Applejack was furious. Not only had her little sister deliberately disobeyed her for the second time that day, but she and Scootaloo had laid a smackdown on a certain unsuspecting human, who was now being helped up by Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The orange mare stalked up behind Apple Bloom and stood there, casting a shadow over the filly, wearing an expression of tranquil fury upon her face.
“Apple Bloom.” She said in a voice colder than ice. At the mere mention of her name, every muscle in Apple Bloom’s body suddenly tensed simultaneously, and all of her fur seemed to stand on end. Although the filly’s back was to her, Applejack didn’t need to see her face to imagine the level of pants-wetting terror it displayed.
Slowly, as if to somehow delay the inevitable, Apple Bloom turned her head to the right until AJ’s face was just barely in her field of vision. What she saw made her pupils shrink in fright. Her sister’s head was partially blocking the sun above, making the angry glare she wore all the more terrifying. Applejack’s emerald green eyes stared unblinkingly at the filly, conveying more of a message than words ever could.
Apple Bloom felt a shiver run down her spine as she gulped audibly. “H-H-Hey... sis.” She managed to stutter out despite her fear.
“Apple Bloom,” Applejack repeated in the same cold monotone, “you are in a world of trouble. Ah thought Ah had told ya to stay put.”
Apple Bloom spun her entire body to face Applejack, eyes still wide with fear. “B-But, sis, me and Scootaloo were just tryin’ ta help! You guys were takin’ so long, so we started ta’ get worried!” She tried to defend. Scootaloo, who was standing next to Apple Bloom, simply nodded in agreement.
Applejack’s glare lessened slightly at this, but it was clear to the girls that she was still very upset. “Look girls,” She began, “Ah get that ya just wanted ta help, but ya can’t just charge in and attack somepony without a real good reason.”
“But we did have a good reason,” Scootaloo defended. “We thought that it--”
“He.” Applejack interrupted.
“...U-Uh, right. We thought that he was attacking you guys!”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Now where in Equestria did ya get a silly idea like that?”
Scootaloo threw a slightly heated glare Apple Bloom’s way, who answered with a toothy, apologetic grin. Applejack got the message, but said nothing of it, opting instead for a sigh and shake of the head.
“Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Point is, he wasn’t. And besides, did either a’ y’all actually see him try ta' attack us?”
Apple Bloom averted her eyes. “W-Well, no but--”
“Exactly.” AJ interrupted again. “Buckin’ first and askin’ questions never is not how the Apple family does things, Apple Bloom. We try ta' talk through our problems, and don’t resort ta' violence unless it’s absolutely necessary. Now, Ah want you and Scootaloo ta go over there and apologize to Braxton, right now.”
“B-But--” The fillies began.
“Right. Now.” Applejack ordered, the harsh glare from before returning in spades. The fillies gulped and nodded before proceeding over to the human, not wanting to incur anymore of the farmer’s wrath.
***************
After being helped to his feet by Rarity and Pinkie and dusting himself off, Braxton had an opportunity to replay the last few minutes in his head. Needless to say, they were not his proudest minutes.
‘Okay, so let’s recap. First, I’m assaulted on all sides by a barrage of color and cartoon graphics upon exiting a monster infested forest. Next, I get a case of the shakes from said barrage of color and nearly black out. Finally, and best of all, two knee-high fillies launch a surprise attack on my person, and actually manage to down me. Wow, anytime you wanna man the fuck up and grow a pair would be swell, Brax.’ He thought grumpily, still patting excess dirt off of his sleeve.
“Uh, mister?” A tiny, southern voice piped up from behind him. Braxton looked over his shoulder to see the two fillies in question standing two feet away.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Braxton exclaimed, spinning around and backpedaling a bit, “Don’t you two take another step! You caught me off guard a minute ago, but this time you won’t be so lucky!” He said, crouching into a defensive stance.
“Look, dude, we just--” The orange pegasus started, taking a step towards him.
“Ah, ah, ah! I said don’t move! Don’t make me go chop suey on you!” Braxton threatened, mimicking quick karate chops with his hands. The orange pegasus rolled her eyes and took a step back, allowing her friend an attempt to reason with the human.
“Listen, um... Braxton, was it?” The human nodded slowly, obviously still cautious. “Mah name’s Apple Bloom, and this here is Scootaloo.” The yellow filly introduced, gesturing to her companion. “And we just wanna say that we’re real sorry fer... ya know, beatin’ ya up an’ all.” She looked over to Scootaloo expectantly, but the pegasus said nothing. Apple Bloom frowned and elbowed her friend, forcefully nodding her head at Braxton.
Scootaloo begrudgingly took the hint and spoke up. “Yeah, yeah, we’re sorry and junk.” After another sharp elbow to the ribs, the pegasus decided to elaborate. “For attacking you, that is. We just thought that you were trying to hurt our friends. No offense, dude, but you’re kinda... well, big.”
“And scary lookin’.” Apple Bloom continued.
“And you wear a lot of black.”
“And yer coat’s real long.”
