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The coach made a short distance from the garrison. Spike and Gilda were rampaging on about their stowaway.
“What the buck are you doing Applebloom!?” Gilda asked harshly.
“I wanted to come. A-Ah haven’t seen mah brother is months! An’ I was gettin’ the opportunity to see the festival here. I always wanted to. Applejack’s always busy this time around.” Applebloom said sheepishly, “an’ besides ah came in useful didn’t I?”
“That isn’t the point. You probably got Applejack really worried about you.” Gilda said. The carriage suddenly stopped. Gilda and Spike looked around they still had a bit further to go to get into the city. “Why’d you stop?” Gilda called out to Spurs.
Spurs unlatched himself and stepped away from the coach, “Look, Braeburn is mah bes’ frien’ an’ all but ah found this group purty strange. Ah’m doin’ him a favor, but ah dun wanna get in no trouble with the guards. Why’s Braeburn’s cousin here? Who’s dem two young ‘uns?” he said pointing a hoof to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle who were under the cloaks, “Why’re they hidin’?? They fugitives or sumtun??”
“That ain’t your business.” Gilda said indignantly.
“Then maybe I should just go back and tell the guards to do a thorough che…”
“NO!” everypony hollered. Gilda wanted to rush up and grab Spurs by the throat for that threat. But Spike spoke up.
“Look we’re on an important mission alright?” Spike began, “W-we can’t tell you because it’s really important that we keep secret and low profile.” Spurs looked at Spike. He wasn’t satisfied with that answer.
“Dem two fillies ain’t from here are they?” the group said nothing, “…ah heard you telling the guards a bunch o’ lies.” Spurs said.
“You want money? I can give you seeds to keep your pie-hole shut.” Gilda said.
“Ah knew it. I ain’t stupid. Braeburn had bin gone fer a week and he pops up with this here dragon an’ two strange fillies hidin’ their faces or ah reckon… horn. Y’all from Equestria ain’t ya? Dem ain’t earth ponies! They’re those vile whippakraks!!” Spurs stressed on the insult. He showed pure disgust on his face. The two fillies cowered and flinched at the offense. Gilda had pushed her beak up against Spurs muzzle. Her eyes became bloodshot.
“You better keep your trap shut dickwad!” Gilda was now steaming.
“Gilda!... Please Spurs,” Spike took a step forward and spoke with confidence, “we come in peace and friendship. Our society has changed since, we want to put the past behind us. We’re going to see the princess to offer a hoof in friendship. It’s by chance Braeburn ended up in Equestria and it’s by some miracle Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got in through the barrier here. He agreed to help us. Please I’m begging you… not to tell anypony.” Spike was now twirling his claws together out of nervousness. Tears were streaming from the two fillies eyes as they sat on their haunches with their heads hung low and Applebloom just stood by them in a state of shock. Gilda still had her claw on Spurs with both of them going at a staring contest.
“Will you get yer claw off me? I won’t tell alright, fer Braeburn’s sake….” Gilda slowly removed her claw and Spurs rubbed his neck, “Ah dun know why Braeburn agreed to help you buckin’ whippakraks... he must be out of his apple-buckin’ mind. But he asked me a favor an’ I intend to stick to that. But I sure hope the princess says no cuz we’re doin’ just fine without you…”
Spurs angrily walked back to the front of the coach and harnessed himself, “Now get back on. Still gots some way to go.”
A gloomy aura hovered over the group. No word was spoken till the coach came to a second garrison and another set of guards came about the carriage. Applebloom started moving a little uncomfortable this time but it did not deter her from helping Scootaloo keep Sweetie Belle out of sight while Gilda did all the talking. Security was very tight around Willow City Spike thought. Not even Princess Celestia or Princess Luna has this much protection, then again the army back home is small compared to Argil and Celestia and Luna are two immortal alicorns anyway. They can’t die. It’s not like anypony can assassinate them. Spike then wondered what the Argillian princess was like? Was she an earth pony too? Of course she is stuuuuupid… oh well, was she young? Old? Pretty? Will she listen to the plight of Equestria?
