//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Close Encounters of the Predacon Kind Part 2: A Fistful of Apples // Story: Predator's Moon // by Atomic Chinchilla //------------------------------// PREDATOR’S MOON A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic/Transformers: Beast Wars Crossover By Atomic Chinchilla Chapter 5 Close Encounters of the Predacon Kind Part 2: A Fistful of Apples Applejack and Apple Bloom crossed through the wooden gate and into the rolling fields of Sweet Apple Acres. The yellow filly shuffled her hooves sulkily and kicked up pebbles in her path. Her orange sister rolled her eyes, sighing “Ah can only say Ah’m sorry so many times, Apple Bloom.” “We were fine, sis! There’s nothin’ ta worry about with those Preda-hooey varmints. Not with Blacka…um…” “Black?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow, “Black what?” “Black belts!” the filly declared quickly, “We’ve been workin’ fer karate cutie marks!” “…Uh-huh. But y’all don’t know what Predacons even look like, half-pint. What if they’re fifty feet tall and like ta eat little ponies who sass their big sisters?” Applejack reared to her hind legs and growled, doing her best bad imitation of a monster. “Har har,” Apple Bloom chuckled sarcastically with a pouting sigh. “Does this mean Ah have ta help with chores all day now?” “Course it does,” Applejack snickered, “You have the whole day ta help out me and Big Macintosh!” “Oh, cut it out, AJ,” called a voice from the cornfield to their left, “We can handle it just fine. No need ta drag her along.” Trotting out of the tall growth to meet them was a large, red stallion with a calm, almost sleepy face and chewing on a hay stalk, their older brother Big Macintosh. Apple Bloom jumped up happily. “Really?” “Eeyup,” he replied. “Run along, sugarcube,” Applejack laughed, “Ah was only kiddin’ with ya. Go on inside and help Granny Smith make lunch, ya hear?” Without another word the filly was already dashing off towards the farmhouse in a cloud of dust. Applejack sighed with a chuckle and turned to her brother. “Always comin’ to the rescue, eh, Big Mac?” “Eeyup.” The two earth ponies took a step toward the cornfield when Applejack suddenly stopped and struck the dirt with an annoyed hoof. “Aw, shoot. Ah almost plum forgot.” “Forgot what?” her brother asked as he raised an eyebrow. “Ah told the other girls Ah’d check on Fluttershy after Ah took the half-pint home. She wasn’t at the meetin’ this mornin’ so she didn’t hear all the guff about the Predacons.” Big Macintosh simply nodded calmly, twisting the stalk of hay in his mouth. Applejack adjusted her hat with a nervous chuckle. “Would ya mind terribly if you could just start on the south field without me while Ah duck out for a bit? Just ‘til Ah can give Fluttershy the heads-up?” “Nnope,” the stallion replied with a mellow shake of his head. Applejack gave her brother a quick hug before turning on her hind legs and galloping for the gate. “Thanks, Big Mac! You’re the best!” she called, disappearing in a dust cloud up the trail. Big Macintosh turned with a placid laugh and headed into the cornfield with a final “Eeyup.” **** “Dear Princess Luna, Please forgive me for being blunt, but I really need your help. I’m not sure how, but a piece of the Nightmare’s Moonstone survived the battle last night. Not only that, but it still gives off small amounts of dark magic that have a detrimental effect on ponies in close proximity. It is currently in my possession at the library in Ponyville. I’ve tried as many disenchantments and banishment spells as I can find, but have had no luck in destroying it. I’m hoping that you might have more success than I had. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle” Having ended her dictation, Twilight levitated her coffee mug to her mouth and took a sip while she waited for Spike to finish. The baby dragon stood next to her, writing the letter swiftly on a little scroll. The unicorn sat at one end of the round table in the center of the bedroom with Rainbow Dash sitting to her left, chugging her own coffee. Levitating above the table was the shimmering piece of the Moonstone, suspended in the strongest force field Twilight could muster. “And…done,” Spike declared, finishing the letter with a dramatic stoke of his quill, “All set?” “Yes,” Twilight replied, “the sooner the better.” Spike gave an affirming nod as he rolled up the scroll and held it up, taking a deep breath. He exhaled, breathing a plume of green flame that engulfed the scroll. The parchment flew into the air and dissipated into a puff of smoke. The purple pony turned back to her steaming coffee, letting out a restrained sigh. With the situation in Canterlot, it could take a while for the princess to get the letter and find the time to come to Ponyville. There was nothing left to do but wait. Her eyes found themselves drifting toward the Moonstone fragment in front of her. The magical barrier helped to lessen the oppressive feelings the stone created. It was an inanimate object that, so far as she knew, contained no traces of the Nightmare itself, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the gleaming stone was watching her, leering at her. “Okay, that’s it,” Rainbow Dash said at length, setting her mug down loudly and standing up, “We’re going outside.” “Hm?” Twilight responded as she cocked an eyebrow, “What for?” “It’s too depressing in here,” Dash quipped, stretching her wings as she waited for the unicorn to get up, “The rock isn’t going anywhere, and it could be hours before the princess shows up. You need to get out of this stuffy room and get some fresh air. And I’m hungry.” A loud gurgling suddenly rumbled out of Twilight’s belly and her face flushed red. She lowered her eyes and scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment. “Got the munchies too, I see,” Rainbow snickered before giving her friend a soft nudge, “Come on, let’s go grab some grub.” The lavender unicorn nodded with another sigh and stood up, beginning to slowly plod towards the door as the cyan pegasus happily cantered at her side. “Hold down the fort, will ya, Spike?” “You got it, RD,” Spike answered with a salute. No sooner had the pair exited the bedroom and entered the main library floor when Twilight immediately began to feel better. She felt her spirits begin to perk up a bit, the uneasy knot in her stomach replaced by simple hunger. The obvious improvement made Rainbow Dash grin as she patted her friend’s shoulder. “See? Better already. What did I sa--“ The floor underneath their hooves abruptly started to shake and rumble, knocking them both on their flanks. The furniture shook and toppled over, books tumbling off the library shelves like fallen leaves. Rainbow Dash jumped into the air and hovered on her wings, looking around in bewilderment. “Since when does Ponyville get earthquakes??” “I-It d-d-doesn’t!” Twilight stuttered as she struggled to stand, “We-We’re n-no-nowhere near a f-f-fault line! S-S-Something’s