//------------------------------// // The Apple Thief // Story: Not Here // by ulcuran //------------------------------// Applejack woke up with a big yawn, smacking her lips she looked at the clock, it was about six in the morning as usual, she always would open her eyes at this time of the day, and her body tuned itself to wake up at this time of the morning, it was a biological clock, at least that’s what Twilight told her. But she was still a little tired, well that would be because of her new guest who woke her up in the middle of the night. Winona woke her up and she found the apple thief. She caught him just as he was about to escape. He tried a really poorly disguised lie, even if it was a good lie she probably still would have known. She was already tired from all the work that day and had no energy to deal with him at that moment so she just tossed him to the barn and…well she kind of blasted him with a hose. She was angry, he was stealing from her family! Of course, she wouldn’t hurt him but she still had her little revenge. Applejack got out of bed and stretched, after washing her face and brushing her teeth she headed downstairs to eat some breakfast with her family. Entering the kitchen she saw all of them, like her they had the same biological clock as well, all of them woke up at six too. As always Granny Smith made a mouth-watering breakfast, the moment everything was set up they wasted no time and began to attack their meal. ‘’Big Mac, I gotta deal with something this mornin’. I’ll be back so you start work without me.’’ Big Mac said nothing but just nodded. ‘’What something? Can I come with?’’ Applebloom asked after gulping down a whole plate of eggs. ‘’Nope, you just go to school, and don’t forget your homework this time!’’ Applebloom forgot to bring her homework to school yesterday, and Ms.Cheerlie wasn’t having the I forgot it at home excuse. ‘’Aw, fine, I won’t forget it this time.’’ Applejack didn’t want to tell her sister about the thief in their barn, she knew her sister, even if Applejack said not to approach him, Applebloom with her endless curiosity would still do it. She didn’t want that thief to even be near her sister. Finishing breakfast she quickly thanked Granny Smith and left the house. On her way to the barn, she gave Winona a little treat for waking her up yesterday, the dog happy with its treat wasted no time eating it in one bite. ‘’You could have savored it a little, well you keep waking me up when there are more thieves on the farm and I’ll give you lots more.’’ Applejack laughed and patted her head before continuing her way to the barn. Unlocking the lock she pushed the doors open. ‘’Alright now wake up-’’ Applejack says in a not-so-quiet way ‘’-I’ll be takin-what in tarnation happened here?!’’ The inside of the barn was a mess she saw the ropes, well more like the remains of the ropes she tied him with, a corner was filled with broken glass with a trail of blood droplets between the way of the corner and the ropes. To her right, the hay blocks inside the barn were stacked like stairs that led to one of the upper windows. Quickly scurrying outside she goes under the window which the makeshift stairs led to and she can see a few droplets of blood again. ‘’Looks like you won’t be getting any treats, Winona.’’ Applejack quickly leaves the farm to get to Twilight and her friends. ‘’Muhahahah! I will destroy allll of Ponyville!’’ A huge beast roared. ‘’Celestia save us!’’ A mare cried. ‘’I have so much to live for!’’ A stallion bawled. ‘’I never got my first kiss!’’ A colt wept. ‘’Me neither!’’ A filly wailed. The monster was about to crush all of the town with its enormous foot, he let out a ghastly laugh. ‘’Rainbow Dash get up!’’ ‘’That’s too bad!’’ Just as his foot was about to make contact with the town a heroic voice broke through the sky. ‘’Oh no you don’t!’’ Rainbow Dash the super-ultra-extreme-awesomazing pegasus of all time flies at a speed that the beast can not even comprehend and stops his foot with no effort at all. ‘’What! How could this be?!’’ The Monster asks in clear confusion and fear. ‘’Rainbow Dash I said get up!’’ Rainbow Dash holds his foot with just one hoof alone she even yawns, and turning to the crowd she yells in her beautiful voice. ‘’Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!’’ The crowd erupts in cheer. ‘’RAINBOW DASH I SAID GET UP YOU LAZY PONY!’’ ‘’Waghh!’’ Rainbow Dash jumps in shock and falls from the branch of a tree she was sleeping on, and her pillow lands on top of her head which she quickly pushes away. ‘’Finally! Now get up we gotta get the others.’’ Applejack forces her to get up she starts leading her. ‘’Wai-wait! Don’t just wake me out of nowhere and make me follow you!?’’ Rainbow stops in place making Applejack turn back. ‘’Look something important came up we gotta get the others.’’ Applejack says in a hurried tone. ‘’What came up?’’ Rainbow asked now a little more serious when she heard Applejack’s tone. Sighing Applejack decided it was best to explain what had happened, cause she knew that Rainbow would not let it go. Rainbow was waiting with her arms crossed. ‘’Fine, well Winona woke me up last night and she led me to the farm, where I found a pony eating my apples -’’ ‘’A thief?!’’Rainbow with a face of surprise cuts off Applejack. ‘’Yes, I caught him just as he was about to leave. I didn’t have any more energy left to deal with him so I just threw him in the barn. I was about to get him and go to Twilight.’’ ‘’So where is he?’’ ‘’That’s the problem he is… gone.’’ ‘’What?! We got a thief loose in Ponyville?!’’ ‘’Yeah, so let’s get everyone and deal with him before he steals more.’’ ‘’Oh, I’ll show him! You don’t just steal from Rainbow Dash's friends!’’ Rainbow exclaims angrily and frowns. Applejack nods and begins galloping again this time Rainbow flying beside her. ‘’Here you go Angel.’’ Fluttershy fills the bunnies' food bowl with the usual. Angel looks at the bowl then to Fluttershy who adopts a hopeful smile and then back at the bowl. ‘’It’s very tast- hey!’’ Angel kicks the bowl away and turns his head. ‘’Come on now, it’s healthy and good for you.’’ Fluttershy says in her soft voice trying to make him change his mind. The bunny doesn’t turn to face her but his harrumping continues. Fluttershy lets out a small sigh and her shoulders sag. ‘’Okay, I’ll get you something else.’’ She slowly makes her way inside the kitchen to get whatever Angel would like. ‘’Oh, I wonder if the pony from last night is alright…’’ Angel tenses up a little but he quickly becomes relaxed again before Fluttershy notices. ‘’Rainbow Dash will find him soon thoug-’’ *knock-knock-knock-knock* A sudden sound of her door knocking breaks her out of her thoughts and she carefully makes her way to it. ‘’Who-’’ Before she can ask who it is a loud voice comes from the other side. ‘’It’s us Applejack and Rainbow Dash!’’ ‘’Oh hello, what brings you her-’’ Fluttershy opens the door to face her friends but before she can say anything she gets pulled out of her house by Applejack. ‘’No time to explain let’s go, we need to get the others too.’’ ‘’O-okay…’’ She doesn’t say anything but still goes along. After a little while galloping a thought comes to her mind. What will Angel eat now? Rarity was looking at one of the dresses she finished just minutes ago, it was good, but how do you say it, well it was just good, not great, or bad just good. She wouldn’t have that! Her clothes could only be magnificent! Any less would be an insult to her passion. ‘’Maybe I should have used more gemstones? Yes, gemstones are always great.’’ She said while looking at the dress which barely had any gemstones or diamonds on it. Only 150 pieces, can you believe that! It’s as if she didn’t put any on it. Opening her jewelry chest she sees something that no pony should ever see… with a sharp gasp she throws herself onto the floor. The chest is empty. ‘’Oh, the travesty! How will I complete the dress now!?’’ *ring-ring* Before she can continue her understandable grief, the front doorbell chimes, and she quickly gets up to greet her new guests and if they are customers she hides the bare dress away behind a changing curtain. ‘’Welcome to Rarity’s Botiqu-oh hello Darling what brings yo- woah!’’ Applejack cuts her off and pulls her outside. ‘’We need to get Pinkie and Twilight too, we need to deal with a problem.’’ ‘’A-alright darling but let me close the shop up first.’’ ‘’I-okay but be fast.’’ ‘’Just a moment.’’ Rarity wastes no time and quickly locks the doors her friends seem serious so something has happened, maybe the reason her chest was empty was going to be revealed soon, that chest just suddenly became empty it was full before she started her dress so how could it be empty? Pinkie was waiting for her friends in front of the Sugarcube Corner. Why? Well because this morning she just sensed something different for the first time, her knees were wobbly and her hooves were itching. So something must have happened and her friends are probably on their way to- ah there they are! ‘’Pinkie! Let’s go- wait why are you outside?’’ Applejack asks. ‘’Oh I just knew you would come, now let’s go to Twilight’s house!’’ Pinkie says and rushes forward ahead of everypony. They all look at each and and wordlessly follow her, they know better than to question Pinkie. ‘’Ughhhhhh, Spike where is the book on creatures of Southern Equestria?’’ Twilight Sparkle says in frustration. Today was book rearrangement day and she just couldn’t find this one particular one. ‘’Spike?’’ ‘’..mhm-’’ A snort comes out of the little purple dragon. Twilight turns around and sees that Spike is sleeping while standing up. ‘’Spike!’’ ‘’Wahhh! Twilight?’’ Spike jumps back and falls on the floor looking up he sees Twilight with a frown. ‘’You didn’t go to sleep last night when I told you to didn’t you?’’ The little dragons adopts a guilty smile. ‘’Hehe, well about that.’’ Spikes chuckles and rubs one of his feet on the floor with his hands behind his back. ‘’Ugh, well you’re still going to help me find this book, consider it your punishment.’’ ‘’Fineeee, what did you need again?’’ ‘’It’s about a book on the creatures of Southern Equestria.’’ ‘’Alright, let’s start looking.’’ Spike quickly starts looking all over the library to find that book that Twilight oh so desired. ‘’Oh, Twilight I just remembered!’’ Spike exclaims after some time. ‘’Yes?’’ ‘’You were going to get the Balloon insured, in case something happened you know?’’ ‘’The balloon? Right! Thanks, Spike, I’ll get it done this week.’’ ‘’By the way, I think I found the book too, here is this it?’’ Spike digs out a large green book from one of the many piles and shows it to her. ‘’Let me look, yes that’s it, thank you again, Spike.’’ She takes the book and slots it on the correct shelf. ‘’Only about 457 books left to organize!’’ Twilight exclaims in delight while Spike groans. ‘’I wish something interesting happened right about now.’’ He hopefully points to the door and waits. ‘’It doesn’t work like tha-’’ *knock-knock-knock-knock* ‘’Twilight! Open up something happened!’’ The voice of Applejack booms through the door. Spike’s eyes widen and he throws a smirk at Twilight. She groans and goes to open the door, once she opens it all of her friends pour in hurriedly. ‘’Woah, what happened?’’ Twilight asks Applejack. ‘’I want to know too Darling.’’ Rarity sits near Twilight. ‘’M-me too.’’ Fluttershy asks in a low whisper. ‘’Me three!’’ Pinkie squeaks out. Applejack looks at all of them and taking a huge breath she talks. ‘’Girls, we got a thief.’’ Before she can get one more word out all four of them plus Spike speak at the same time. ‘’A thief?’’ Twilight asks in surprise. ‘’Oh dear…’’ Fluttershy says again in a whisper although quieter this time. ‘’I knew someone was eating my cupcakes! Wait, that was me! Hehehe.’’ Pinkie gets surprised too but quickly laughs. ‘’I hope my games don’t get stolen.’’ Spike says in a worried tone while chewing his nails. ‘’Aha! That explains it! That thief stole my gemstones!’’ Rarity yells out. ‘’Your gems were stolen?’’ Twilight asks facing Rarity. ‘’Yes, I went to get some for my new dress this morning but it was all empty! It was full before I started it so somepony must have taken it!’’ ‘’Do you know who it is, Applejack?’’ This time Twilight asks Applejack. Every one of the girls is full-on quiet now waiting for Applejack's answer. ‘’Yes, I caught him last night.’’ ‘’I’m guessing he escaped?’’ Twilight asks in a worried tone. ‘’...Yes.’’ No one made a sound the room was quiet as a desert night. No one dared to speak up, a thief loose in Ponyville? This was dangerous. Twilight decides to break the silence. ‘’This is quite serious.’’ Applejack sighs and answers. ‘’It is.’’ ‘’What does he look like?’’ ‘’Uhh, he was tan-colored and had a light brown mane.’’ Applejack answers but before Twilight can say anything Rainbow speaks up. ‘’Wait, A tan-colored, light brown maned pony? Fluttershy wasn’t that the guy you had me looking for?!’’ All eyes turn to Fluttershy who just tries to hide herself under her mane. ‘’I-um, yes he d-did look like that.’’ ‘’I was looking for a thief huh? That explains how he was able to evade me all day!’’ ‘’Wait a minute, Fluttershy do you know this guy?’’ Twilight asks Fluttershy. ‘’Well, yes, no, I-I never talked to him-’’ No one interrupts Fluttershy and waits for her to continue careful not to scare her. ‘’The night before yesterday I was preparing to go to bed but then I heard a knock on the door and when I-I went to ask who it was all I heard was a small ‘’Help me.’’ and when I opened the door there was a roughed up tan colored pony on the ground.’’ Taking a huge breath to compose herself she continues. ‘’So-so I took him inside and looked over him he looked fine physically but he was really dirty, like he was crawling on mud all day. I just cleaned him and let him rest on the couch.’’ ‘’He was in your house, right? How did he get out?’’ Twilight asks. ‘’I don’t know, he must have left after I went to get Rainbow Dash.’’ Now everyone’s attention was on Rainbow Dash. ‘’Well, I looked for him allll day but couldn’t even find a trace of him at all! He must be a really good thief.’’ Rainbow Dash said while crossing her arms. ‘’But I’ll find him today no doubt! No pony can hide from the super-ultra-extreme-awesomazing Rainbow Dash! ‘’Applejack you told us that you captured him last night, can you tell us what happened?’’ Twilight asks Applejack ignoring the last sentence from Rainbow Dash. ‘’Yeah, I was sleeping and Winona woke me up in the middle of the night, I followed her into the farms and saw him eating my apples, I caught him just before he leaped the fences.’’ She takes a breath and continues. ‘’I didn’t want to deal with him at that time so I threw him in the barn I was going to bring you him this morning but he was gone.’’ ‘’Hmmm. Let’s go to the barn maybe we can find clues as to where he went?’’ Twilight rubs her chin in thought. ‘’Yes! I already have my magnifying glass ready!’’ Pinkie finally speaks up and brings out a huge magnifying glass, and a detective costume. Everyone except Spike leaves the library and starts heading to the barn of Sweet Apple Acres. After a short journey, they arrive at the barn and Twilight is the first one to head inside. ‘’Applejack you tied him up right? How did he get out of these bonds?’’ ‘’I’m guessing he used one of those pieces to cut himself loose-’’ Applejack turns to everyone. ‘’Everypony be careful around that corner there are glass pieces everywhere.’’ After some looking around Twilight has already formulated a plan inside her head about what could have happened. ‘’Alright, I’m guessing that he broke one of those bottles-’’ She points to bottles on the other side of the barn and continues. ‘’in the process hurting himself-'' She points to the drops of blood on the ground. ''-and he used one of the pieces of glass to cut the ropes, after that he used the hay blocks to form these stairs and jump out of the window.’’ ‘’That’s what I was thinking too.’’ Applejack adds. ‘’Let’s look around the window he jumped from maybe we can find something?’’ They all gather under the window and look around again but this time it doesn’t take long. ‘’Hey guys! I found something!’’ Rainbow Dash calls everyone over and points to the ground.‘’The blood continues in a line I think this is where he went!’’ Twilight comes over and looks over the blood. ‘’Hmm, yes that could be it, let’s follow this trail and see where it leads us.’’ Slowly they follow what blood they can see, sometimes they lose the trail and have to look around, but they eventually make their way into town, first, they stop in front of Sugar Cube Corner. ‘’Wow, looks like he wanted to steal some of my delicious cakes! Good thing he couldn’t though.’’ Pinkie says. ‘’I don’t know about that Pinkie, maybe he was looking for future targets?’’ Twilight sighed out. Following the trail they stop at a crossroad on the right side, the hospital and the left? ...Twilight’s library. And where does the trail lead? The left side… ‘’Uh, I don’t like this.’’ Rainbow says in a nervous tone. ‘’...’’ Twilight couldn’t find the words but she dashed forward, all of her friends following after her. They left Spike there! What if something happens to him?! ‘’SPIKE?!’’ Twilight bursts through the front door expecting something horrible to happen, but she doesn’t see anyone, Spike? He is...not here. That fills her with even more worry, did the thief take Spike away?! Her thoughts get clouded but a voice breaks her out of these horrible thoughts. ‘’Twilight? Is that you guys? Did you catch him?’’ It’s Spike! He was yelling from the back of the house, where they kept the balloon. She lets out a sigh of relief and collapses on the floor. ‘’No! We couldn’t.’’ ‘’Oh, uhhh you might want to see this then!’’ His voice is a little nervous. Twilight wastes no time and goes outside with everyone following her to the back, wait is that the trail? Why is it going through here? ‘’Hi.’’ Spike waves at her and her friends she quickly hugs him. ‘’Hi.’’ She lets go of the hug and smiles at him, he shows her the same guilty smile he showed earlier, oh Celestia did something happen again? Looking to the right she finds her answer. ‘’Spike?’’ ‘’Y-yes?’’ ‘’Where is the balloon?’’ ‘’Well about that.’’ The only thing outside was the trail disappearing and the balloon gone with it. She just got her balloon stolen, didn’t she? ‘’...I should have gotten that insurance earlier.’’ She collapses on the grass and covers her head.