When they looked about Gilda saw that they had finally reached to the inner circumference to the city. Spurs had to make a turn because of the long line of carriages and ponies bustling into Willow Wood, the eastern district to the city.
“This is as far as I go.” he said. Everypony got off.
“Tha….” Spurs didn’t even so much stay long enough for Spike to finish. “….nks.” the coach darted off leaving a dust cloud on the group.
“Applebloom?” Sweetie Belle began as Applebloom looked at her, “What’s that thing… that name Spurs called us?” Applebloom rubbed her foreleg hoof on the other.
“It’s…. it’s a—”
“Never mind Sweetie Belle,” Gilda interrupted, “Come on guys, let’s go, and stay together!!! I mean it. It ain’t gonna be pretty if anypony got lost okay?” Everypony nodded their heads. Gilda said and led the group into the bustle. There was a mixture of different beings bustling about Willow City. Griffons, zebras, donkeys, mules… almost all types of everypony congregated in this huge city, everypony except unicorns and pegasi. It made Spike a little sad and he thought about Spurs’ words. He did not dwell on the thought for too long though. Not surprisingly, the new comers could not keep their heads low, as their eyes were busy travelling around at the towering structures right along their paths. The main entrance to the eastern district was a tall iridesium and marble archway that had luxuriantly carved moldings, mini sculptures of various beings, mythical humans with wings and a dance of flowering vine-work around it. Iridesium up close gave off its own shimmer of lustrous colors in the moonlight. Lighting in the streets was the same as San Fratello, tall poles with illuminated orbs. Gilda explained it used electricity, an energy source developed by a brilliant earth pony scientist named Tee Neighdison.
“WATCH IT!!!” Gilda screamed holding Spike back with her claw and causing the girls to bump into him. Spike didn’t realize he was almost hit by a speeding contraption.
“WHAT THE—! What was that?!”
“Watch where you’re going! I know everything is new here but damn it, don’t get yourself killed over it!”
Spike finally took a good look at the ground level of the city.
“Gilda, is this the road??”
“Uh yeah. Duh.” she said rolling her eyes.
“What I mean is what material did they use to make it?” Spike said furrowing his brows.
“Oh. That. It’s asphalt. It’s another natural element here that comes from the south.” Spike and the fillies had never seen it before as most of the roads in Equestria are cobblestone, dirt or what is remaining of the marble pathways from the old days.
“But outside doesn’t have it.”
“Yeah that’s because golems like asphalt. They go on destroying roads so they tend to use cobblestone roads outside the city.”
The visitors’ culture shock increased by the minute. Sure there were traditional coaches with ponies harnessed to it but there were ponies riding a new type of vehicle Gilda called a soniglider, that same that nearly knocked Spike over. It hovered over the ground and even outmatched Rainbow Dash’s flight speed.
“It’s sooooooooooooo AWESOME!!!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Yeah ain’t it?” Applebloom said, “Applejack got one! Mah brother bought it for her! An’ Pinkie Pie also got the latest model! She’s in the Glory-Glider League!” Gilda did not seem too pleased at this information, or more looked jealous Spike thought.
“Pinkie Pie? You mean that really weird pink pony back at your home?” Scootaloo asked Applebloom.
“Yeah, an’ she ain’t weird. She’s ….okay, she’s weird an’ just……what did Applejack say…oh...unconventional, but she may not look like it but she’s one o' the best Glider Riders there is!”
There was one soniglider that was parked on the opposite side of the road. Gilda and group crossed and she began to explain, “This little baby here is an older model of sonigliders but almost as good as the new ones. The newest model has a top speed of six hundred miles per hour. Antigravity nacelles with reaction-less thrusters, uses a fused-550 neon hydraulics cooling system and has an agile frame covered by ablative panels. Wicked fast. I hate to admit it but not even I at my top speed flying can outmatch this! I asked the old griffon to get me one on my birthday! Can’t wait to enter the Glory-Glider League for next festival!” Gilda spoke as if she was in love. Spike understood nothing of what she said despite living with the nerdiest of nerds.
“What’s the Glory-Glider League?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s a speedball sport on sonigliders that’s—” Applebloom began but was soon cut off by Gilda.