d-digging un-under-underneath us-s-s!” The tremor suddenly waned, growing softer under the unicorn’s hooves. But the rumbling persisted and they could feel it traveling away from them, toppling the tables and chairs on a direct path towards— “Outside!” the ponies shouted in unison, and they both bolted for the door. Twilight magically threw it open and the pair rushed out into the bright sunlight. The street was empty and the air was still as the pair skidded to a halt. The cobblestone road underneath them shook and cracked in a path leading from the library and stopping about thirty feet from the ponies. The pavement buckled and swelled, as whatever was tunneling below drew closer to the surface. With a great crash the stone exploded upwards in a cloud of dirt that showered on the ponies, causing them to reel back and cough. Twilight quickly rubbed the dirt from her eyes and paled at what she immediately saw. Squirming up from the ground was an enormous, dark red ant, the size of a large stallion at least. It wriggled up onto the cobblestone and shook the loose dirt from its carapace. Its antennae twitched rapidly as if it were searching for something, waving its head around in quick, jittery movements. Its huge, bulbous eyes caught sight of the two equines and the insect spun around to face them, its front legs raised readily. “Twilight…” Rainbow Dash murmured in disbelief, “What…exactly am I looking at?” “I have no idea!” the unicorn replied in equal shock, “I’ve never even heard of ants that grow that big!” “But what is--“ “Silence, flesh creatures!” yelled a deep, coarse voice. The ponies jumped back in surprise, looking around for the source of the voice before noticing the ant’s chittering mandibles. “Twilight, it…it talked.” “But-But that’s impossible! Ants don’t have the proper lungs or mouth parts capable of forming--“ “What part of ‘silence’ don’t you ignorant creatures understand?!” the ant roared, rearing up and waving its legs wildly, “I have no time for your prattle! Tell me where the Royalty is at once!” Twilight blinked, trying to move past the scientific impossibility of a giant, talking ant. “Royalty? You…mean Princess Celestia?” “BAH!” the ant growled furiously at the mention of her name, “Do not speak to me of that false Royalty that assaulted my dear Queen! If I ever see that pony witch again she shall burn!” “What??” Twilight snapped, her eyes narrowing, “Who are you?! What do you have against the princess?!” The insect hissed, taking a jerking step toward the ponies, “So, you are spies! Servants of the false Royalty! You’ve kidnapped my Queen, haven’t you?! Trapped him in a horrible, equine dungeon, haven’t you?! That’s why I cannot find him on my scanners!” “Okay, he’s saying things,” Rainbow Dash said flatly, scratching her head, “but I have no clue what he’s talking about.” “I think you’re confused, Mister…um, Ant,” Twilight said with a bewildered tilt of her head, “Princess Celestia hasn’t kidnapped anyone, especially not some queen of…” Her eyes narrowed again. “Wait a minute. Are you a--“ “Lies!” thundered the ant as it stomped up and down in a tantrum, “More of your pony lies! My glorious Royalty! Megatron, Queen of the Predacons! Where is he?!” Both sets of pony eyes widened like saucers at that single word: Predacons. Twilight Sparkle jumped back and lowered her horn at the insect, its tip blooming with magenta light. Rainbow Dash growled as she straightened out and beat her wings, ready to torpedo into the creature. “Tell me where he is or I will raze this valley into ashes!!” screamed the ant, any sense of sanity completely absent from its voice, “Inferno: Terrorize!!!” **** Pinkie Pie strained and pulled against the blue web holding her to the wall, but the translucent gunk wouldn’t budge. The black, metal spider was busying itself over its makeshift operating table, leering down at the restrained Dinky Doo with eight sickly green eyes. “Computer,” the arachnid chittered to itself, “open Datatrax Alecron, subfile Willows. Begin recording.” “Hey!” Pinkie shouted from the wall, “Don’t think you’re gonna get away with this, meanie-jerk-face! Ms. Hooves and I are some of the most well known ponies in town! They’ll notice we’re gone and then they’ll find us and then they’ll throw the book at you! And I bet it’ll be a really big, really heavy book, too!” “Despite certain annoyances,” the spider continued, casting an irritated glance at the pink pony, “I have some valuable time to myself without that idiot Megatron leering over my shoulder. I have secured a suitable location and four most agreeable test subjects for the purpose of uncovering the secrets of these odd crystalline objects.” It moved its foreleg across the table, nudging the assorted gemstones it had collected next to Dinky. “Internal sensors are barely functional due to passive radiation fields generated by the crystals. I would be using my external scanner for better readings, but it was destroyed several mega-cycles ago during the encounter with that equine witch.” “Are you talking about the gems?” Pinkie butted in, squirming on the web, “Hey, you’re talking about Princess Celestia, aren’t you? Hey, quit ignoring me!” “The radiation fields have no discernable effect on these organic life forms,” the spider monologued again, ignoring her as it picked up a sapphire with its pedipalp and slowly prodded the pointed end into Dinky’s belly, causing the filly to whimper fearfully. “And yet they possess a number of unusual characteristics when exposed to Predacon circuitry. Effects catalogued thus far include interference in our sensors and radio arrays and power surges with prolonged physical contact, resulting in boosts in Energon levels and regeneration of internal and external damage. It’s…like these gems are some altered form of Energon crystals.” “So you are a Predacon! But what are you doing all the way over here in Equestria? You aren’t even in the right franchise, silly!” “Though I haven’t found much trace of the Aliens since we landed on this planet, whatever technology pulled us here, as well as the sheer number of these stones seeded throughout its surface, can only mean that--Wait, what?” The metal arachnid spun around and would have raised some eyebrows if it had any. “Huh?” Pinkie responded with a confused look. “What did you say?” “I dunno,” she replied with a shrug. “You know what Predacons are?” The bug took a step closer, tilting its head quizzically. “Sh’yah!” the pink pony laughed with a roll of her eyes, “Of course I do! And you’re Tarantulas, a transforming, alien robot! But that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing in Ms. Hooves basement…” “How can you know these things?” the spider growled, its pedipalps quivering angrily, “Cybertron has never made contact with this planet before! I’ve never seen you before! Answer me, you little--“ The gears were turning hard in Pinkie Pie’s head as she ignored the threats from the irritated Predacon. She frowned, trying to piece together the clues