Formal Conversations
Applejack dipped her head slightly along with Twilight, who forced Rainbow’s down as well when she refused to make the respective movements. Twilight spoke in simple, clear tones, though the excitement was tangible in her tone. “Hello there. It is a pleasure to meet you, leader.”
He grunted in response, moving heavily past them to sit down with a thump, cautiously eyeing them. Applejack shivered slightly, wishing they could get going already. “You ponies are Equestrian?”
“Yes, we are. We come from a little town called Ponyville,” Twilight continued happily. Applejack and Rainbow Dash made eye contact, deciding to step back and let her do the talking.
“Hmm,” he growled, holding his head high. “Equestrian ponies, why are you here?”
“Oh, well,” Twilight chuckled nervously. Applejack bit her lip. Don’t anger him, Twi. We gotta get outta o’ here in one piece. “We’re looking for a place called The Wishing Cave. There should be a different cave around here somewhere that will lead us to it. Do you know where it is?”
“Yes,” the hope that began to flitter in Applejack’s belly was quickly shot down. “Equestrian ponies are not allowed to go there.”
“Aw, c’mon! Why not?” Dash moaned. A steely glare from the leader made her quiet down.
“The cave Equestrian ponies look for is a sacred tribe place,” he rumbled. “Equestrian ponies come often, look for the cave. We say no. Not allowed.”
“Um,” Applejack hesitated slightly as he turned to look at her. “Beg pardon, but would ya mind tellin’ us why it’s so sacred?”
“Sacred.”
“That ain’t answerin’ mah question.”
“Sacred!”
“Alright, alright,” she sighed, deciding to let it go. “Yer cave is super sacred, fine.”
“Please, sir,” Twilight begged. “It’s very important to us that we go there. Just let us go.”
“Equestrian ponies leave in morning,” he glared at them. “Do not go in cave, go home.”
“Go home?” the words hit Applejack like a brick wall. “We cain’t go home! Not after all we’ve done. We ain’t stoppin’ here.”
“Yeah!” Rainbow cheered, stomping her hoof firmly on the ground. “You can’t stop us, mister. We’ll find that cave, and then we’ll find The Wishing Cave.”
“No!” he rose up onto his hooves, his entire height towering over them. “Go home. Or die.”
He strode out the tent firmly, the flaps waving wildly in his absence. Once they had finally calmed down, the three ponies inside were still sitting shocked, their mouths slightly opened. Twilight was the first to speak, her voice trembling slightly. “Did… did he just say they’re going to k-kill us if we don’t leave?”
Applejack nodded numbly. “I think so, sugarcube.”
“Well, we’re not going to let them, are we?” Rainbow’s declaration made both Applejack and Twilight jump. “We need to escape.”
“We should wait until it’s dark,” Twilight added. “Then they won’t see us.”
“But what ‘bout the guards?” Applejack whispered. “We gotta get past ‘em first.”
“Leave that to me,” Rainbow winked. “Getting out of here’ll be easy. Before long, we’ll be out of this scary forest and at The Wishing Cave.”
Applejack smiled softly. “Ya’ll know I love ya both, right?”
“Oh geez, don’t be a sap, AJ,” she quickly took back her words at the glares directed at her. “Okay, okay, I love you too! Am I in the clear now?”
Twilight giggled. “Good luck, everypony. I know that together we can do anything.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The final streams of light faded to darkness and Celestia set the sun far away in Canterlot for Luna to begin her job at raising the moon. Applejack suppressed a yawn, turning to nod at Dash. “Ya ready, girl?”
“I was born ready,” Rainbow smirked.
The Pegasus strutted out of the tent, her head high and a wide grin on her face. Even from there relaxed positions inside, Applejack and Twilight could hear the conversation that had started up immediately.
“Equestrian,” one of the guard’s muffled words reached them, firmly scolding Rainbow Dash. “You are not allowed outside. Stay inside.”
“Aw, c’mon,” Rainbow whined. “I just wanted to get some fresh air. It’s real stuffy in there, y’know?”
Another grunted. “Be quick.”
“Yeah, yeah, in a minute,” Applejack grinned at Twilight, who’s expression matched her own. Soon. “I feel like… stretching my wings.”
There was an expected whoosh of air, followed by the guard’s shocked, angry cries. “Equestrian, come back!”
Apparently Dash paid there words no heed, whooping high up from wherever. The clamor only grew, more and more of tribe stampeding over to catch the lithe Pegasus. That was their cue.
“Ya ready, Twi?” Applejack nodded to her marefriend, who replied by planting on a soft kiss on her lips.
“Let’s go.” She nodded.
Applejack poked her head out of the tent, greeted by the absence of their guards. Shifting her stomach, she gestured to Twilight and both of them slipped away.
The cold night air bit Applejack with a chilly bite that made her sigh slightly in relief. She was always more of an outdoors sort of pony, so being cramped up in some poor animal’s strung-up skin wasn’t her idea of a good time. Luckily, the tribe was too busy trying to capture Rainbow Dash as she darted about, letting the leap up close to her before flapping an inch too high for them to reach. It was working.
Applejack, with the reassuring sound of Twilight’s nervously hitched breath behind her, hurried to the next building, a hut made of wooden logs, scraped off their lumpy bark. Suddenly, a hush fell over everything. Her heart beating a worried rhythm against her chest as she watched the leader they had spoken with earlier that day come lumbering forwards.
“Chief, the Equestrian pony is getting away!” A mare cried out in panic, galloping to the leader and pointing at Rainbow flitting above.
“Nah, I’m not going anywhere,” Rainbow assured, dodging yet another leap of faith for her. “Aren’t I allowed to fly around a little bit?”
“No,” the leader’s deep voice rumbled with anger. “You will go back to your tent.”
“Nope!”
“Come on, Applejack,” Twilight whispered, her breath tickling Applejack’s ear and sending a shiver down her spine. “We’ve got to get to a safe place. The longer we wait, the more chance Rainbow will be caught. We can’t let that happen.”
“Don’t you worry none, Twi,” Applejack smiled, turning to trot along the side of the building. “We can do it, I jus’ know it. Now let’s get a-goin’!” she whispered fiercely.
They wasted no time making their way around the rest of the obstacles, thankfully avoiding the sights of most ponies. Although at one point they bumped into a wailing mare, she was quickly silenced by a sharp blow from Applejack’s hind legs. Despite the painful tug on her stomach, they were okay.
Finally they reached the outfrings of the tribal camp, running into the cool shade of the trees with relieved gasps. Applejack fell onto a soft bed of wet leaves behind Twilight, hidden from sight by a hollowed tree.
“I’ll make the signal,” Twilight’s horn lit up, blaring out the impression of an owl’s hoot. With that, Dash whirled around, disappearing from the confused tribal ponies’ sights.
“Phew! Was that awesome, or what?” Rainbow landed behind them with a loud thud.
Applejack laughed with relief at the sight of her marefriend, unharmed and safe. “Sure was, sugarcube. I ain’t never gonna understand how ya jus’, ‘poof’, like that.”
“Yeah, it is pretty cool,” Rainbow smirked.
“You know, I’d love to have a nice little chat about this, but shouldn’t we be worrying about getting away from here?” Twilight pointed out with a scowl. “If we don’t hurry they’re going to-”
At that moment the bushes rustled wildly, announcing the appearance of huge, angry ponies, snorting and pawing at the ground. The leader stepped forwards, his eyes burning with cold fury.
“-find us,” Twilight squeaked.