“—totally awesome! Glider Riders moving at wicked fast speeds on sonigliders trying to score goals and avoid getting knocked out by the barbeams or being crashed into. The trick is the goalposts keep moving about.”
“WOOOW! I wish Rainbow Das—!” Scootaloo said excitedly. Spike gulped and covered Scootaloo’s mouth.
“Rainbow Dash?” Gilda’s eyes glinted, “y-you know Rainbow Dash?”
“Uuuh, yeah.” Spike said nervously. He knew there was no hiding it now.
“I knew it! I thought you looked familiar! You’re part of her little loser circle!” she said angrily. Gilda turned and began to storm off.
“Gilda wait! Please! Don’t leave us here!” Spike and the fillies were running after her, “I don’t know why you hate her so much but—” Gilda turned suddenly and pushed her beak up to Spike’s face.
“Two reasons… one, she’s a loser and two, she killed my brother.”
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Spike and the girls followed Gilda through the busy streets till she reached the Greenfair Plaza park where she plopped down close to a magnificent water fountain that had a statue of a mare sitting on her haunches reading a book.
“Gilda?”
“Go away.”
“Please won’t you talk to us?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Spike sat down next to her. The girls hopped onto the edge of fountain looking at the two. spike took a few moments.
“It’s nice here,” Spike said.
“There’s a lot more to see. This is just the Eastern District. My brother and I used to come here a lot when we were younger.” she said swishing her tail, “he used to talk about becoming a Glider Rider all the time! His favorite rider was the captain from Coltington, Dragstrip. Aww, he was awesome! He was the first to hit off the hypergroove stunt!”
“That’s awesome… I think.” Spike said.
“He was. He ended up with four broken bones in the League five years ago. He retired since then.”
“....” Gilda realized she was ranting, she sighed.
“Pops started Galen and I in flight school at Cloudsdale. That’s where we met Rainbow Dash. She was cocky, had my type of attitude so we hit it off really well. Galen was more quiet and reserved, but he always hung around us to make sure we didn’t get into trouble. He was quite protective.”
“All brothers are I think.”
“Yeah, anyway one day, a couple of years after we first met Rainbow, she suggested that we go to the edge of the flight camp to race. I agreed and we took off. Galen followed us in secret as usual. Rainbow and I decided to sneak off to Ghastly Gorge. It was going well, for two cocky flightsters until…”
“Until what?”
“Rainbow decided it would be funny to bother the quarray eels. Sure, she dodged a few snaps but there was one nest she didn’t realize she was in front of. Galen saw the eel lunged forward at Rainbow, he dove and pushed Rainbow outta the way but not before the eel snapped at him. It caught hold of Galen’s wing and broke it. I tried to catch him but I was too late. He fell sixty feet onto the rocks below.”
“Oh Celestia, “ Spike held his claws to his mouth.
“She had the audacity to show up to the funeral. I got mad and hit her.”
“So your friendship ended there?”
“Pretty much….. I did try to hang out with her again but I couldn’t get over my anger and I did pretty much mean things. I couldn’t stand to see her laughing and all happy with new dweebs while I still missed Galen. It’s like we never mattered.” Spike took a few moments to soak in the story. He pondered. Something didn’t add up but he thought better not to question it, at least right now.
“You know, I don’t think she forgot about you at all. I think if you really give her a chance things will get better between you two. Only if you want that of course.”
“How do you know?”
“Let’s just say…. it’s a hunch.” Gilda looked sternly at Spike. He could only smile nervously back at her as he menacing eyes seemed to slice him over and over. her stare finally broke with the giggles behind them.
“Who’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked as the fillies were now engaged in their own conversation..
“Oh, that’s Queen Raspberry Ripple,” Applebloom said, “there’s a statue of her at mah school. She’s the patron of learning an’ the first queen of Argil. Grey Willow’s wife. All schools have a statue of her!”
“Wow, you guys got a lot of statues.” Sweetie Belle said.
“That’s because Argillians are very proud of their history. Come on guys we gotta get moving. Guards patrol all over the city.” the group got up and began to make their way through the busy streets once more dodgin whenever a group of guards were close by. Fireworks lit up the sky almost every half hour as each district had their celebration. The group made their way past the waterfall skyscraper which made rainbow colors and mist appear which gave the feeling to the group as if they were in the sky. Gilda stopped.