like a jigsaw puzzle. “I was never that good at jigsaw puzzles, ya know,” she pouted to no one in particular, raising more angry confusion from Tarantulas, “Let’s see…Transforming robots suddenly pop up in Equestria. Predacons attack Canterlot. A Predacon shows up at the perfect time for me to run into him. I can’t slip free until he’s finished giving exposition…” “I’m losing my patience, fleshling!” the Predacon hissed, “What are you talking about?! “Now I get it!” Pinkie cheered loudly, “This is a crossover! Don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner!” Tarantulas’ eight eyes blinked as his mouth hung open in a blank stare. “…What.” **** Applejack galloped up the path at a steady pace. The road ahead wound and wove through the hills beside Sweet Apple Acres on its way back into town. Fluttershy would most likely be home by now. Her cottage wasn’t too far, but the orange mare wanted to hurry anyway. Applejack could only imagine how the timid pegasus would take the news of the Canterlot attack this morning. She chuckled, imagining Fluttershy flying about in a panic, barricading her door and boarding all the windows. ”Okay, maybe that’s a mite exaggeratin’” Applejack said to herself, “Gal did save our hides from a dragon, after all.” She blinked as she suddenly realized something. She didn’t really know that much about Fluttershy. Out of all her five friends, she had spent the least amount of time alone with her. Come to think of it, she had practically never spent time alone with Fluttershy. The only times she really did were always work-related. Her pace slowed to a trot as Applejack’s mind focused on this new train of thought. It wasn’t as if she and Fluttershy actively avoided each other, and her work on the farm didn’t leave a lot of room for a social life anyway. But she always made time for her friends, they hung out as a group often enough. Even then, she couldn’t recall ever really having a meaningful conversation alone with the yellow pegasus. Why? They didn’t have clashing personalities like she did with Rarity. It couldn’t be Fluttershy’s insecurity; she was always able to open up around her close friends. So what was it? “Ah never thought about it before. Maybe…” Applejack said hesitantly, slowly coming to a halt, “Maybe she just doesn’t like me.” She sighed, regretting the whole notion. But once an idea has taken root it’s not easy to get rid of. “Should Ah ask her about it? Or would that just be too weird? Maybe Ah’m overthinkin’ this. Gah, Ah can’t think about that at a time like this, Ah have ta--“ The earth beneath her hooves rumbled softly, snapping her to attention. A split second later the sound of an explosion rang from behind. She reared up and whirled around to see a thick column of smoke in the near distance. Right in Sweet Apple Acres, rising from-- “The south field! Big Macintosh!” Without a second thought, Applejack gritted her teeth and thundered back down the road towards the smoke in the field. A million scenarios ran through her mind, none of them pleasant. A rogue pack of Timberwolves, maybe, the Flim Flam Brothers could be starting trouble again, or even those Changeling critters. She knew her brother could probably handle it, whatever the case, but Fluttershy would have to wait until she made sure. The orange mare galloped straight for the wooden fence at the roadside and cleared it in one bound without losing a beat. Charging headfirst into the cornfield ahead, she made her way between the high stalks, keeping the smoke in sight. As she neared the clearing where she first left her siblings, Applejack began to hear raised voices ahead. One was definitely Big Macintosh, and the other was a scratchy, whiny voice with a similar accent. They were shouting at each other, and the whiny one seemed to be laughing wildly. Applejack made a last sprint, leaping through the cornstalks and skidding into the open, ready for action. The barn lay in flames just across the yard, debris and assorted farming equipment strewn about. Big Macintosh was directly in front of her as she ground to a halt behind him. The red stallion stood with his legs spread, glaring ahead at the burning barn. He turned in surprise as his sister galloped to his side. “AJ? Ah thought you--“ “Ah heard the ruckus, Big Mac!” Applejack replied, “What the Sam Hill is goin’ on??” Her brother simply pointed with a shake of his head, and Applejack looked past him, raising an eyebrow. Standing across from them, in the thick of the smoke rising from burning cornrows, was a figure standing on its hind legs. It was a little taller than Applejack, its body was covered in a yellow and teal-colored armor or exoskeleton, and looked like some kind of scorpion standing on its pincers. Its left hand was a mass of eight spindly legs and its whole right arm seemed to be a snake, ending in a cobra’s hissing head. The thing’s true head leered at them with shining red eyes. It chortled loudly at the arrival of the orange pony. “Well shoot, we got us another one!” the snake-scorpion hollered with an eager snarl from its cobra hand, “Ah been itchin’ fer a throw-down ever since that magic princess crowbait sucker-punched me!” “What…What the hay is he on about?” Applejack asked, staring in confusion. “No idea,” Big Macintosh answered with a scowl, “The varmint just showed up a minute ago and started blastin’ the place. Said his name was Quickstrike.” “Hey!” the monster grumbled, “Don’t you mules be callin’ me a varmint! You’re the flea-bitten yahoos who wouldn’t stay down an’ die when we sacked yer slaggin’ city this mornin’!” At the mention of this, the two ponies jumped back in surprise. “What the?!” Applejack exclaimed, “Does he mean Canterlot?!” “Ah knew there was somethin’ shifty about this guy,” Big Macintosh growled with a snort, “He’s a Predacon, AJ!” “Was it really that hard ta figger out?” Quickstrike sneered, taking menacing steps toward the ponies, “Now before Ah slag the both of ya, there’s just one thing Ah wanna know.” He accented his words with an intimidating lash of his snake arm, its jaws snapping shut inches away from the stallion’s nose. Big Macintosh reared up in shock, neighing angrily. “Hah, you pack mules sure spook easy, don’t ya!” Quickstrike guffawed, slapping his knee, “Now you critters be real helpful-like and tell me where the other Predacons are. Tell me fast and Ah might just scrap ya quick and painless.” “Why in the world would we know that?!” Applejack shouted, jumping between the Predacon and her brother defensively, “They said Princess Celestia kicked yer rotten flanks into next week!” “Ah told ya that slaggin’ witch done rabbit punched me!” Quickstrike seethed, stomping his pincer feet, “Ah woulda scrapped her good if she fought fair!” Applejack scoffed. “Oh sure, ‘cause you’re just so big and scary, right?” Quickstrike’s eye twitched. “…’Scuse me?” “Settin’ barns on fire and scarin’ farm animals?” the mare quipped, “Yeah, real tough work, there. And ta think Ah was actually worried about