//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Of apples and rainbows // Story: The Great Equestrian Foam Sword Fight // by crimsongraph //------------------------------// -({Apple orchard} 1:07 P.M)- "Dash, get yer lazy flank down here! We're gonna be late to the meet up!" Applejack's voice blared out from below, directed to the cyan mare that rested on top of her apple tree. Her ears merely twitched in response to the angry mare, completely ignoring her word. The farmpony stared up at the cloud in annoyance, before grabbing a convenient lasso and throwing it onto the cloud. With a hard yank, the cloud and its occupant fell from the sky. A victorious smile flashed on her face, as she prepared to pounce on the sleeping pegasus. Once the white fluff of moisture reached ground level, Applejack began her attack. With a swift kick from her hind legs, she bounced up and managed successfully jump and kick Rainbow off of the cloud. To the farmpony's surprise, the cyan colored made still ignored her, managing to land on all fours and continuing to sleep. "For Celestia's sake, how is she still sleepin'?" Applejack muttered, before trotting up to Rainbow. The pegasus remained oblivious, as she continued to dream of high flying and fame. All the while, Applejack continued to do anything to wake the mare up, be it from light prods to violent shaking. Rainbow Dash still continued to sleep, only smiling lightly if a stray hoof managed to tickled her. Fed up with the prismatic mare, Applejack grabbed the same rope she had used to pull Rainbow down. Next, she proceeded to once again tie up the pegasus and haul her up and onto the cloud once again. Once Rainbow had settled down on the could, Applejack grabbed the rope and gave a small tug. At the pull, both the cloud and the pegasus both began to move towards her. Satisfied with the makeshift cart, Applejack began the long process of getting out of the sizable orchard. With another tug, the duo began their trek towards Ponyville, completely oblivious to the raging fights happening inside. -({Ponyville border} 1:15)- "Fer a mare that's all athletic and whatnot, she's heavy as hay," Applejack said with a huff, finally having reached the edge of Ponyville. A thin sheet of sweat had appeared on her forehead, as she paused for a second to take a breather. Applejack shot a glare at the still sleeping pegasus, before throwing out a sigh and proceeding to grab the rope that kept the pegasus and cloud together. Before she once again pulled the cloud cart, a faint noise became apparent that resonated from the distance. It resembled the sound of a dull, yet repetitive, thwak. What intrigued her most were the odd intervals of the noise, as if it was being produced from multiple sources. Instead of tugging the cloud in the direction of Ponyville, Applejack moved towards the thwacking at a slow pace. As she got closer, she could barely make out the faint whispers of voices behind a series of greenery. "...ebelle, stop standing around! Cutie marks don't earn themselves," a rough, yet childlike, voice rung out from behind the entanglement of bushes. As soon as that was said, another dull sound followed. Applejack hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether to confront the group or make a run for it. From the constant thwaks, she could tell her opponents were armed with weapons to a degree. Her fears were only confirmed when another voice resonated out, obviously in pain, "Why does this hurt so much?!" Applejack stood still, before looking back towards the sleeping mare on top of the cloud. If she escaped right now she could end up saving both of them from a battle; if she stayed to fight, she could get weapons for both of them. Her ideas were soon interrupted by another loud scream, before silence blanketed the area. "Ah think he might be dead..." another voice spoke up. "Unconscious," yet another voice spoke up, bringing the total ponies in the group to three. "Gesundheit," the other two voices responded immediately. Applejack stood completely still, not daring move a muscle. The trio was obviously dangerous; their victim's screams confirming that. Meanwhile, the trio of voices silently sat there, simply staring at the now limp body. "Well, now we can't git our cutie marks..." "Don't be sad 'Bloom, maybe we're not trying hard enough!" "Yeah, what she said!" "But who can we get to help us?" A faint, yet audible noise appeared and disappeared. Applejack looked at her hooves, only to find a single twig had snapped from the force of backing away. To further disappoint the orange mare, a series of crunches soon followed. Worst of all, the sound was coming closer to her. There was only one word that could describe what was going on in Applejack’s mind. “Nope,” she muttered, slowly backing up more. All the while, she stepped on even more twigs. "nopenopenopenopenope..." She continued to back away faster; the idea of leaving the rainbow mare to fend for herself briefly flashed through her mind. “Girls, ah think I heard a critter behind the bushes…” “OOOH, Idea! Maybe we can get it to help us!” “That’s a great idea!” That was the only conformation Applejack needed to break into a sprint, not wanting to fall victim to the series of twisted test the unknown trio would perform on her. In her mind, escape was the only option; even if it meant leaving Rainbow Dash behind. She continued to run, completely oblivious to her surroundings. She dared to look back, and saw three shadowy figures appear from the underbrush. In her brief moment of distraction, something managed to hit one of her orange legs. With that, she was sent flying. And everything went black.