//------------------------------// // Return to Appleloosa: Rumors and a new Companion // Story: Hurricane // by Mudkipman98 //------------------------------// As Applejack approached the blue police public call box, Rainbow Dash gave her a quizzical look. "Um, Applejack? Ya know we both can't fit in there right? It'd be really tight." "Ah know," she said, but walked in anyway. Sighing, Rainbow Dash followed her into the box, expecting to see Applejack pressed up against the wall to make room. What she saw instead shocked her. "It's-it's-it's bigger on th-the inside." "Yes, I noticed that," came the cheery voice of the doctor from behind the center console. He stepped out, his front covered in blood. Rainbow Dash shrieked at the sight and backed up. Applejack just looked on, confused but not alarmed due to his tone of voice. He finally noticed the looks on the mares' faces. "Oh, right! This," he said, gesturing to the blood on his coat. "Derpy got into an arm wrestle and her heart rate got too high. So high that her chest split open again." "But then why the hay are ya covered in her blood? That is her blood, right?" asked Applejack. "Well, she kind of bled on me when I carried her back here. And yes, this is her blood. She's sleeping now and she's extremely weak, but she'll be fine. I've left a note for her telling her where we are and to stay in bed." "Wait, Derpy's here?" asked Rainbow. "Yes actually. Well, not the one you know. You see, we're from another parallel dimension, where Derpy became my companion after I landed before the summer sun celebration. I guess in this dimension, I traveled with Vinyl Scratch for a bit." Rainbow Dash's face twisted as she tried to think about what the Doctor had just said. She finally nodded her head in understanding. "Right then. Applejack, where to?" asked the stallion, already at the command console. "Appleloosa," she replied. "Appleloosa? Why are we going back there?" "Rainbow thinks that those outlaws would be somewhere near there, or at least, we can get some rumors about them there." "OK then, we're off!" As the Doctor finished speaking, he pushed a few buttons on the command console, causing the TARDIS to shake and hum, its whirring sound easily audible as it traveled through space. When the humming stopped, the Doctor started moving toward the door when he was stopped by Applejack. The orange pony gestured to the blood that had dried on his coat. "Right. I should probably clean up." Applejack and Rainbow Dash simply nodded. Without hesitation, the Doctor ran off toward the shower. /)*#*(\ As the group of three ponies stepped out into the harsh sunlight of mid-day Appleloosa, their eyes tried to adjust. Once adjusted, they devised a new plan. "Let's split up," began the Doctor. "Each of us will go to different parts of town. Applejack, remember to keep your questions short and sweet. We can't have anyone recognizing you." She nodded her head in understanding. "Okay then, break." With that, everypony split off from each other, branching into the many streets and preparing to start their hunt. /)*#*(\ Applejack made her way to the small slums of Appleloosa, where the drunks spent their days wasting away. She figured that no one would turn her in there even if they did recognize her. If anything, they'd respect her for her "murder". She did her best to find the shadiest bar in the place; a pit called The Salt Hole. She was apprehensive about going inside, but she had to find out where those crooks had run off too. She slowly pushed open the doors, the hinges creaking from lack of care. Everypony in the bar stopped to give her suspicious looks before they went back to their drinks. Stepping inside, she made her way to the bar, sitting down on one of the rotating chairs that was bolted to the floor next to the counter. She didn't order anything. She just waited for the bartender to ask who she was and what she wanted. Nothing came. Looking up, she saw that no one was paying any attention to her. Only one pony who almost sat down where she was managed to 'see' that she was sitting at the bar. He apologized, something uncommon in this part of town, then sat down a few chairs away from her. Sighing, she slowly took off the TARDIS key, with its perception filter sticking to the metal. She was suddenly met with all eyes on her as the other ponies in the bar noticed who she was. Even the bartender seemed to be shaking. "Relax," she said. "Ah ain't here to kill anypony. I just want answers." The bartender slowly nodded his head. "Okay, good. Now, 'ave you ever heard of a couple o' criminals that travel together? A couple o' cow ponies who stick around town?" It took a second for the bartender to find his voice. When