Predacons.” “Hey!” Quickstrike growled, jumping in place angrily, “Ain’t no one tougher than me! Ah’ll kick the aft of anybody says otherwise!!” “Leave the little guy alone, AJ,” Big Macintosh said with a grin, “Ah’m sure he’s just insecure about bein’ so small and puny. His friends are prob’ly the real tough Predacons.” “Wh-What?! That’s the biggest load of slag Ah ever heard!” the Predacon fumed, his arms quivering, “Are you two askin’ fer a beat down?! Ah’m gonna tear up yer hides but good!!” “Oh, so that’s it,” said Applejack with a sly tilt of her hat, “Poor, little thing must be so scared without his big, strong buddies ta make him feel special, huh?” “Eeyup.” And with that, Quickstrike snapped. “Ohhh…you little slags are in fer it now!! Ah ain’t gonna stop kickin’ yer keisters ‘til there’s nothin’ left but a pulpy smear in the dirt! YEEEEE-HAAAAWWW!!!” Screaming a battle cry, the Predacon leaped into the air and fired a lance of green plasma from his cobra hand. The pony siblings exclaimed in alarm and dodged to either side away from the blast. Quickstrike landed on his feet and fired off more shots at Applejack, who galloped just ahead of the plasma beams and dove for cover behind some overturned bales of burning hay. “Take that, crowbait!” Quickstrike laughed, blasting the bales into ashes one by one to drive her out, “What’s that you were sayin’ ‘bout me bein’ small and puny?” Quickstrike was then smashed into the barn wall by a kick from Big Macintosh. **** “Inferno: Terrorize!!!” To the astonishment of Twilight Sparkle, the ant’s body suddenly reared up on its hind legs, body parts shifting and changing with a metallic grating sound to form a bipedal armored warrior. He now stood much taller than any stallion, gibbering mad grunts of rage between his fanged teeth. Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped as she tried to make sense of what she was looking at. “You filthy creatures have tried my patience!” bellowed the ant, “Perhaps this will loosen your tongues!” The Predacon reached behind his back and drew two ludicrously large pistols, spinning them dramatically like a gunslinger. Before the ponies could respond, Inferno leveled his guns above them and shot a salvo of fireballs into the library behind them. The tree immediately burst into flames, its canopy going up in a golden blaze. “The library! SPIKE!!” Twilight screamed, turning back towards the tree in horror. She made a bolt for the door, but Rainbow Dash darted in front, blocking her path. “No, you can’t!” the pegasus yelled, “You’ll be cooked alive in there!” “Let me go, let me go!” Twilight cried, straining against her friend as tears filled her eyes, “Spike is in there!!” Inferno laughed maniacally, blowing the smoke off his gun’s barrel. “This is just a taste of the fire I will rain upon you! All of your equine land shall burn until I find my queen!!” He rested one pistol on his shoulder as he drew the other on the ponies in front of him. “Are you ready to talk, or must one of you taste my flames to encourage your friend?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “Twilight,” she said firmly, the unicorn’s tearful eyes meeting her own, “Can you get Spike out of there okay?” “Y-Yes! I know I can!” “…Okay.” The cyan pony released her friend, stepping aside to face the crazed Predacon. “Get going.” “But what about you??” Twilight asked, looking back at Inferno with dread, “I can’t let you fight that thing alone!” “You have a dragon to save, now get moving!” Rainbow shouted, leaning forward like a sprinter ready to charge, “Don’t worry about me! I can take this flank-head.” Twilight looked at the blazing library, then back to Rainbow Dash, eyes filled with worry for both. The pegasus silently nodded with a reassuring smile. Without another word, Twilight galloped into the doorway, disappearing in the smoke. “So your comrade abandons you to my flames while running into her own!” Inferno laughed mockingly, “Now it's just you and me, fleshling.” ”Wrong, bug-eyes. It’s just me.” Rainbow Dash launched forward faster than a rocket, tackling the bug right off his feet with the force of a cannonball, his guns falling to the ground behind them. She didn’t stop there, carrying the Predacon with her as she smashed him through the rooftop across the street. She wheeled up through the sky over Ponyville and back around in an arc of rainbow light, Inferno flailing madly in her hooves, and slammed him through anything solid she could find in her flight path: walls, boulders, trees, and the occasional fruit stand. Inferno finally regained his composure and clamped one hand on the pony’s throat. With a gargled roar, he raised his other arm and socked her across the jaw. Rainbow spun out of control, releasing the ant and spiraling down to crash into an oak tree. She slumped to the ground as her vision swirled, holding her throbbing forehead. The Predacon used this chance to activate his own flight as his ant’s abdomen snapped open and fired his jet boosters. He rocketed back toward the burning library and landed hard, the cobblestones cracking under his feet. He snatched up his idle weapons with a gleeful grin and took to the sky again. Inside the blazing tree, Twilight did her best to navigate through collapsing debris and choking smoke. She thought she caught a glimpse of the Moonstone piece on the floor across the room, but that was the least of her concerns. With a loud crack, a portion of ceiling and branches came tumbling down above her, and the unicorn barely rolled out of the way in time to dodge. “Spike, where are you!” she coughed, her throat burning, “Spike, answer me! Spike!” Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she heard his weak cry. Fighting through the maze of scorching rubble and black smog, she finally found him. The baby dragon lay on his stomach, pinned beneath a collapsed bookcase. Twilight frantically levitated the wreckage off of him and knelt down to examine him. He was unconscious and bruised all over, but thank heaven, not terribly hurt. She breathed a long sigh of relief before gagging on the smoke. Snapping back to attention, she placed her assistant on her back and bolted back for the door. As more and more of the library crumbled around them into blazing ruin, Twilight found it harder and harder to breathe and keep her eyes open. The ambient heat and glaring light of the flames stung her eyes as she tried desperately to find the front door again. All sense of direction was thrown off since her beloved library was transformed into a furnace deathtrap. The unicorn started to panic as the heat continued to sap her strength. She fought her aching lungs and singed hooves, her head beginning to swirl and go numb. With a last cry of desperation, her horn ignited and a shockwave of ruby light burst forward, pile driving the wreckage aside and blasting a hole in the wall. Twilight Sparkle weakly tumbled outside onto the grass, panting and gasping the clean air again as Spike slid off her back. Wanting