//------------------------------//
// Convoy  
// Story: Detour 
// by Jetset0099 
//------------------------------//

       Dark grey smoke billowed out of the Dodge's stacks as it dragged the sled forward. They had managed to shimmy it underneath the massive boulder, and were towing it off the field. Mac was walking alongside the convoy as it crawled at around five miles an hour. He yelled over to Jake.
"Ahm surprised this sled is holdin' up. Ah was expectin' it ta buckle under the weight."
Jake shifted into four wheel low, the engine tone lowered as the truck gained more power. 
"It's not the weight that I'm afraid of, it's the possibility of me pulling too hard and ripping the sled up. I could go much faster than this if I wanted to. Where are we going with this thing anyways?"
Mac looked off past the barn to the front gate. 
"Ah got ta thinkin' this mornin' while ah was walkin' back ta the farm from the police station. Ah think it would look quite nice sittin' next ta the front gate. Maybe it could have our name an' founding date chiseled on it."
Jake nodded. 
"I think that would look quite nice. I'll pull it up there. Go on ahead and direct me to where you want it."

"Eeyup."
The farmer ran ahead past the barn and out of sight. After a couple minutes, Jake had passed the barn himself, and was in front of the house when Applejack came out to see the progress. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the boulder in tow. She walked up to her brother to wait for the rock's arrival. Both of them looked back at the truck. 
"You know Mac, don't ever tell Jake this, but ah take back everythin' ah said 'bout that thang not being good on our farm. It gets the job done right ah'll tell ya that." 
Jake was looking ahead to the gate when a sudden rainbow blur flew right over him and landed over by Applejack. Rainbow Dash joined the audience of two watching the tow in progress. 
Without warning, the truck jolted and shot forward, and a loud snap could be heard from the back end. Jake slammed on the brakes as the Dodge skidded to a halt, a foot from the rainbow pegasus' face, staring right into the front bumper. She stood motionless for a couple seconds before the engine shut off, and Jake got out. He ran up to the front to see if she was ok. 
"I'm so sorry! The chain must've snapped."
She whipped her head to meet his gaze, and put on a face Jake remembered from their first encounter. 
"This is the second time you've almost hit me! You might wanna watch where your going flathead!"
Applejack tried to calm her down.
"Now listen here Dash. Jake didn't mean no harm. It was just an accident."

"Yeah look I'm sorry Dash. It's not like I was trying to hurt you."
Rainbow sighed. 
"You're right. I'm sorry for yelling. But be more careful with this thing next time, ok?"

"You got it."
He went around back to inspect the damage. As he had assumed, one of the chain links had snapped open. Jake climbed into the bed to grab a spare one. After hooking everything back up, he went up to the front to talk to Mac. 
"Ok where exactly do you want this thing, because I can't back it up or turn it around. It's too heavy."
Mac walked out of the gate and over to the right side of it. He pointed to a small grassy area right in front. 
"Right here. Ah want it ta sit on it's side so it's horizontal."
Jake got in and started the truck back up. The engine got louder as it pulled forward slowly out the gate. He turned right and drug the sled right over the boulders future resting spot and stopped on top of it. The pilot got out and went around back to unfasten the straps. He turned to the three to explain his plan. 
"Ok here's what we're going to do. I'm going to tie a chain around the boulder, then hook the other end to that big tree over there."
He pointed to a massive apple tree that was directly behind the sled about thirty feet away. 
"The boulder is already sitting on the sled in the position you want it to be in when it's off, so if I pull forward, the chain should stop the boulder from moving, and it'll slide right off into the grass."
Rainbow Dash spoke up. 
"Don't you have to like, dig a hole so that rock will sit right?"

"No. The ground is soft enough that the boulder's weight will make it sink down just right. Ok lets get this thing done."
They worked diligently to get it hooked up and ready. Rainbow took the chain in her hoof, and flew over to tie it to the tree. Once it was done, Jake got back in the cab, shifted into four wheel drive, and slowly pulled forward. The tires began to spin a little in the soft dirt, but after a couple attempts, the rock began to slide off the back, and after a couple seconds, it was completely off and in place on the grass.
Jake turned around and drove back in the gate. He stopped and got out. The other three met him at the truck. Mac looked back to the boulder. 
"Yessir, ah think that's gonna look right nice sittin' there. Well it's almost time for dinner. That took us much longer than ah expected."
Rainbow Dash shot up and hovered over them. 
"Yeah I've gotta go. See you around guys."
With that she shot off towards Ponyville, out of sight in an instant.
The three spent the remainder of the hour putting the sled back and filling in the hole where the boulder once was. When they finally got back in the house around eight o'clock, Jake started thinking. 
"Hey Mac, what is there to do around here that's fun?"
He thought for a moment. 
"Well the only place that a'hve heard of is a small joint in town called Trios. They got live jazz music there every weekend. Never been in there, but it's Friday, so it should be open."

"Hey that sounds cool. You wanna go and check it out?"

"Sure. Ah know the owner real well. He buys a lot of apples from us for the drinks and food there. He's always pesterin' me ta go sometime, so ah guess ah'll pay him a visit tonight. You wanna come too sis?"
She shook her head. 
"Naw you two go on ahead. Ah got some work ta get done."

"Suit yerself. Well lets get cleaned up an' head out. It should be intrestin'."
In fifteen minutes, both of them were ready to go. They said goodbye and headed out the door. To their surprise, it started pouring rain, making the road leading into town wet and muddy.  
"Eh, we can just take the truck. It shouldn't be a problem."
They got in and buckled up. Jake started the engine and turned on the headlights and windshield wipers. He reversed out of the gate and into the empty road. The Dodge set off, easily making its way through the muddy street towards Ponyville.
Applejack came to the front window just in time to see two red taillights through the rain drive off. Her little sister came into the room  where she was. 
"What'cha lookin' at big sis?"
The orange earth pony turned around to face her. 
"Nothin'."

"Ok then."
The filly ran out into the living room. Leaving Applejack alone in the kitchen. She turned back to look out at the rain drops sliding down the window pane. 
"Looks like Mac has finally made a friend. Good fer him."