//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 
// Story: Freddy's New Job 
// by ImmaGenericWriter 
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The following morning started very peacefully for Zecora. No strange mechanical animals had tried to attack her, and she had finally been able to work on the commissioned potion.

As she finished making her morning coffee, her mind drifted back to how she found the Heart’s Desire plant. She had planned on looking for it after she had gotten home, but fortune had been on her side. On her way back from Sweet Apple Acres she had found the very plant she had been looking for, already uprooted.

The Zebra placed her forehooves onto a desk to elevate herself to a vial that contained a softly bubbling pink liquid.

She had no idea how it got there. It seemed to have been ripped from the ground. When she got home, a quick inspection had proven that it was ready for use.

She looked critically at the brew before taking a deep breath with her nostrils directly over the vial.

It smelled slightly like a cut Marula fruit.  After the smell had left her senses, Zecora found herself thinking of some rare plants, specifically the Tarromin herb that was hidden somewhere in the Everfree.

She pulled back and reached out to shut off the tiny fire beneath the brew. The potion was ready; all she had to do now was to wait for it to cool down.

As she dropped back down to the floor, she took a quick look around her and frowned. Some of her more common herbs were running low, even though they were in abundance just the other day.

With a fair amount of time to kill, Zecora decided to restock her supplies. She slung her saddlebags on and, after a brief moment of hesitation, took her staff as well. If that fox was still on the loose she would need something to defend herself with.

It wasn’t long after she had left that she found a bush filled with one of the herbs needing restocking. She swiftly gathered what she needed and moved on to the next plant.

As the shamaness lifted her head, she froze. She could have sworn she saw something move in the corner of her eye.

Again there was movement, and this time she was certain of it.

Her gaze drifted in the direction she thought the movement came from.

There! Her attention snapped to the next bout of movement, but something wasn’t right. Is that…a sitting golden bear?

For no more a fraction of a second, it looked like a transparent, yellow-coloured bear was the source of the movement.

Zecora held back a groan. It would seem she wasn’t done with these new creatures just yet.

Readying her staff, Zecora trudged ahead, her herb gathering forgotten.

Several times she saw the yellow bear at a different angle, forcing her to diverge her path slightly each time. Every time she tried to look directly at it, she would get no more than the same split second image.

After being led on a zig-zaggy trail, the strange entity stopped appearing. Why did it stop? Zecora asked herself as she focused intently on her surroundings. Surely its interest in me would not take such a sudden drop?

She got her answer when she heard strained breathing coming from somewhere nearby. Her ears swivelled every which way, attempting to pinpoint the source of the sound.

It didn’t take very long for her keen ears to lock onto a ditch that had been obscured by some leaves. She would have completely missed it, had she not been looking for it.

Staff extended and ready to strike, Zecora advanced on the ditch. Once it was within reach, she used her staff to part some of the leaves over the source of the noise.

It took her a moment to process what she was seeing. It seemed unreal, as if it would fade away like the bear she that lead her here. But it never went away and eventually she had to admit it was real.

Lying in front of her, covered in blood, was Applejack.




“Big Mac!” Apple Bloom called out as she closed in on her brother. Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Scootaloo were right on her tail.

The large stallion responded by flicking his ear in her direction. He was still wrapped in a bandage to keep his wound covered and Nurse Redheart would doubtlessly drag him back to bed by the ear if she saw him standing outside. Or standing at all, for that matter.

“Ah couldn’t find Twilight,” Apple Bloom said as she came to a stop next to him. “But Ah did find Rainbow an’ Rarity; they said she went to Canterlot yesterday.”

Rainbow Dash landed next to the stallion and asked, “So what’s the deal, Mac? What did you want Twilight for?” In response he looked at the wreckage that used to be the barn’s door. Rainbow smiled sheepishly in response. “Oh.”

He shook his head and sighed. “Did you tell them?”

“She did, Big McIntosh,” Rarity replied in Apple Bloom’s stead. “Does it have anything to do with”—she gestured towards the pile of splinters—“this?”

“Ah dunno,” he replied with a shrug. “Maybe. Applejack’s gone.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she once more took flight. “Why aren’t you looking for her while Apple Bloom got us?!” Big Mac remained silent at her outburst, waiting for her to figure out the answer on her own. Eventually she did and gave a second sheepish smile. “Oh…ahehehe…”

Rarity rolled her eyes at her winged friend’s observational skills. “How can we help?”

“Apple Bloom,” Big McIntosh began, “you and your friend go inside and play with Balloon Boy a bit.”

Apple Bloom lifted a yellow forearm to her head before flicking it forward in a miniature salute. “Gotcha.” She began trotting towards the house. She was eager to play another round of Uno, especially now that she didn’t have only Balloon Boy to contend against. “Coming, Scoots?”

“Hay yeah!” she shouted in response, a grin already plastered onto her face. “I’m so gonna destroy you both this time.”

As the two fillies disappeared into the house, the three could speak freely. “Applejack up an’ vanished yesterday evenin’. Ah heard the crash, but couldn’t get up to see what was goin’ on. This mornin’ Ah found some strange tracks.”

“You mean like an animal you don’t see much here?” Rarity asked as she began looking for the tracks he spoke of.

“Eenope.”

Rainbow tilted her head, confused at what he meant by strange. “Then what do you mean by ‘strange’?”

With a large limp, Big Mac trotted towards the house until he was about half way there.

As they studied the ground he stood at, they could see two flat, near oval indentations in the ground along with what seemed to be much lighter looking hoofprints that went through the other pair of tracks.

The two mares glanced at each other, not sure what they were supposed to be looking at. They turned their questioning gazes towards Big Mac.

“Ya’ll don’t see it?” They shook their heads. “Look,” he began, pointing towards the oval tracks and then gestured to the sides, “where did these come from?”

“There’s only the two tracks?” Rainbow Dash asked, to which Big Mac nodded. “Uh, Big Mac?” She flapped her wings a few times in demonstration.

He shook his head. “Too deep.”

“Too deep?” Rarity asked, wondering what he meant. She looked at the tracks again, trying to make a connection. “Hmmm…” She lifted a hoof and tapped her chin. Mostly she was just wondering why Big McIntosh simply didn’t tell them and save some time.

She kept studying the tracks, then saw the small hoofprint she made and compared it to the others. “It would have been too heavy.” She said in realization. “Nothing short of a dragon would be able to fly with such weight.”

“So, whatever made this just…appeared? How’s that possible?”

“Ah dunno, it’s why I sent Apple Bloom to get Twilight.”

“Either way, we need to find Applejack. It looks like she was running from whatever made these!” Rainbow shouted as she threw a foreleg in the direction of the prints.

“Do not be so keen on solving these mysteries,” They all turned towards the new arrival. They gasped in shock from what they saw. “We need to help Applejack with surviving her injuries.”

Zecora trotted towards them with Applejack on her back. She was crusted large patches of dry blood. When they came closer, Rainbow Dash bolted into the sky, heading straight towards Ponyville while Rarity gasped and Big McIntosh growled deeply.

Along with many painful looking cuts and bruises, two words had gruesomely been lacerated into her barrel.

IT’S ME