“Okay guys, we’re almost to the Northern District. The garrison is close there. You girls have to stay put while Spike and I go to meet Applejack’s brother. Do you understand?” The girls nodded. Gilda put the girls to wait a cheap hotel where she was veeeeery lucky to get a room at while she and Spike made their way to the garrison.
As they approached the guards, Spike’s claws became really sweaty. He held on very tightly to the letter to Big Mac as Gilda made her approach to the sentry.
“Halt. State your name and purpose here.” the sentry said sternly and more guards came out holding the spears that seem to be useless weapons.. Spike swallowed a particularly huge lump and Gilda cleared her throat.
“I’m Gilda of Tallon Port and this is Spike the dragon.”
“Gilda? Spike? Take them into custody now!”
“Uh-oh.”
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The soaking wet mares darted past the bustling crowd and knocked over a few ponies that got in the way. Twilight looked around and saw a little alleyway where she quickly led the group to hide. Rainbow peeked at the recovering commotion while the other panted heavily catching their breaths.
“UGH! Not only am I wearing this horrid cloak, my mane is now messed up!!!” Rarity complained.
“Oh you wanted to just stroll of the boat? I doubt there would have been a welcome party Rarity.” Rainbow said quickly and turning her face to the crowd again. When everyone had caught their breaths, they covertly moved to the entrance of the alleyway where Rainbow Dash was standing to have a view at the market area. Not only the beautiful scenic view of the structures seem to illuminate the entire area, the busy market area was filled with shopping ponies, griffons, zebras, donkeys and vendors screaming prices at them. But mostly it was the diverse amount of vegetables, fruits and hay in very large quantities that made their jaws drop. Their stomachs began to gurgle which reminded them that they needed to eat.
“Gosh, I wish I could taste those apple fritters again.” Rainbow said.
“We can’t stay here girls, we should get a move on.” Twilight said. The group looked around and when they thought everyone had gone back to minding their own business they quietly slipped out of the alley walking past behind fruit and vegetable stalls. Soon they were in front of bakeries and coffee shops that made Rainbow’s stomach gurgle even more. Even Rarity and Fluttershy couldn’t help but peer in a little to view the enormous collection of pastries, cakes and other delicacies in one shops.
“I can’t take it Twi! I need fooooood!”
The group pressed on despite their stomachs and Rainbow’s protests. Twilight had bits but she wasn’t sure that their money was accepted there and it might be a dead giveaway for them. Their only hope of food would be to steal…. no no.. they can’t do that!…. beg maybe.. or find Gunther... yes that might be best. Just as Twilight was about to mention going back to find Gunther some guards were passing by. The group had no choice but to quickly move forward deeper into port’s crowd. When they stopped at the end of the street, they heard a familiar voice.
“APPLEJACK!!! WAIT!! Yer goin’ too fast!” Braeburn panted.
“No time!” Applejack shouted back. The group saw Braeburn chasing after the orange coated, blonde mare that was zooming off toward the other end of the street and turning the corner. The group wasted no time and followed the ponies to a small building niche. They quickly snuck up close to the door and peered in.
“I need ter send a URGENT message to mah brother!” Applejack told to another pony behind the counter.
“Where to?”
“Willow City”
“Fifteen seeds.” Applejack dug into her saddlebag, pulled out a pouch and paid the message pony. He gave her a sheet of paper and she quickly scribbled the note and gave it back.
“It’ll get there by noon.”
“Noon!” Applejack said, “Can’t it be earlier?”
“It would have been earlier if you’d accepted the cellphone Big Mac was givin’ ya” Braeburn said.
“You know ah can’t use dem type o' fancy technology! It was already hard enough learning to use the soniglider…. Fine then.” she said turning to the message pony. They walked out from the message center where she began ranting. They didn’t even notice a group of cloaked mares behind them, “This is all yer fault Braeburn!”
“ME?!!”
“Yeah, ah told yer this was a bad idea!!! You sent off that dragon and dem fillies to Willow City and now Applebloom’s gone too!” the group of mares heart skipped a beat. It felt like a heavy burden was lifted to know that everyone was still alive.