he did, it was apparent that he feared for his life. "Well, um, yes actually. They come here regularly. Of course, we get all kinds of ponies in here, so I never arrested them or anything. I'm sure they'll stop by here before long, though. They always do." His face darkened as he remembered how much he had to clean up the last time they stopped by. "Ah'll right then. Thank ya." With that, Applejack walked out of the bar. As soon as she stepped out, she slipped her perception filter back on and prepared to move back toward the TARDIS to reunite with the doctor. Then she noticed a rainboom arcing across the sky. /)*#*(\ Meanwhile... /)*#*(\ Rainbow Dash split away from Appleloosa, planning to check the clouds above for pegasus ponies who may know the whereabouts of the two pony outlaws. She touched down onto the soft clouds hovering over the pioneering town, taking a quick look around. It was no Cloudsdale, but it looked as if a group of pegasus ponies had started a small township of their own above the town below. No doubt, they had to have seen something of the outlaws. Rainbow Dash moved hurriedly to one group of ponies sitting by themselves. "Hey," she said in a normal tone as she approached the group. They nodded to her and offered her a spot to sit down next to them. They were all stallions apart from one tomboyish mare, who wore a green camouflage cap backwards. She had a sage green coat and a short, black mane. Rainbow Dash immediately skipped to the point. "Have any of you guys seen a couple of outlaw ponies in the town below?" "Not a day goes by when we don't see some sort of robbery or attack," spoke the mare. "Are you looking for somepony in particular?" "Yeah. They're a couple of stallions who always stick together, attacking ponies as a double team." All of the ponies in the small group started thinking hard, their brows furrowing in thought. "Ya know," spoke one of the stallions, "I've seen a couple of stallions who always go to the same bar whenever they come to the city. Sometimes, they start some sort of a fight, but it's never anything too serious. Well, except for those three times where a massive shooting broke out. But other than that, it's nothing major. Maybe those are the ponies you're after." "Maybe," responded Rainbow, thinking about the possibility. "Hey, I never got your name," said the mare. "Oh, I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria," she said with pride in her voice. "That's pretty cool," said the mare. "But you should know, I'm the fastest in Appleloosa." That sparked Rainbow's interest. "Why don't you take a break from your stallion hunt and have a race? I'd like to see how well I match up against Cloudsdale's finest." "Challenge accepted," said Rainbow Dash, fire burning in her eyes. However, before she continued, she had another question. "Wait, how did you know I was from Cloudsdale?" "Lucky guess," responded the mare. With that, the two pegasi launched from the cloud patch, not knowing where they were racing to, just that they had to beat the other one. Rainbow took an early lead, but the tomboyish mare soon caught up and even began to pass Rainbow. Now, Rainbow knew what she had to do to win. If this mare could keep up when Rainbow was going at near her top speed, then she would have to go full throttle. Pumping her wings as hard as she could, she saw the other mare stare as a sonic cone formed around Rainbow. *BOOM* Rainbow Dash exploded forward as a massive colorful explosion left her body and a rainbow trail followed her. She looked behind her to see where the mare was (1). Her challenger had nearly been knocked out of the skies. She had regained her focus though, and now hovered in place where she was before the explosion. She caught up to Rainbow after the cyan mare had slowed down. "That was awesome!" exclaimed the mare. "You are the fastest thing I've ever seen! I'm Star Chaser," said the mare. Rainbow finally noticed her cutie mark; a shooting star. "Would you mind if I helped you find those two outlaws? I might not be as fast as you, but the speed I do have will come in handy." Rainbow had to think for a minute. She wasn't sure how the Doctor or Applejack would react to another pony on the adventure, and she didn't know how this pony would react to seeing a terrible 'outlaw' like Applejack in the same room as her. Sighing, Rainbow finally said, "Okay, you can come. But first, I have to tell you something. And no matter what, you can't tell anypony else, okay?" Star simply nodded her head. "Alright. *sigh* You've heard of the outlaw Apple 'Hurricane' Jack right?" "Yeah. She's the talk of the town. Somehow, she escaped without damaging the prison at all. Isn't that amazing?" If anything, this