Hiding beneath a bunch of dirty laundry wasn’t as easy as it sounded. It smelled bad and the fact that she got this far without being caught was making her even more anxious than ever to jump out, but she stayed still. She wanted to make sure she was as far away from that horrible place as possible.
When she was sure she was far enough away, she peeked through the dirty laundry to look around. Seeing the coast clear, she hopped out and ran for the nearest hiding place she could find; a shrub. She looked at Mr. Bundles when she noticed the cart stop. He looked at the cart, wondering why it seemed lighter all of a sudden. When it looked like nothing changed, he shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at her surroundings. It…..it was amazing.
It was so colorful here. The straw roofed houses had purple shutters and surrounded with flowers. From what it looked like, she was in the middle of town square. She craned her neck to look at the top of the tower in the middle of the square. It looked like it was falling apart, but other than that; it was more amazing than anything else she has seen in her lifetime. She looked at all of the ponies surrounding her. They all just looked so happy, like there was nothing that could dampen their day.
There was definitely nothing that could dampen his day; Discord thought has he gazed down at Ponyville on his cotton candy cloud. He decided to come to Ponyville because he was grabbing such a bad reputation in Canterlot that he wanted to do his pranking in a new place. Someplace where he can play around with ponies that wouldn’t have a clue they were being pranked by him. Plus, it was far enough away where Fluttershy won’t know that he was doing it. Besides, she was too busy with her animals to pay attention he thought sourly.
Shaking his head to clear away thoughts, he looked down at the ponies below to look for a target. Scanning the crowd of ponies, he spotted his victim. Making his hands into a pair of binoculars, he gave himself a close-up into the window of a cottage and saw a pale yellow earth pony with dark blue and pink curls watering her flowers.
“Oooo! Perfect!” he exclaimed excitedly to himself. With a mischievous grin, he snaps his claw.
As the earth pony continued to water her plants, one of them shrunk down into the dirt. Dropping the water pail she was using, she stared at the potted plant, wondering, what just happened. Picking up the pail hesitantly, she continued to water the plants. But now, all of the plants shrank down into the soil. She gasped in surprised as she once again dropped the pail. Hesitantly, she peered into the soil when all of a sudden the flower popped right back out of the soil. Opening their petals, the flowers then squirted water right into the pony’s face, making her run from her house screaming.
Putting down his hand made binoculars, Discord landed on his back on his cotton candy cloud, bawling with laughter. Oh how he loved pranking new victims. He always had to find some new place every couple of pranks or it’d definitely get too boring. After his fit of laughter, Discord wiped tears from his eyes as he looked down on Ponyville for more victims.
As the hours went by, his pranking became more elaborate and more obvious. Discord started to get bored as he realized that the ponies are getting harder and harder to prank. Groaning in annoyance, he looked around for a new source of entertainment. Near the edge of Ponyville was a sign with the warning ‘Danger’ pointing toward the forest.
“Psh, please. Like there’s anything in there that could scare me.” He commented to himself. Finding his new source of entertainment, Discord flew down into the Everfree Forest.
“Now where should I start?” Apple Bloom wondered to herself. She was out and was excited, but she was so focused on getting out of that orphanage and finding her parents, that she never realized what she was going to do for food and shelter. As her mood started to damper, she shook her head. No. She can’t start thinking that. She’s finally out of that terrible orphanage and can start finding her parents. She can think about the other stuff later, right now she needs to start finding her family. As she thought of this, her stomach started to rumble.
She’ll start, after she finds something to eat.
Looking around, she tried to find somewhere to eat. But as she went to each store, she looked at the prices and just felt more depressed. Even though it was futile, she kept trying to find somewhere to eat. As her bow kept drooping and drooping as her mood dropped, she spotted a small stand outside of a cute little store called Sugar Cube Corner. But that isn’t what caught her eye and made her bow straightened. Written under the sign, it read ‘Free Samples’. Hopping up and down it excitement, she ran over to the stand, being first in line.
Behind the stand was a pink earth pony with poufy dark pink hair. As she was about to ask for a mini cupcake, the pony beat her to the punch.
“Hi there! Welcome to the Sugar Cube Corner Free Sample Stand. Just choose any sample! We have all kinds of cupcakes here. We have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, red velvet, pumpkin, cherry, blueberry, apple, coconut, banana but I think you should try the chocolate. OOOO!!! No, try the banana! Wait! No no! Try the chocolate! Or both! Have you tried both flavors at once? It’s delicious! Oh! I think you should try…..”
“APPLE!!!” Apple Bloom screamed before the earth pony could speak again.
Clearing her throat, Apple Bloom repeated, “Apple please.”
Nodding her head in enthusiasm, the pink earth pony handed her the apple cupcake. As she held the cupcake in her hoof, she gazed at it like it was the most glorious piece of food in all of Equestria. As she was about to take a bite, she gets bumped in the back, making her drop her cupcake on the ground. She stared at the destroyed cupcake in horror as her eyes started to tear up and just as she was about to cry, she got mad instead.