nothing more than to fall unconscious herself, Twilight’s mind was forcefully snapped awake as sounds of battle boomed overhead. Rainbow Dash was still dueling the Predacon in the sky above them. Inferno cackled as he raced after the pegasus, his guns spewing volleys of fireballs. Rainbow wove and spun between the blasts, barely avoiding singing her hair and feathers. With an acrobatic twist, she flipped around and drove a flying kick into the ant’s chest, knocking him through the air. Inferno growled with the hit and steadied himself, only to be bowled over by another dashing strike. And another. And another. But as the cyan blur charged with another attack, the Predacon ducked below and kicked her in the stomach as she passed over him. Rainbow lurched to a halt and plummeted down, holding her belly in pain. She regained control just in time and pulled up to avoid splatting into the ground. Hovering in place, her eyes darted around to find her enemy, but the bug had vanished. A shadow suddenly fell over Rainbow Dash from above. Looking up quickly, she spied the Predacon. Right on top of her, guns ready. “Goodbye!” Inferno laughed. His pistols ejected twin streams of napalm, igniting the air in a jet of fire. Rainbow screamed, pulling to the side only just in time to avoid being incinerated by the blast. A good portion of her tail was gone instantly, several primary feathers on her left wing were burned, and her left hind leg was badly singed. Restraining a cry of pain through clenched teeth, the blue pony pulled away as fast as she could manage on a wounded wing and raced toward the clouds for cover. Inferno gave chase again, blazing after her with his flamethrowers in a streak of flame. A bolt of magenta energy fired up from below and struck the Predacon in the back. He tumbled through the air away from Rainbow Dash, using his boosters to regain balance. Whirling around to face the ground, he quickly found his attacker. Twilight Sparkle stood in the grass in front of her smoldering library, horn gleaming with magical light. Her coat was dirty with soot and she could hardly see or breathe from all the smoke, but she refused to fall now, focusing what remained of her willpower in her magic. “Argh,” growled Inferno, “So the other one survives! Easily remedied!” With another cackle he dove downward, shooting salvo after salvo of fireballs at the unicorn like a rain of meteors. Twilight clenched her eyes shut and poured her dwindling strength into her horn. A dome of crimson radiance sparked to life around her and deflected the ant’s barrage back into the sky. Inferno gasped in surprise at seeing his own fireballs sent right back at him. He twisted and ducked and dodged all that he could, but a lucky shot clipped his shoulder. He spun around in place as his armor sizzled, spouting a stream of frenzied curses. The lavender unicorn jumped on this opening and dispelled her shield, breaking it into a magical volley of her own fireballs. Inferno squealed as he noticed the missiles too late. Every magic bolt hit its mark, the Predacon vanishing in a magenta explosion. Twilight’s front knees gave out and she slumped down, sweat cascading down her forehead as she panted and coughed for breath. “That should…” she wheezed weakly, “…That should take care of him.” “And yet it didn’t, fool!” Inferno bellowed as he appeared out of the smoke, charred and damaged but intact, “Your bravery is pointless, little equine! Allow me to show you why!” The flamethrowers spewed from his pistols again as the mad insect waved them giddily in the air. He began to lower the napalm jets mockingly slowly, closer and closer to the unicorn as he laughed again. Even from a distance the searing heat was more than Twilight could stand, yet her legs refused to move, their strength completely drained. “Forgetting something, bug-breath?” “Huh?” grunted Inferno, stopping his attack and looking back up. Rainbow Dash wheeled around and around in the clouds overhead, pulling them into her backwash. In seconds she built up a whirling column of storm cloud around her, guiding it down as she narrowed her arcs. Before Inferno could even realize what was happening he was engulfed in a churning tornado, flailing helplessly in the center of the vortex. Rainbow beat her injured wings with all her might to keep the storm going, giving it everything she had and more. The Predacon wailed and fired his weapons, but his shots dispersed randomly in the maelstrom as he tumbled end over end. Rainbow smirked at her captured target and kicked at the wall of cloud as she passed by, erupting a bolt of lightning inside the tornado. Inferno howled as the bolt blasted his back. Rainbow Dash looped around and kicked the clouds again, firing another thunderbolt into his chest. “What happened to all that tough talk, tough guy?” the pegasus jeered as she kicked another bolt at her foe, “You think the princess was bad? Just wait ‘til I’m done with ya!” Inferno threw back his head with an insane roar, piercing through the howling winds and rolling thunder. He jolted upright and steady with his boosters, glaring hatefully at the cyan pony. Thrusting his weapons together and downward, he launched another raging gout of fire, merging the twin streams into one. The flames blazed to the bottom point of the tornado, and the Predacon screamed another shrill roar. Bringing his arms up and out, he began to twist in sync with the storm, spinning faster and faster. Rainbow Dash had no idea what the crazy bug must be thinking until she saw the golden glow rising up below. Using the pegasus’ own winds and momentum, Inferno’s blaze raced up higher and higher from the ground, evaporating the storm clouds and replacing her tornado with his own. From below, Twilight could only watch in horror as her friend’s attack was twisted into a blazing conflagration in the sky. She frantically scanned the monstrous firestorm for Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus was lost in the flames. She groaned desperately as she tried to power up her horn again, screaming inside. She couldn’t afford to run out of energy now. Rainbow Dash, Spike, all of Ponyville could be lost if she didn’t find a way to stop this thing. Straining with all she could muster, crying out in pain, her horn ignited with a few magenta sparks, the best she would be able to summon. Then suddenly a large plume of fire and smoke expelled from the fiery vortex. It sailed through the air and crashed into the street several yards away, scraping along the ground before skidding to a halt. The flaming tornado overhead slowed and waned, the blaze dispersing into the air and dissipating into clouds of smoke until nothing remained. Twilight looked up with a relieved gasp. Rainbow Dash won, she must have. But the blue pegasus was nowhere to be seen in the sky. She looked back down to where the fireball had landed as its smoke dispersed…and her heart almost stopped in shock. Inferno stood on his feet in the smoking trench. He was battered, badly