Blooming Travels

by Soniclink137

Chapter 4

Apple Bloom hardly got any sleep that night with her worry about Spike. So when she awoke the next morning, she didn’t feel refreshed at all. As the morning sun shined into Apple Bloom’s eyes, disturbing her from the very little sleep she managed to get and as the teenage filly opened her eyes she could feel them burning from her tiredness. Everything in her was screaming to fall back asleep, but she ignored that.

Apple Bloom got onto her four hooves and stretched to help wake herself up. Afterwards she shook her head, opened up her eyes, and looked around the grassy plain to see if Spike was sleeping anywhere. She hoped she would, but she knew she wasn’t. It would have been too good if she did see him safe and sound.

But as the earth pony suspected, even after doing a three sixty where she stood she didn’t see any sign of the purple drake, not counting his backpack that he left there last night. Apple Bloom’s heart fell when she learned that, so she looked over towards Los Pegasus. Spike told her that as soon as he got away, he would meet her there but Apple Bloom was wondering whether she should go looking for him instead.

Spike had all night, Apple Bloom thought. He had all night ta come here and he didn’t. That means the guards must be still chasin him around. But fur all night? Would the guards really be chasin him that long? Unless…

And even more worrisome thought crossed Apple Bloom’s mind. Could they have…caught him? If they did then Spike would be on his way ta Canterlot now, if he already ain’t there. But if they did…what am Ah gonna do about it? Ah know Ah have no chance of gettin into Canterlot ta help him, and if Twi get’s to him then he ain’t gettin out any time soon. Twi’ll make sure Spike stay’s where she can keep an eye on him. Ah know Spike would hate that, bein forced ta go back when he wanted ta leave.

Apple Bloom paced back and forth with worry while thinking. No, Ah can’t think about that yet. Y’all don’t know if Spike was caught yet or not so ya shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Ah should check around Los Pegasus first before Ah figure what Ah’m gonna do next.

Apple Bloom stopped her pacing and turned around to face the city. She knew that if she goes in the city, she’ll have to careful for the guards that are looking for her, and she runs the chance of being captured herself. But Apple Bloom felt if she stayed there she would regret it. So after taking a deep breath and grabbing both her and Spike’s bags, Apple Bloom walked her way towards the city of Los Pegasus.

~

Apple Bloom walked past the many tall white building of Los Pegasus for a while… and she was completely lost. Los Pegasus was not a city Apple Bloom has been to before and she was used to smaller towns than larger towns. She found the mentality that everywhere looks the same in large cities and that mentality was not helping here one bit. Every street she walked through, including the crossroads she was at now, had several tall white almost cloud-like buildings on the side, ponies of all colors, genders, and races walking on the sides of the streets, and carriages lining up the middle of the roads.

Apple Bloom feared asking directions because she has seen runaway posters of her plastered on several walls across the city, and while nopony has given her the time of day so far and she has yet to run into any guards, she was worried if somepony got a good look at her face they would turn her in. She figured she only got by so far because she looked like your average pony walking to wherever these ponies go in the morning, even though as a teenager Apple Bloom was a little smaller than most of the mares she passed by.

No Apple Bloom, ya can’t be afraid like this, Apple Bloom thought to pump herself up. Sticken around this city for too long is bound ta get you caught anyways. Might as well get caught tryin ta help a friend.

So Apple Bloom looked around until she saw a vendor to her right that was selling souvenirs. And looking at that road there Apple Bloom could see no posters of herself around there making it as good as any place to ask some questions. Apple Bloom nodded in that direction before she took a right at the curb and walked down that street bound for the vendor.

“Hello, what can I get for you?” the vendor, a teal unicorn mare with the same colored mane, asked with a smile and a very cheerful voice.

“Umm…nothin much. Sorry,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah…need ta ask ya a few questions.”

“Is this for business reasons or personal reasons?” the vendor asked with a laugh. “Because you look a little too young to be working for any statistics and I’ve been getting the strangest feeling from my daughter that schools out.”

“No it’s personal reasons,” Apple Bloom said. “Anyways…”

“Say…are you an Apple?” the vendor asked out of nowhere. “Actually scratch that. I’d bet my saving that you are an Apple. Are you on your way to Applewood?”

“Umm…yeah Ah am,” Apple Bloom said. Technically that was true, but Apple Bloom didn’t actually plan on going there until she got out of Spike what she needed to and convinced him to come with her. “And while Ah was on my way Ah heard somethin about some Royal Guards chasin a dragon. What’s goin on?”