mare seemed more excited by Applejack than afraid of her. "Well, I've been.. helping her clear her name." Rainbow expected a look of surprise on Star Chaser's face, yet instead, she found one of interest. "I've been in direct contact with her. You have to know though that she didn't kill any pony. She wasn't even at the same bar. We need to find those crooks because they may know something about the real killers." "Well then, all the more reason to come. If we're clearing the name of a friend of yours, then you need me even more. No doubt time is important here." The response shocked Rainbow. This pony that she had just met today was willing to help Applejack even though she had nothing to base her trust on. "Okay then," replied Rainbow. "Glad to have you aboard. Follow me back to the TARDIS. I'm sure the Doctor and Applejack will love to meet you." With that, the two ponies made their way toward the TARDIS. /)*#*(\ Meanwhile...(again) /)*#*(\ After the group split up, the Doctor made his way into a nearby building to wait for Applejack and Rainbow to leave the vicinity of the TARDIS. As soon as they were out of sight, he opened up the TARDIS doors and made his way inside to the computer view screen on the console. He began to type in a few things in some alien language. Soon, he found a picture of a black blob. He checked the name to make sure he had the right creature. An anamorphic(2) black slime. Though, for its name, its evolution was anything but gradual. It could change its shape within seconds, copying even the abilities of the creature or form it copied. The worst part was that it stole the remaining life time out of the creatures that it killed, either when transformed or not. In other words, by killing a time lord, or in this case, time pony, it could gain eternal life. The Doctor immediately set the TARDIS to scan for the life form's DNA all over Equestria. He soon found a match. The creature seemed to be in three places at once; one in Canterlot, one in Manehatten, and one in- Appleloosa. The Doctor burst forth from the TARDIS doors, trying desperately to locate Applejack and Rainbow Dash. He then noticed the rainboom and its creator. He was running out of time before one of the three slimes found him and his companions. The Doctor began to charge through the streets, his sonic screwdriver held in his mouth generating a buzzing sound. He received a few odd looks from some other ponies, but he didn't care. The tracker that he had put into Applejack's perception filter would be worth it. He soon found the mare making her own way back to the TARDIS to wait for Rainbow Dash. "Applejack," he began, out of breath. "we have to get you and Rainbow out of here. There's an anamorphic black slime here. It's extremely dangerous for all of us and we need to go NOW." "Hold on there, sugarcube. Ah think Ah know a way to talk to those outlaws. Ah found the bar that they go to." "That's great, but there's no time to talk right now. Let's GO." With that, the Doctor grabbed Applejack by the hoof and began to run at full speed back to the TARDIS. He was confident that Rainbow Dash would catch up anyway. In fact, she'd probably be there when he got back. Sure enough, the rainbow mare was waiting for him outside of the TARDIS doors. However, she had another mare with her. Noticing this, the Doctor immediately shoved Applejack behind a few barrels. He quickly covered her mouth to stop her from saying the sure-to-come "What the hay," then proceeded to the TARDIS to get the mare away from his blue box. "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" he said, obviously a bit panicky. "Oh, this is Star Chaser," replied Rainbow. "She's gonna help us clear Applejack's name." "Wait, you told her? What were you thinking?" The Doctor's tone took Rainbow by surprise, yet she answered any way with a hint of defense in her voice. "I was thinking that the more ponies we have to help, the better. Besides, she looked trustworthy enough." Sighing, the Doctor just shook his head and said, "Okay, hurry up and get in already. We have to go now." Hearing the urgency in his voice, Rainbow grabbed Star Chaser and pulled her into the TARDIS, proceeding to give her the grand tour. She even got to respond to Star Chaser's comment of "It's bigger on the inside." She took extreme joy in that. The Doctor turned around to go for Applejack, finding her in a collection of cardboard boxes near the barrels that he had hidden her behind. He pulled her out and hurried to the TARDIS, where he shut the doors tight and made his way to the command console. He put in a few coordinates into the console then pressed a button. The TARDIS rumbled to life, disappearing off the face of Equestria.