scorched, one eye was shattered, and his booster engine was all but scrap. Yet he still stood, one foot firmly planted on the fallen form of Rainbow Dash. She glared up at him on her side, gasping for breath. “And here’s…” Inferno hissed, lifting his pistol and lowering it to the pegasus’ head, “…here’s where it ends…Now you burn, pony.” “You talk too much,” Rainbow spat defiantly, no trace of fear in her eyes or voice. “NO!” Twilight screamed, her horn flaring with ruby energy. The unicorn vanished in a bubble of light and reappeared between Inferno and Rainbow Dash, blowing the ant off his feet. The Predacon fell onto his back, dazed by the blast. He creakily sat up with a groan, staring bewilderedly at the unicorn’s sudden entrance. Twilight and Rainbow Dash lay together in the dirt, both too weak to move, but neither willing to back down. Inferno growled furiously at being ambushed yet again, but his anger gave way to mad laughter. He giggled and pounded the ground as he raised his gun again, aiming pointblank at the two ponies. “Hey!” yelled a voice to the side. Inferno turned to face this newcomer only to meet a little, green fireball in the face. It wasn’t terribly painful, but it caused him to yelp in surprise. Twilight’s eyes widened. “Spike!” The baby dragon stood a ways away from the three combatants, ready for action. “You better hightail it outta here, buster!” he shouted, “I’m only gonna say it once!” Inferno burst out laughing again, slapping his knee. “I’m only going to say this once, little hero! Burn!!” He snapped his pistol in Spike’s direction and spewed a jet of napalm. The little dragon was enveloped by the blaze and vanished in the flames. “Spiiiiiiike!!" Twilight screamed as hot tears streamed from her aching eyes. She weakly tried to scramble towards the fire, but Rainbow Dash held her back for her own safety. “I don’t get it,” said Spike as he calmly walked out of the smoke, “Was that supposed to do something?” “Bwuh?!” Inferno cried, flinching back, “How did you--You should be nothing but ashes!” “Dragons are fireproof, hay-for-brains,” Rainbow Dash chuckled with a wry smirk. If Twilight had the strength, she would have kicked herself for forgetting such a thing. She sagged back down with a relieved sigh. Inferno gulped as he looked back and forth between Spike and the two ponies, beginning to question if continuing was worth it in his present state. He might be able to crush the dragon, but what other tricks could these wretched equines be hiding? “Inferno,” crackled a deep voice over the Predacon’s radio. “R-Royalty?!” Inferno squeaked with sudden glee, “Royalty, you’re alive!” “Yes, now….silent. This…..portant.” “I await your command, my Queen!” “Who the hay is he talking to?” Rainbow Dash whispered. “How should I know?” Twilight replied with a raised brow. “I am br….casting my c……inates on a Pred……annel…You should be…….to find my positi…..easily. Oh, and would……be a dear and pick up Quickstrike? …scans show….should be close by.” “I shall come at once, Royalty!” The transmission then cut out and an awkward silence fell over the four as they stared silently at each other. “Ahem, you escape with your lives today, flesh creatures,” The ant said at length, staggering back up and standing shakily, “But if I ever see your sickeningly colorful hides again you will all taste my flames!” He stood dramatically, his booster engine powering up…and sputtering out. “Hold on a second,” Inferno grumbled, his engine clicking like an empty lighter, “Come on, blast it.” After several more tries, his rockets finally ignited and the Predacon rose into the air. He turned and silently drifted off into the distance with the little dignity he had left. Once they were finally alone in the burning wreckage, Twilight’s head drooped down, her whole body utterly spent. Spike ran over and threw his arms around her. She managed a soft laugh and returned the embrace. Rainbow Dash smiled and patted the unicorn’s shoulder. A raindrop suddenly landed on her nose. The pegasus looked up to notice squads of firefighting pegasi gathering overhead, pulling rain clouds towards the library. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, now they get here.” **** “Crossover? Franchise?” said Tarantulas, climbing up the basement wall until his eight eyes stared directly into Pinkie Pie’s, “What are you babbling about?!” “I dunno,” Pinkie giggled with a little shrug, “I just know things sometimes.” “You ‘just know things’?” the spider asked, his curiosity barely containing the urge to shoot her, “How? Is it some form of telepathy? Alien technology? Mysticism?” “Nah, it’s not magic, silly filly. Sometimes my Pinkie Sense just gives me these random flashes. Like words or pictures, and they make sense when I think about them, but then they just get silly and poof! I forget all about ‘em! Like that goofy one with the cupcakes.” “How…is that even possible? You must be insane…but you know about Cybertronians and you know my name! How can you know this?!” “Same way I know about the Mirror Pool incident next year, why hot dogs come in packs of ten but hot dog buns come in packs of eight, and how the elephant got in his pajamas! …Wait, what was that first one?” “Are…” Tarantulas stammered as his eyes twitched, “Are you saying you possess spontaneous omni perception?” “Ooh, what’s that taste like?” The spider devolved into fuming gibberish, sliding off the wall and springing up into his robot form. He jammed his gun against Pinkie’s head, screeching “I have had it up to here with you and your nonsensical…nonsense! I don’t know how you do your ’random flash’ thing, and I don’t care! I’m going to vaporize your head if for no other reason than my peace of mind!” And then the music started. Gently wafting in from nowhere, a melody began to build in the air around them. Tarantulas paused, his arm dropping down, as he looked around in confusion. “What is that?” the Predacon asked, “Where is that music coming from?” He turned back to the web, but Pinkie was gone. Tarantulas jumped back, exclaiming in surprise. He turned around to spot Pinkie Pie standing on her hind legs and leaning against the adjacent wall with her forelegs crossed. Her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face as the music began to swell. Tarantulas blinked and confusedly tilted his head to the side. “How did you get over there? What’s going on?!” “What’s going on is it’s time for me to make my daring escape and rescue the Hooves family!” the pink pony declared, pointing towards Dinky Doo on the table and the restrained Amethyst Star and Brighteyes Hooves across the basement. “Oh, really now?” the spider hissed, his trigger finger starting to itch, “As if it would be that easy. