonna carry Charky back to the house? Looks like the path ya'll took is blocked off now." "I think we can make it out through here." Shadow points to a small clearing that wasn't closed off by the falling trees. As they look up, the dark clouds that had enveloped the orchard had disappeared, and the trees that were still standing grew healthy again. After a while of wandering through the orchard, they made it back to the house, to which they were greeted by a worried Big Mac. He noticed Charcoal was lying across Shadow's back and wondered what happened. Applejack looks at him a bit saddened. "I bucked him in the face when ah was not myself." she said. Big Mac expected this somehow, but he didn't know that she would hit him that hard. Applebloom guided Shadow to the guest room inside and Applejack is on the porch with her brother, tending to her sprain. "That Discord has gone too far! We have to find the rest of mah friends and stop him!" "Now ah know yer the element of honesty an all, but that sprain has to be treated first" "Ah know, ah know. Ah'm more worried about Charky though..." She looks at the door to her home, and Shadow walks out with a relieved look on her face. "He'll be fine, but I got to get going and find the others! We have only three days to find them and bring them to Ponyville square." "Ah see. Well when Charky comes to, Ah'll go with him to get Rarity and Twi." "Then that leaves me with Fluttershy, Rainbow, and.... Pinkie." She sighs and slowly trots along. Heading back towards the path to Ponyville, Shadow can see that the once peaceful view of what used to be, is now deserted and riddled with destruction. Buildings have toppled over, fires are spread about and there are ponies helping others in need of medical attention. Food stores are barren, and any scraps that are left over are being fought over the denizens of Ponyville. She notices a young couple trying to help a young foal out of being trampled by a large group of brawling ponies, and the peaceful ambiance that used to fill the atmosphere is replaced by peril, panic, and desperation. Her first stop is Sugarcube Corner. Shadow has no idea how to turn Pinkie back. In fact, she has no clue how Pinkie will respond to her. The building itself was in shambles, and she can hear arguing coming from the inside. "Get back! You need to pay just like everypony else!" Pinkie swats a broom at the other ponies trying to hop over the counter. Shadow rushes over and helps by jabbing them with the mop that was lying next to her. Moments pass and the horde of thieving ponies leave, giving the two mares a chance to rest. "Wow wee, thanks for the help stranger! I thought those crazy ponies would never leave!" Pinkie hugs Shadow and quickly turns back to her post to check for more intruders. "Yeah... no problem." Shadow is a bit down by the reality of it all. Pinkie looks at her with a worried look. "What seems to be the problem stranger? Are you hungry? Fighting off those thieves does work up an appetite. Do you want me to grab you a cupcake?" she begins to ramble. Shadow goes into a trance looking at Pinkie as she spouts about cupcakes and working at Sugarcube Corner. She forgets about the problem at hand, the memory loss, all the series of events that led up to this point. She sheds a small tear, and Pinkie stops her rambling and tilts her head. "Are you ok stranger? I didn't do anything bad did I?" There was a brief silence before Shadow leans in and kisses Pinkie. She can feel the soft texture of her lips, kind of like marshmallows with the sugary taste of cotton candy. Shadow could only shudder as she broke from the kiss. There was a brief silence as Pinkie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Shadow took a step back and lowered her ears. "Pinkie?..." she sighs "I knew it wouldn't work...” suddenly she was greeted by a warm and loving hug, making her face turn a bright red. "Shady? Shady is that you? All I could remember was facing Discord and then everything going black afterwards!" There was a sudden laughter echoing across the room. Pinkie looks around and Shadow grunts in anger. "Ugh, he's at it again! Be careful Pinkie!" she yells "What?" the broken down restaurant begins to shake violently, toppling them to the ground. The ceiling above them collapses, blocking the exit and revealing the sky above. Charcoal finally wakes up from his brief, comatose nap. Applejack is sitting beside the bed and lays her head next to him. "Ah'm so glad yer ok sugarcube! Ah'm so sorry for hittin' you like that." Charcoal leans up and looks around. He's in her bed and the sky outside is awfully dark. "How long have I been out?" "Couple a hours. Shadow went on ahead to search for the other ponies." "Oh man... we're wasting time..!" he tries to get out of bed, but stumbles and falls to the floor. The sudden shot to the head really took more out of him than he thought. Applejack helps him up, trying to keep her own balance due to the sprain. He looks at the bandage on her leg. "What happened to you? How did you hurt your ankle?" "Ah tried to hop over a log that fell in the orchard. Nicked the end of it and nearly fell over with yew on mah back." Charcoal studies himself and slowly trots to the door. "I'm going to go and get the others. You stay here and let that leg heal." "Oh no yer not. Yer hurt yourself, and ya need all the help yew can get." Figures that Applebloom got her stubborn attitude from her sister. They both leave the room and head out to Rarity's Boutique in Ponyville. Charcoal stares straight ahead as he trots, still fighting to keep himself stable. His sense of balance has yet to recover from earlier in the day. Applejack takes quick glances at him, and then back ahead. "Ah'm sorry hun... Ya know ah never meant to hurt yew...” she lowers her head. Charcoal stops and faces her. He kisses her gently and her face turns a gentle shade of red. "Applejay, it's alright. I'll be fine so there's no need to worry. Besides, there are more pressing matters to deal with." Charcoal smiles and trots on. Applejack nods and tilts her hat back, following him towards the next destination. It wasn't surprising that Rarity's Boutique would be run down thanks to Discord's shenanigans, but it was quite odd that her lights were still on. Applejack and Charcoal looked at one another and were a bit worried about what they might find. They opened the door and were horrified at what they saw...