“And you got--”
“Alright! Yes, I get it. I get the concept, thank you.” Braxton said, dropping his guard and pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Well, anyway, sorry again. Ah... guess yer probably still mad at us though, huh?” Apple Bloom said sheepishly, tracing circles in the dirt with her hoof. Braxton folded his arms and took a deep breath before speaking.
“...No, girls. I’m not mad.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at him in surprise, then at each other, then back to him again.
“Really? Yer not?” Apple Bloom asked finally.
Braxton gave a small shake of his head. “Nah. It was just a misunderstanding, after all. Besides, I get why you did it. You two were just trying to protect your friends, and I can respect that. It took a whole lot of nerve to charge at something you’ve never seen without knowing what it’s capable of. You got guts, girls. But next time, you might wanna think it through first, y’know? I mean, for all you know, I could have been able to shoot lasers from my eyes or something.” Apple Bloom took a small step back in newfound fear at the possibility, but Scootaloo had a much different reaction.
“WHOA!!” She exclaimed excitedly, “Can you really do that? Can you show us?!” She was practically jumping with excitement. It was so cute that Braxton almost hated to burst her little bubble. Almost.
“Ha! Nope, ‘fraid not, Scootaloo. I was just trying to make a point.” Braxton said with a wry smirk.
“Awww...” Scootaloo moaned, drooping her ears in disappointment. Apple Bloom, on the other hand, blew a quick sigh of relief at the fact that she could not possibly be incinerated on the spot. Braxton couldn’t resist snickering a little at the orange filly’s slightly forlorn expression.
Suddenly, something clicked inside of his head. “Wait a second... Apple Bloom and Scootaloo... aren’t you two Sweetie Belle’s friends?” He asked.
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Yeah we are, but... how do know Sweetie Belle?”
Scootaloo gasped in horror. “I knew it! He really did hold Sweetie hostage!” She announced, glaring at Braxton angrily.
Braxton rolled his eyes. “Chill out, will ya? It’s nothing like that.”
“Oh yeah? Well, how do you know her, then?” Scootaloo demanded.
Braxton took a deep breath and began his explanation. “Well, while I was trying to find my way out of that crazy forest, I heard screaming coming from deeper inside. So I went to investigate, and found Sweetie trapped under a root and being stared down by some weird lion-bat-scorpion hybrid. Long story short, I managed to drive it away and then get her to safety.” He finished.
Upon ending his tale, the fillies stared up at Braxton with a look of awe. “So you... fought off that manticore... for her?” Scootaloo said slowly, still partially processing what she just heard.
“Uh, yeah, I guess so.” Braxton said, shrugging. The next thing he knew, both fillies were on him, wrapping their tiny hooves around one leg each, profusely spouting words of gratitude. Braxton was about to try and shake them off, but realized what they doing in time to stop himself.
This went on for a moment or two before Braxton decided he had had enough. “Alright, alright! Knock it off with the hugfest, will you?” Braxton said in a fake annoyed tone, made evident by the small smile that he wore. The two fillies did so and backed off, but still had huge grins plastered on their faces.
“Wow! Now I really am sorry for beating him up!” Scootaloo said to Apple Bloom, who nodded rapidly in agreement.
Braxton’s smile instantly vanished, replaced by irritated frown. “Gee. Thanks.” He said sarcastically. The two ponies responded only with slightly sheepish grins, prompting Braxton to roll his eyes for what felt to him like the fiftieth time that day.
This time, however, Braxton happened to catch something out of the corner of his eye. Looking to his left and squinting a little, he saw what looked like a green and purple colored lizard in the distance, steadily coming up towards the group.
“Hey, uh, what’s that?” He asked loudly enough for the whole group to hear and pointing in the direction of the lizard. The ponies all turned and mimicked his actions from a moment ago, and Twilight seemed to be the first to recognize the lizard.
“It looks like... Spike!” She said, still squinting. Braxton raised an eyebrow at the name.
‘Spike? What kind of name is Spike for a lizard?’ He thought. As the lizard got closer, Braxton began to make out more of it’s features. It was pretty short, looking like it was just barely a head taller than the fillies. It also had a row of rounded spines protruding from the top of it’s head to the end of it’s pointed tail. After a minute or so, Spike finally made it to the group, panting and gasping as though just finishing a marathon.
“Spike! What are ya doin' here? Ya were supposed to be watchin' Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!” Applejack berated.
“*pant* Girls...*pant* ran off...*pant* couldn’t catch...*wheeze* must rest...” Spike managed to get out before collapsing on his back in exhaustion.
“Oh no! Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, concerned for her charge. She ran to his aid, accompanied by the rest of her friends. They stood over him in a small circle, blotting out the sun overhead. Silence reigned as they all watched him breathe heavily for a moment, before Rainbow Dash leaned in and waved a cyan hoof in front of Spike’s face.
“Yo Spike... you alright?” She asked, pulling her hoof back. Spike slowly raised his head up a little and gave a half-hearted nod, then let it fall back on the grass with a soft thump.
“Yeah, you’re gonna be fine.” Rainbow concluded.