“That ain’t fair cousin! How was I to know that this would happen?!”
“It’s dun dangerous to be around dem kind. Yer shouldn’t have brought dem into Argil in the first place! Ah reckon they talked her into followin’ them! If ponies in Willow City find out about those fillies, they’re in fer a whole lotta trouble and Applebloom’s gonna be in the middle of it!”
“But Gilda is with them too…” Rainbow dash’s eyes widened with that piece of information, “I’m sure she’d keep ‘em safe!” The group heard enough. They approached the pair cautiously.
“Braeburn.” Braeburn and Applejack whipped their eyes around and saw the cloak covered mares. Breaburn’s jaw dropped and Applejack whipped her eyes back and forth between Braeburn’s horrified look and the mares. Applejack realized that being covered in a cloak could only mean one thing. Her reaction became the same as Braeburn.
“H-H-How in G-grey Willow’s name d-d-did you…” Braeburn stuttered.
“Long story…we came looking for Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle—”
“Not here!!!” Braeburn said. Applejack was still in a state of shock as Braeburn frantically looked around for somewhere more private. He noticed another little alleyway leading over to the next street where Spurs shop would be.
“Quickly… follow me!” He quickly led the entire group to the spot. He had to push Applejack along with him as she was rooted to the ground. Braeburn scouted the entire area for anypony then he spoke.
“Applejack….. Applejack…. APPLEJACK! Snap out of it.”
“Huh? Say whut?” She shook her head and looked again at the group then turned scowling at Breaburn.
“Heeeey, don’t look at me… it ain’t me this time!” he said backing away slowly. She then turned at looked at the group disgustingly, which made Fluttershy flinch and Rainbow to give a little scowl back.
“Applejack please,” Twilight began, “we need help. We sent Spike here to speak to the princess... Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo followed him. We didn’t mean to come here at first but he heard they got into the storm and we became worried. We came to take them back home.”
“They ain’t here!” Applejack said in a very deadpanned voice, “they went with Spike and Gilda to Willow City with mah sister!” she turned again to Braeburn looking at him angrily.
“Gilda?!” Rainbow Dash then said, “now I’m worried. Which way is Willow City?!”
“Yer can’t go!... if yer wanna live that is!.... y’all must be out of yer whippakrakin’ mind to come here…. they’re alive and well. We fed them an’ they’re well on their way already with Spike. So y’all can go back home now. I spent enough time talkin’ to y’all. I gotta go find mah sister. Braeburn let’s go.” She turned and walked off, Braeburn seemed to have second thoughts ended up also following.
“Do you have anything to eat at least!” Rainbow called. The pair stopped.
“We could use some help with a bit of food if you would be so generous…” Rarity said. Applejack and Braeburn looked at each other and pondered.
“We can’t just leave ‘em here hangin’ cousin. Come now…” Braeburn interceded.
“Oh alright, fine then. Y’all better wait here. Yer can’t walk into a shop like that. Ponies’ll get suspicious.”
“I’ll go cuz,” Braeburn said, “you wait here with ‘em.”
“ME?! I dun wanna be ‘round a bunch o’ whippakraks!” But Braeburn already darted off toward the market. Applejack stomped her hoof, crossed them and leaned against the wall. There were a few minutes of awkward silence.
“Oooookay, this is um… awkward.” Rainbow said.
“Yeah tell me about it.” Applejack said in another deadpan moment.
“What now?” Rainbow whispered to Twilight.
“Be nice. Make a good impression.” Twilight whispered back.
“Um… Applejack?” Twilight said to break the silence. Applejack slowly turned her head and looked at Twilight, “maybe we can introduce ourselves… I’m Twilight Sparkle, this is Rarity—”
“Pleasure.” and she gave a little nod.
“Fluttershy—”
“Um… h-hello.” She said with a whisper.
“and Rainbow Dash.”
“Nice to meet ya!”
“Y’all already know mah name.” the awkward silence returned. Rarity nudged Twilight to continue.
“Sooooo um…. What do you do here for a living?”
“We’re apple farmers, mah family and I.”