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, you little migraine, but I’m going to take you apart piece by misbegotten piece!” He stalked towards her menacingly, but the equine was unfazed. She stepped away from the wall with her forelegs behind her back. “Ya know, Mr. Predacon,” Pinkie chuckled, “I’m really not one to go batty…” Before Tarantulas could react, the pink pony pulled a baseball bat from behind her back and swatted him across the face. He spun around in place, spitting teeth from his mouth before collapsing to the floor with a raspy groan. “…but you’re driving me up the wall!” Tarantulas looked up to see headlights rushing toward him and hear a blaring car horn. From out of nowhere Pinkie Pie came roaring in on a red and blue, flat-nosed semi truck and steamrolled over him. The truck vanished just as quickly as it came, and the Predacon was left flattened cartoonishly on the floor, limbs twitching. Pinkie landed on her rump with a squeak and smiled at her foe as he achingly pulled himself back into shape. “You ready to give up?” she giggled, “I’ve got a lot more puns where that came from!” “This is madness…” Tarantulas wheezed, staggering to his feet, “How is that…even possible??” “That’s just the way this party pony rolls!” Pinkie replied. “What--No! Not another pun!” the Predacon screeched before a giant rolling pin flattened him again. Pinkie Pie hopped up and spat her tongue out playfully at the crunched arachnid. Turning around, she bounced over to the table where a relieved Dinky Doo lay waiting, leaving Tarantulas behind in the dirt. The purple filly beamed a comforted smile as Pinkie started to tear off the webbing with her teeth. “Don’th you worry!” Pinkie said, her mouth full of web gunk, “I’ll haff you outh in no thime!” The goop was ludicrously sticky, and gave her mouth a tingly, numbing sensation, but she wasn’t about to just stop now. She pulled and pulled, and the web finally started to peel away, loosing one of Dinky’s forelegs. “There, thath wathn’th tho hard,” she said with a nod of approval before biting down on the next one. As she gripped the webbing in her teeth, she noticed Dinky’s expression change suddenly. The filly started to whimper, looking above and behind Pinkie Pie, and her eyes grew wide with fright again. Pinkie blinked in realization as a shadow fell over the table. “Uh-oh,” said Pinkie. “Indeed,” said Tarantulas. The arachnid backhanded Pinkie to the side, sending her crashing into the wall against the unconscious Brighteyes Hooves. The sudden jolt knocked the gray pegasus awake, moaning as the spider’s venom faded from her head. Pinkie slid to the floor, rubbing her head. With a bulldog-like growl, she jumped back on her hooves to face Tarantulas. “Not another step!!” he shouted, pulling his gun and placing it against Dinky’s head. The filly burst into terrified tears as Tarantulas leered over her, growling fiendishly. “Make one more move, make another sound,” he continued, “and this little fleshling will paint the walls!” “M-M-Mama!” the little unicorn cried, reaching her free hoof toward her barely-conscious mother webbed to the wall, “Mama, Miss Pie, help me!” Pinkie Pie gasped, freezing in place with a jerk. Sweat rolled down her face and her teeth gritted together as her legs trembled in anger. She frantically tried to think of something, anything, to do, but any sudden move and Dinky Doo would be… Brighteyes forced her golden eyes slowly open. In the muddled daze of her drugged mind, she thought she could hear her daughter calling out to her. Blurry shapes began to form as her vision returned. She could make out her daughter Amethyst Star beside her, the pink coat and mane of Pinkie Pie in front of her, and the little form of Dinky Doo…in the hands of a hideous, black, metal spider-creature. The arachnid cackled, pulling Dinky free of the table in one strong wrench of his hand while training his gun on Pinkie Pie. “That’s right! Stay put like a good little wretch. I’m getting out of this nightmare, and I’m taking this thing with me!” Tarantulas slowly backed away towards the staircase leading outside, his weapon still on Pinkie. The pink pony could only watch in helpless frustration as-- “GET AWAY FROM MY MUFFIN!!!” A gray blur fired past Pinkie Pie like a bullet, taking everyone by surprise. “What the?!” was all Tarantulas could scream before a gray hoof smashed his head through the basement wall, his body going limp. Dinky Doo popped out of his hand on impact and flew up in the air, landing softly in her mother’s hooves. “Whoa!” said Pinkie. The filly huddled in a ball, trembling with fright until the mailmare held her daughter against her chest and stroked her mane gently. The small unicorn dared to open an eye, meeting her mother’s unmistakable wall-eyed gaze. Dinky’s eyes lit up, followed by a smile shining with joy as she hugged Brighteyes tightly. “Mama! Mama!” “There, there, my little muffin,” Brighteyes cooed tenderly, a grateful tear falling down her cheek, “Mama’s here, don’t worry.” “That was awesome, Ms. Hooves!” Pinkie Pie cheered, bouncing over to them, “That’ll teach him to be a meanie-jerk-face around here!” Tarantulas’ body suddenly jerked back to life, straining against the wall. The ponies exclaimed and darted back as he frothed an unintelligible mess of gurgled curses from inside the wall. With a great push, his head popped free and the Predacon fell to his knees, shuddering with insane rage. “I…” he gagged, “I’m g-going to…” He was interrupted by a bowling ball to the face. More teeth spewed from his mouth as he crumpled to the floor. Pinkie Pie stood triumphantly behind Brighteyes and Dinky, juggling a set of multi-colored bowling balls. “I keep balls stashed all over Equestria,” the pink pony declared, “In case of ball emergencies.” She tossed one to Brighteyes, who caught it with her hooves. “You wanna do the honors?” “Boy, do I,” Brighteyes replied, turning back towards the spider with a scowl. “…I think I’m done here,” meeped Tarantulas. He scrambled like mad for the stairs, his mangled body scraping and grinding as he transformed back to spider form and raced up, out, and away like a bat out of Tartarus. “And stay out!” Brighteyes shouted after him, chucking the bowling ball through the doorway for good measure. There was a pause before the ponies heard a loud thud and a screechy “OW!!” Then all was still. Brighteyes “Derpy” Hooves breathed a long sigh, dropping onto her rump and pulling her laughing daughter into another hug. The cross-eyed mare turned and smiled thankfully to Pinkie Pie. The pink party pony beamed back as she tackle-hugged them both. As the three ponies laughed together, Amethyst Star groggily opened her eyes. “…Mom? What’s going on?” She checked herself, still webbed to the wall. “Um…Mom? Why am I tied up? Mom? Hello?” **** Quickstrike hopped to and fro, hooting and hollering as he fired off potshots of plasma at the Apple siblings. The beams of green energy blew large pocks out of the ground as the ponies narrowly avoided them. Applejack zigzagged between the blasts, weaving her way towards the Predacon. As she got close, Quickstrike jumped forward, lunging his snake arm at her face. Applejack twisted to the side and slid underneath his arm, coming up with a headbutt into the scorpion’s chest. Quickstrike blew back off his feet, tumbling onto his back with a groan. The orange mare leaped over the Predacon to kick down on his face, but he rolled to the left just in time. Quickstrike jumped back to his feet and snared the mare with his left arm, his eight long fingers clamping onto her like a vice. “Yee-haw! Gotcha now, darlin’!” he cheered, raising his snake hand to go for her throat. A sudden barrel to the gut caused him to reel back, releasing Applejack. Big Macintosh stood by the piles of strewn farm equipment in front of the ruined barn, bucking crates, hay bales, wheelbarrows, and whatever else was handy as impromptu missiles at the Predacon with his powerful legs. The scorpion growled and grunted in pain as he was struck again and again by the stallion’s barrage. “Ow! You slaggin’ mules are--Ack!