//------------------------------// // Chapter 24: Friends with The Enemy? // Story: Get Him! 2 // by AndrewsArchive //------------------------------// Chapter 24: Lurking around Andrew and Lachlan Dingo stuck their heads out of the forest. Luckily for them, Ponyville wasn't too far ahead, so Andrew wouldn't be spotted immediately. "Alright, the coast is clear." Andrew said as they walked out of the Everfree Forest. Lachlan looked up at Andrew and wondered where he wanted to go. "So... where are you trying to get to?" He asked. "I dunno," Andrew replied. "Wherever Alex is, he never told me where he was heading to." "Y'know, I didn’t catch YOUR name yet...," said Lachlan. "My name's Andrew, kid." Andrew said back. "So, is this how you usually look like?" Lachlan asked, pondering at Andrew's appearance. He'd had never seen a human before in his life. "Yep, I've always been like this!" Andrew replied. "Sweet!" Lachlan said with a smile on his face, but Andrew felt dread. As if someone or something was behind them. "Anyways, it's probably best if we get to the town fast." Andrew said. "And hopeefully not until..." "AH FOUND ONE OF EM!" "The ponies... show up again..." Lachlan, hearing the voice of Applejack, had to act quickly, but what should he do?! As Lachlan took time to think his choices, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy appeared out of the forest. Andrew sweated as he had nowhere to go. "You found one, Applejack?!" Fluttershy asked. "Ah sure did sugarcube!" She points at Andrew as Lachlan came up knew what to do! "Alright girls," Applejack said. "First one to grab em' is gets to keep him!" Before Andrew could say anything, he suddenly felt a huge amount of G Force as Lachlan grabbed him by the back of his shirt and ran behind the nearest building to hide. The three girls fell backwards from the shockwaves. Through their points of view, they didn’t see Lachlan, all they could see was the human fly backwards out of sight. "What in the-?!" Rarity gasped. "How is he doing that?!" "H-He can fly?!" Fluttershy and Rarity looked at each other, jaws dropped at what they had just seen! But Applejack, getting up, had a face of determination. She clearly wasn't going to let Andrew get away like that. "We can't let him get away easily, girls! Let's go!" Rarity and Fluttershy start running as fast as they could to find Andrew, but they ran so fast and were so focused on finding him that if they had just slowed down, they would have found him and the red dingo hiding behind the wall of the house they just ran past! Lachlan peeked his head out from the building, but then pulls his head back quicker after realizing that the two weren’t out of the clouds yet. "What is it-?" Andrew suddenly felt his mouth being wrapped up tight in something fluffy yet strong to keep him quiet: Lachlan’s tail. Luckily for Andrew, Lachlan made sure to leave Andrew’s nose uncovered so he could breathe. "Shh... Applejack’s still over there..." he said as Andrew nodded. Applejack was about to start running too, when she spotted something on the ground... She took a closer look at what was on the ground, and after 5 seconds of looking at it, she recognized it: a paw-print... and not just any old, faded paw-print, this one left a complete black paw-print on the ground... like paint off of a... shoe! "Lachlan..." She said under her breath. "Uh-oh..." 'What? What’s wrong?' Andrew muffled through Lachlan’s tail. "My shoes leave behind paw-prints...!" 'How?! Are there holes in your shoes?!' "No, these shoes never get worn out..." Lachlan then showed Andrew the black marks on the bottom of his shoes. "I gotta remember to ask Twilight and Rarity how these paw-print thingies work." (Twilight and Rarity?!) Andrew thought. Meanwhile, Applejack was following the trail Lachlan had left. "Lachlan!! Sugardog?!" Now she started running, feeling like he was really close by. "Oh no.! She’s coming fast...!" Andrew said, sweating bullets. "What do I do?" Lachlan the ran towards an empty barrel and opened the top up. "Andrew, hide in this barrel, quick...! I’ll throw Applejack off your track...!" Andrew nodded as he quickly jumped into a barrel as Applejack made it around the corner. Lachlan sat down like an obedient dog and gives Applejack the cutest innocent puppy face while wagging his fluffy tail. "Lachlan, what in tarnation are you doin' here?" She asked him. "Nothing, I was just... napping here..." Lachlan lied, But Applejack could see that Lachlan was wet with swamp green “water” dripping from his whiskers... "Hold on, why are there water on yer face?" She asked. "I... um..." "Were you in the swamp in the forest?" She asked as he nodded slowly. "What were you doin' in there?" "Getting some of the swamp’s fresh catfish!" Lachlan replied, licking his lips at the thought of it, "Mmm, catfish~!" "Alright, well... have you seen a new species called a human, recently?" She asked, "I'm tryin' to catch him so I could have him help me bring in a bunch of bits for Sweet Apple Acres!" "Human? I dunno what that is, but it sounds tasty! Can I eat it?" "No! It’s not a food!" "Oh, sorry." Applejack sighed before chuckling. "Always thinking about yer belly, ain’tcha?" Andrew was peeking out of the hole in the middle of the barrel, listening in on their conversation. 'Well, now I know Lachlan’s got a big appetize. That might be a problem.' "Well, if you do see a human, you bring it straight to me, okay?" she asked him in her most friendly tone. Lachlan understandably nodded. As Applejack left, Andrew leaned back in relief against the barrel, accidentally tipping it over. causing the barrel to shatter into wood planks on impact. Lachlan looked back and saw Andrew rise from the planks. "I told you they were after me." He spoke. "Hey, I kept quiet, didn’t I?" Lachlan replied. "I guess so... let's get outta here before they show up again." The two started sneaking around Ponyville again. However, the 3 ponies were looking for Andrew there. But They almost caught Andrew once, but Andrew pretended to be a statue riding the pony statue on the fountain as Rarity looked at the "statue" with confusion. "My goodness," She said to herself, "I don't recall this statue being painted! Perhaps I'll have to ask Mayor Mare if this was her idea." "Rarity trotted off as Andrew quickly got off the statue and ran towards Lachlan/ "So, where do you think this “Alex” guy is right now?" Lachlan asked. "Well, judging by how we separated from each other by running in the opposite directions, he must be that way." Andrew pointed towards north, leading to Canterlot. "Hm.. hold on tight..." Lachlan said as he held his paw to Andrew. Andrew knew exactly what was going to happen next; Once he grabbed Lachlan's hand, the g-force was felt on him as Lachlan took off running at fast speeds! Hang in there Alex, I'm coming!"