“Yes, as I understand, earth ponies are good at farming.” Rarity said.
“Not all earth ponies are good at farmin’!!!!” Applejack said and gritted her teeth. Twilight fumbled a bit on the next sentence hoping not to make Applejack have another outburst.
“S-so your sister went along with Spike and the others?”
“Yes, she’s ‘bout the fillies age, they were talkin’ to each other las’ night. Then she ran off with ‘em this mornin’. When I get my hooves on her she’s gonna get it from both me and Big Mac!”
“Big Mac?”
“Mah big brother.”
“Is he in Willow City too?”
“Yes. How’d yer know?”
“We um… sorta spied on you a little while ago.” Twilight admitted. Applejack scoffed.
“He’s a captain of the imperial guard.”
“My brother is too! Um, in the army back in… uuh, at home.” Twilight said excitedly and smiled. She then gasped suddenly in realization.
“Oh Celestia! Your brother won’t do anything to Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo will he?”
“Mah brother ain’t no monster like you whippakraks! He won’t do anythin’ to hurt a filly!!!” Applejack said harshly.
“Uuuh… whippa-what?”
“Hey, I remember Gilda called me that every time we got in an argument.” Rainbow said rubbing her chin, “I didn’t know what she meant but it didn’t sound like anything nice at all.”
“That’s what we here know you unicorn and pegasi as… a bunch o’ vile whippakraks.” Applejack stressed on the words and looked away. Fluttershy cowered. The group frowned and looked at each other.
“That’s not very nice!!!” Rarity said angrily.
“It ain’t meant to be!” Applejack retorted scowling.
“GIRLS! Rarity please...” Twilight gave Rarity a ‘please be nice to her’ look. Rarity backed off.
“What’s takin’ Braeburn so long?!” Applejack said and shifted in her position. She now walked to the opposite side and leaned again. There was another wave of awkward silence. Surprisingly, it was Applejack who broke the silence.
“How’d yer end up here?”
“We came on a griffon ship, with Gilda’s father. He helped us in. We gave up our innate magic temporarily to cross the barrier. It didn’t detect us.”
“You done it with crazy whippakrak magic?” she said a raised a brow.
“Can you NOT call us that?” Rainbow was annoyed now.
“Don’t tell me what to do!!!” Applejack whipped her head across angrily to Rainbow and snarled. Rainbow actually flinched. “I’m done here! Go get yerselves killed.”
Applejack started walking off.
“Applejack wait please!!” Twilight said, “we’re sorry if we offended you.” Applejack stopped and sighed.
“Do earth ponies really hate us so bad?” Fluterrshy whimpered.
“I can’t speak fer other ponies. I ain’t strong enough to hate, but sure enough yer didn’t make a good impression on me.”
“We can see that!”
“RAINBOW!!”
“Hate is strong word in mah family. We just don’t trust ‘em.” Twilight was sad, but she knew this type of reaction was coming. She tried to stay as calm as possible.
“But you’ve never met unicorn or pegasi before. How can you dislike us before even meeting us?” Rarity asked.
“How can I not? I heard ‘nuff stories ‘bout y’all that still wrenches mah heart.” Just then, Braeburn came galloping with laden saddlebags, exhausted and huffing.
“Okay…. okay…. Just gimme a minute……” he said still trying to catch his breath. “I got… I got... apple fritters, apple tarts, hay burgers, rabatellies, kippimbles, I also picked up a few apples from the stash, Applejack, and a four bottles of apple cider!” The hungry mares crowded Braeburn who began to distribute the food. Rainbow particularly claimed dibs on the cider and the apple fritters. Fluttershy squirmed at the rabatellies’ moving fingers. But as soon as the group dug in on the food, they soared high in gastric bliss.
“This. is. soooo. awesome!!” Rainbow said with her face all messed up. Despite being hungry Rarity and Fluttershy showed table manners and restraint over stuffing their faces.
“Fanksh a lot Braeburn!” Twilight said trying to swallow a piece of apple tart.
“Your mighty welcome Miss Twilight. Yer know here at Hayside is mighty popular with tasty food. The Apple Family’s cider back home in San Fratello is famous for its apple cider. I reckon you oughtta try some since yer here. The Willow Celebration started yesterday and there’s a lot ter see with even more treats!”
