//------------------------------// // Over the fence, into the woods // Story: Short stories about ponies and whatnot // by shutaro //------------------------------// The rain created a veil of sound, a rush of drops on the leafs and of the wind in the branches. We had been sitting in this cave for some time now, judging by my stomach about three hours, or maybe only two? We had run most of the way after all. I should have listened to Apple Bloom. She had advised against going deeper into the forest. We had tried getting explorer-cutie marks before, but Scootaloo had insisted on trying again, deeper in the Everfree this time. "And now I'm sitting in the dark in a hole in the woods, night's coming and the storm won't go away. Stupid storm!" I grumbled. "Did you say something Sweetie Belle? Are you feeling better? That lightning must have hurt something awful, huh?" Apple Bloom was really concerned about me. I had been lucky I realized. That had not been a real lightning bolt but a stroke of magic from a wild zap-apple tree. We had inspected a real lightning strike on the apple farm last spring and though this had messed up my mane something fierce the magic had not split me from horn to hoof like that poor apple tree. It didn't make it fun though. Scootaloo sat at the little cave's entrance. "Who would have thought that the Everfree has magical storms." "I would have," Apple Bloom answered. "And I told you about it too, back when we were looking at the original zap-apple trees. But this storm is worse than anything Granny Smith ever talked about." Scootaloo peered out at the raging weather. "And it doesn't feel like it will use up it's strength any time soon." Apple Bloom and I shuffled to the mouth of the cave, next to Scoots. By now daylight was so weak that we could only see shades a few feet into the rain. There were neither moon nor stars out and shortly after I could no longer make out any difference between the darkness of the night in front of us and the darkness of the cave behind. "Sweetie, could you try and make a bit of light?" Scootaloo had just a hint of unease in her voice. "Sorry, that lightning sucked all my magic right out. I couldn't levitate a feather if I could see it." I felt pretty rotten. Any other day the girls would smile about me setting things on fire with my magic but right now we could have actually used that. And I couldn't do it. Stupid horn. "What do we do now, girls?" I asked into the darkness. Only the feeling of Apple Bloom's barrel against mine was confirmation that I wasn't alone in this place. "We should go deeper into the cave, sooner or later the rain will reach here." As if to confirm Apple Blooms words a gust of raindrops sprayed into my face. “But then nopony will find us." Was there fear in Scootaloo's voice? Naw, couldn’t be. “Nopony is looking for us, Scoots. We told Applejack we'd spend the night in the clubhouse and even if she noticed that we're missing, how are they going to search for us? That night is as black as Granny Smith's old kettle. And Winonas nose is no good in all the rain," Apple Bloom said. She did not say, "Let's just hope that we get back to the clubhouse by morning or we'll be grounded forever," but I knew that she and Scootaloo thought it too. So we climbed back into the cave until we reached a spot that felt dry enough and less drafty. It was painstakingly slow to get there but I didn't want to risk a broken leg in this darkness and as I pointed out, we were not in a hurry at all. It took even longer until we had cleared the place of all the little rocks and and pieces of wood but finally we could settle ourselves down. Then Scootaloo spread her wings over Apple Bloom and me for warmth and we huddled together. I was dry, I was warm and most important of all: The Cutie Mark Crusaders were together and together we could do anything. "What do you think, should we try to sleep?" I asked into the darkness. "I don't think I can sleep here," Scootaloo answered immediately, then coughed slightly "I mean, you can try if you like, I'll keep watch." Apple Bloom yawned, "I'm so tired I could sleep on a rock. And I will as it looks. Just wake me up if you can't stay awake anymore, you hear. We have to go back to the farm come morning. And we still have to come up with an excuse." "You mean a lie?" I knew I couldn't lie to my sister's face. That had failed too often and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were no better at concealing the truth either, especially if Applejack did the asking. "Not a lie, Sweetie," I could almost feel Scootaloo's grin shining in the darkness, "We ... let's see ... heard the storm and wanted to take a closer look. We got a bit muddy on the dirt paths through the orchard and then decided to check on the ... Apple Bloom, what field is closest to the Everfree?" "That's Granny's zap-apples." "Perfect! We looked after the zap-apples. You see, no lie at all. Just a bit less than all the truth." It was strangely calming to hear how fast she had constructed a completely reasonable story that might not get us grounded. Apple Bloom must have thought so too because a few minutes later I could hear her breath become more regular and deeper. She was fast asleep. "Tell her to wake me up if she needs to sleep a bit more. I can do a bit of guarding too," was the last I could say before sleep claimed me too. When I came back to I felt like a sack of rocks with stiff legs and I didn't even want to think about how my mane looked. But Apple Bloom was persistent and when I finally opened my eyes I could feel that my magic had returned too. I directed a bit of it at a little rock and it floated up before it burst into flames. Great. Stalking up to the entrance I saw that daybreak was upon us. Fog patches drifted between the trees and it was all still gray in gray but Scootaloo had climbed up the hill in which our cave hid and shouted down, "I can see the top of the barn of Sweet Apple Acres." She pointed a direction and Apple Bloom ran into the trees and returned a few seconds later. "Girls, I know this place! We'll be in the old south field in ten minutes." And we were. --- "And that's all? Nothing else happened? You got lost in a flash-storm in the forest, Sweetie Belle got zapped, you spend the night in our old hiding spot behind the south field and came back all dirty and tired?" Applejack eyed the three fillies with a bit more than little suspicion, but she could feel only honesty from them. And the three had even confessed to preparing an excuse, but hadn't tried to use it. "Oh well, just wash up before you come for breakfast. And then you can help me righting up the fences the storm pushed down." The Crusader's faces fell. "Or I could ask your parents to help me. I'm sure we could pass the time with a tale about one thing or another." The sound of three little hoofs colliding echoed over the farm. "Cutie Mark Crusaders fence raisers! Yeah!"