--gonna be sorry you ever--Gah!--messed with--Ow!-- Stop it, already!” Applejack hopped up to her hooves and kicked Quickstrike into a tree before galloping to her brother’s side to join his assault. “Keep it up, Big Mac! We got him on the ropes!” “Eeyup!” Quickstrike yelled a seething screech as he sprang back up, shooting the ponies’ incoming projectiles out of the air with his snake hand. “Ah’ve had more than Ah can take of yer scrap!” he fumed, charging the ponies, “Beast Mode!” He slid under the next salvo of flying farm equipment and shifted into his scorpion-snake mode. The Apple siblings exclaimed in surprise as this new creature scurried at them, pincers clacking together threateningly. The Predacon leaped over their heads and landed on Big Macintosh’s back. He dug his pointed legs into the stallion’s side to grip down on him while his cobra tail lashed at Applejack, hissing devilishly. “Big Mac!” Applejack cried, ducking and dodging the serpent’s attacks, “Get off him, you dirty--!” “Whee!” Quickstrike laughed and crowed, swinging his tail wildly, “Ride ‘em, cowboy! It’s like a rodeo, ha-ha!” The red stallion bucked and squirmed, thrashing violently to throw off his attacker, but the scorpion held on tight. Quickstrike’s pincers grabbed Big Macintosh’s throat as he raised his tail, cobra mouth opening wide. “It’s been fun, hoss, but now it’s lights out!” The snake struck down, biting the back of the stallion’s neck just above his shoulders. Big Macintosh cried out for a second, his eyes going wide, before teetering and falling as his legs went numb. The Predacon jumped off his back as the stallion hit the dirt, changing back into robot form. He turned to face the horrorstruck Applejack with a raspy chuckle. “One down…” Applejack stared at her brother, her eyes paling. He lay still, breathing weakly. Her gaze met the Predacon’s and her eyes narrowed bitterly as she clenched her teeth and pawed at the dirt with her hoof. Quickstrike leered at her with a snicker, raising his snake arm as plasma charged in its mouth. The mare charged, pounding the dirt with the momentum of a freight train. Quickstrike fired his weapon with another “Yee-haw!” as the plasma lance crackled straight at her. Applejack suddenly feinted to the right, springing out of the bolt's path as it exploded in the ground. She tucked and rolled past the farm tools, grabbing a coil of rope with her teeth. She got to her hooves and darted to the left to avoid another blast, the plasma burning a hole in the brim of her hat. With an expert twist of her head, she loosed her rope. The lasso sailed through the air and looped around the neck of Quickstrike’s cobra arm. The Predacon’s eyes widened as the noose tightened. “…Aw scrap.” Applejack yanked her head back and reared to her hind legs as the lasso pulled Quickstrike right off his feet. The scorpion sailed through the air towards the mare, who turned around at the last moment to plant both hind legs in his chest. Quickstrike went flying into the sky from the impact, wailing in shock and pain. Applejack still had the other end of the rope in her mouth and pulled hard. The Predacon snapped back down from whiplash as the rope went taut, falling helplessly back down towards his foe. She kicked Quickstrike again and again, pulling him back to her as soon as he went sailing away like a brutal yoyo. After one last buck for good measure, she swung the hapless Quickstrike around in a wide arc and released the lasso. The scorpion was flung through the air, crashing headfirst into a tree hard enough to uproot the whole thing and sent it toppling over. He lay in a mangled heap, his armor cracked and battered all over. His head rolled from side to side as he slurred garbled gibberish. Applejack snorted in contempt as she turned away from the Predacon. She ran to her brother’s side and checked him over. She knew how to treat a snake bite, but nothing like this. She fought the urge to panic and silently pleaded for Big Macintosh to be all right. He was the strongest pony she knew, and there was no way he was going to— “…AJ?” the stallion said weakly, “You okay?” “Big Mac!” Applejack cried with relief, “Ah’m here, everythin’s gonna be fine! You’re okay, aren’t ya??” Big Macintosh let out a long breath and smiled softly. “Barn’s toast again.” Applejack burst out laughing, wiping away a tear, “Yep! Seems like we gotta build another one every week sometimes.” “Don’t worry ‘bout me, AJ. Ah’ve had beestings worse than this. Just need a minute ta catch my breath.” “No problem,” the mare replied, more to reassure herself as she patted his shoulder, “Ah gotta make sure Apple Bloom and Granny Smith are okay, then Ah’ll get a doctor to--What the hay?!” Inferno came flying shakily in from above, skidding along the ground over to his KO’d companion. He didn’t seem to take any notice of the Apple siblings. He reached down and grabbed the smaller Predacon, lifting him up and shaking him off. “There you are!” said Inferno, “The Royalty commands us to regroup! Stand up!” “…Who the what, now?” Quickstrike sputtered, “What’s a royalty…?” “Bah, I have no time for your drivel,” Inferno grumbled as he tucked Quickstrike under his arm, “To the Royalty!” He held his free arm up dramatically, igniting his engine to take off…only for it to stall out in a puff of smoke. “Not again,” growled the ant, slapping his forehead. He hung his head in shame and shuffled off to the west, disappearing into the trees with Quickstrike in tow. “That was weird,” mused Applejack once the ponies were alone again. She looked up to notice rain clouds building in the air over Ponyville. As her gaze fell toward town, she noticed large columns of smoke rising from town. If there was a Predacon at Sweet Apple Acres, then it had to mean-- “Big Mac!” said Applejack, turning back to her brother, “Ah’ll get Granny Smith ta help you, but Ah can’t stay. It looks like there’s a fire in Ponyville and--“ “Go on,” Big Macintosh chuckled, “Ah ain’t goin’ anywhere.” Applejack knelt down to nuzzle her brother’s cheek. Standing up again, she straightened her hat and galloped off towards the farmhouse as the first drops of rain began to fall.