“That would be even more awesome!” Rainbow said and chugged down a few gulps of cider. Applejack couldn’t help but crack a smile at the mares excitement over food. It didn't take too long for the mares to finish, by the end they were rubbing their now satisfied stomachs.
"Now, if y'all are done, y'all should go back. Braeburn got some work here an' I gotta go get mah sister back." Applejack said.
“But...” before Twilight could say anything more Braeburn started speaking first.
"What work I got here?" Braeburn asked.
"YOU'RE gonna pony the apple stand!"
"You're goin' ter Willow City?"
"Eeyup."
"But I got applebuckin' ter do!"
"Dang right too. An' dun let the fruit bats run wild either!" Braeburn huffed and sulked.
"But we can't go back yet!! Let us come with you! We came for Sweetie and Scootaloo! And at least we should hear some news from Spike."
"Didn't you hear me say yer can't go ter Willow City? The army is tight there now with the celebration goin' on and the Glory-Glider League comin' up. Four mares in cloaks roaming ‘round Willow City, you’re definitely askin’ fer trouble. They will kill you. They'll probably think you're spies or sumtun."
“Please,” Rarity said, “one sister to another… I can’t go home without Sweetie Belle safe and sound.”
“And I can’t go without Scootaloo!” Rainbow added.
“And Spike… please.” the group gave the most pitiful look they could muster. Applejack frowned. Even Braeburn gave her a pleading look. She rolled her eyes.
“Alright, alright fine!!! Only on one condition. Y’all gotta listen to everythang ah say! Imma risking mah life here!” The group readily nodded and Applejack held a hoof to her face, “What the hay am I doin’.”
“How’re you goin’ cuz?”
“I’m gonna go back home to get mah soniglider. It’s faster.”
“But five ponies can’t fit on that!” But Applejack wasn’t listening. She stepped out of the alleyway toward the market. Next Braeburn and then the group followed. It wasn’t at all to bad at the market. It was really crowded and noisy so a group of cloaked mares wasn’t at all suspicious. As soon as they got back to their apple stall, almost half of their apple stock for the day were bought by a rich pony from Manenisota. While Applejack was completing her transaction, the group looked at the crowd. So many earth ponies Twilight thought. Just a few days ago they thought earth ponies didn’t exist anymore and Equestria’s trading partners kept it secret. She got very much annoyed at the thought, but decided that she was mull over it at a later time. They had more pressing matters.
“Braeburn!! Y’all take over from here!” Applejack said and hopped off the cart and proceeded into the crowd. Twilight and group kept close behind as Applejack made her way to the main square where the huge statue of Grey Willow was. The day festivities had already started with the dancers and the lively music and many ponies in costumes getting ready for the parade. The group found it hard to keep their eyes away from the crowd and follow Applejack at the same time, especially Rarity who was admiring the costumes and the dresses.
“Keep up y’all!!” Applejack bellowed.
“Applejack, what’re you all celebrating?” Fluttershy asked.
“It’s called the Willow Celebration. It to commemorate the first Argillian King and Terra, the earth. That’s ‘im up there. King Grey Willow.” Applejack pointed and the group looked up at the handsome regal statue of the stallion, “an’ also harvestin’ time an’ a whole bunch o’ other stuff.” The group shuffled on until they finally came to the clearing of the exit toward San Fratello.
“Okay I gotta make a trip home first to get mah soniglider to get there, so y’all gonna have to come with me.”
“What’s a soniglider?” Twilight asked. Just then a huge gust of wind sent the mares leaning to one side and a pink blur whisked past them and vanished as quickly as it came.
“Thaaaaat’s a soniglider.” Applejack said. The group’s jaws dropped open as the blur made a U-turn and manifested into a pony mounted on a strange hovering contraption with balloons attached to the back end. The soniglider slowed down and hovered off the ground with a hum as the pony took off her sleek helmet revealing wide sky blue eyes, curly electric pink hair and a huge bubbly smile.
“HIYA AJ!”
“Hi Pinkie Pie.”