“Ya made me drop ma’ cupcake!” she yelled as she jerked her body around to stare at the pony that made her drop her cupcake. Except when she turned around, it wasn’t a pony she was looking at, but a purple and green dragon. And a baby one at that!
He was lying on the ground clutching his head in pain. He was a small dragon, probably Apple Bloom’s height, with a green belly and scales. At her voice, the dragon looked up at Apple Bloom with his emerald eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before a voice behind them shouted.
“Stop that dragon! He’s a thief! Stop him!” the voice yelled.
Cringing at the voice behind him, the baby dragon quickly got up, grabbed Apple Bloom’s hoof and dragged her behind him.
“Come on!” he yelled as he started to run.
“Wai-!” Apple Bloom started, but before she could protest, she was dragged along with the small dragon.
The pink earth pony watched them run off towards the direction of the Everfree Forest.
“I can’t believe it! How could this have happened! I didn’t think it could happen! I just can’t believe it!” the teary eyed earth pony whined as she knelt to the ground.
“She dropped a perfectly good cupcake!!!!” she screamed to air.
Finally stopping after they realized they lost they’re pursuer, Apple Bloom and the unknown dragon stopped to catch they’re breath. But all that running didn’t stop her from yelling at the stranger.
“Now why did ya do that!? Now everypony is gonna think I’m a thief too! And on top of that, ya made me drop ma cupcake! Who are you and why did ya drag me along!?” Apple Bloom raged.
The dragon shuffled in place. “I’m sorry, it was a reflex. I didn’t mean to drag you along with me. I’ll get you another cupcake to make it up to you though!” he offered.
“I don’t want a stolen cupcake!” she replied angrily.
“I’m not a thief! This was all a misunderstanding!” he shot back at her.
“Oh ya? Then what’s your tail hold’n?” she asked as she pointed to the dragon’s tail. The dragon turned around to look at the apple his tail was clutching.
“I didn’t mean to steal it!” he whined as he took the apple from his tail. “Look, dragons have….a grabby nature. It wasn’t me. My tail did it. I’ve been trying to keep myself from grabbing things, but sometimes my tail has other ideas. I was just looking at the stall when that pony called me a thief. Next thing I know, I’m running away.” He explained sincerely. Turning to Applebloom, he stared hard at her. “I know it’s in a dragon’s nature to hoard, but I’m trying not to. That’s not me. I am not a thief!” he cried angrily.
Apple Bloom wanted to role her eyes and not believe him, but the seriousness in his explanation made her keep it too herself. Plus, she doesn’t even know much about dragons in the first place. How was she to know if he was telling the truth or not. Spitting out a sigh of defeat, she held out her hoof to him. “Well, what’s done is done. Can’t do nothing bout it now. I’m Apple Bloom.” She introduced.
The dragon looked at her hoof wearily, but took her hoof in his claw. “I’m Spike.”
“Now that I think bout it, what’s a dragon doin in Ponyville?” she inquired.
“I’m just running a few errands for somepony.” He answered. She waited for him to elaborate, but it was clear he wasn’t. About to ask for more, she was interrupted by the growling of her stomach.
Hearing her stomach and watching her embarrassment, Spike held out the stolen apple. “You can have the apple if you like.”
She didn’t want to take something that was stolen, but she was so hungry she didn’t think she could hold out much longer. Misreading her hesitation, Spike just stated, “I prefer gems.”
Raising her eyebrow in question, she took the apple from his outstretched claw. Hesitating for only a moment, she bit into the apple. Apple Bloom groaned in pleasure. Oh Celestia, nothing tasted so good. Enjoying her apple, she looked at Spike. “Gems?”
“Oh yea, dragons eat gems. They’re really delicious. Each gem has its own flavor. My favorite is rubies. We can eat pony food too, but I prefer gems.” He explained.
“Doesn’t it upset yer stomach?” she asked as she swallowed the rest of the apple.
“Nope. Dragon’s stomachs are tough. We can eat anything really. Plus we-“stopping short, Spike looked around at his surroundings, only to gasp in horror.
Apple Bloom mirrored his face as she also noticed where they were. Even though it was sunny out, the surrounding trees around them made it seem like it was dark. No noise was being made, which made the forest feel even creepier. Without noticing, they both huddled together.
“I can’t believe I dragged us into the Everfree Forest.” Spike voiced in terror.
“The Everfree Forest?” Apple Bloom questioned.
“It’s dark and scary, and it’s inhabited by fearsome creatures. Timberwolves, Manticores, Cocatrices-“
“Stop! I don’t wanna hear no more!” Apple Bloom screamed in terror.
But they didn’t have to. Something moved in the bushes near them. They stared at it in horror as they’re imaginations ran wild of what was going to come out of there.