“So you’ve heard about that did you?” the vendor asked. “Well don’t worry too much, it’s not nearly as bad as you think. You see, Princess Twilight Sparkle from what I’ve heard has a dragon in her family. I heard from a friend of mine in Canterlot that the drake is close enough to be her brother, and even her son. Anyways the dragon has ran away from his home so naturally Twilight got worried and sent some Royal Guards members to find him.”

The vendor closed her eyes and thought for a few seconds. “To be honest I don’t blame her. If that dragon is really as close to her as my friend said he is then I can imagine how worried she must be. Whether that drake is safe and unharmed. I know for sure I’d do the same if my daughter ran away. Heck, I probably wouldn’t sleep until I learned she was back safe and sound.”

After hearing that a memory from back when Apple Bloom was a child flooded back to her.

~

Apple Bloom and her two friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle wanted to get their Cutie Marks in spelunking back when they were Cutie Mark Crusaders. So they found a cave at the closest mountains to Ponyville and Sweetie Belle, who’s magic was somewhat coming in, lit their way. But while exploring Apple Bloom got separated from the two of them, and with her light source gone she was stuck in darkness.

Apple Bloom panicked and screamed but nopony could hear her. She was lost and alone and would probably stay that way. After figuring nopony would come to her and thinking that she would be lost in the cave forever Apple Bloom crawled up to one of the walls, closed her eyes, and cried. She wept and bawled her heart out and didn’t care, because who would hear her?

The earth pony filly didn’t know how long she stayed like that, to her it felt like days but she knew that was just an exaggeration, but eventually she heard the sound of hooves clopping across the cave ground. Apple Bloom opened her eyes at the sound and looked in the direction of where it was coming from, even though she wasn’t able to see. Apple Bloom screamed once more now that she knew someone was there, and the clopping of hooves became faster.

“Apple Bloom!” called out a voice and Apple Bloom finally found comfort because she knew it was her sister’s.

“Applejack!” Apple Bloom called out once more.

Eventually Apple Bloom saw a light and her sister’s concerned face in front of that light. Applejack had a small lantern wrapped around her neck while she used to illuminate the gray walls of the cave and left her see. What was missing was her Stetson on her head, probably because areas of the cave were too narrow for her to wear it.

Applejack noticed the tears in Apple Bloom’s eyes and quickly ran up to comfort her sister. The orange earth pony wrapped her hooves around the yellow earth pony and used her right forehoof to rub her back right where the neck ends. And as they both embraced each other tears fell from both their faces.

“Apple Bloom, are ya ok sugar?” Applejack asked in a choked voice, getting the important out of the way first.

“Y-yeah Ah’m fine,” Apple Bloom said. “A little hungry, but fine.”

Applejack took a step back to look into Apple Bloom’s eyes. “Alright Apple Bloom, let’s get you out of this cave.”

“B-but…Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom started but Applejack quickly quieted her.

“Already made it out,” Applejack said. “They’re the ones that told us you were still here. Now let’s go.”

Applejack guided Apple Bloom through the cave, stopping every once in a while to make sure that Apple Bloom was still close behind her. After another couple of hours of walking they both finally made it out of the cave. When they got out the skies were showing a brilliant orange as Celestia’s sun made it’s way below the horizon.

Applejack closed her eyes and took a deep breath when they got out, trying to calm her frayed nerves. Apple Bloom could here Applejack mumbling something, but she couldn’t make out what exactly Applejack was mumbling. Eventually Applejack looked at Apple Bloom, tears still in her eyes.

“Listen Apple Bloom,” Applejack said. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, ya hear me? When Rarity and Rainbow Dash came ta me and told me you were still lost in a cave, ya can be glad you didn’t send me to an early grave let alone Granny Smith. Ya could have accidently stumbled on a bear or worse and gotten hurt and even killed. Mah and Pah are already gone, so we don’t need ta be losin you as well.”

Apple Bloom was extremely shocked at that. Applejack hardly ever talked about their parents. It was one thing Apple Bloom knew was never talked about around the house. She had asked both Big Macintosh and Applejack before, but neither of them was able to say anything to her. She was only able to get it from Granny Smith that her parents were gone.

“Am Ah…am Ah in trouble?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Y’all can bet your sweet bridges you are,” Applejack said. “But…let’s get ya home first.”

~

Ah’m sorry Applejack, Apple Bloom thought. Ah’m really sorry. But Ah…Ah just want ta make you proud and Ah can’t do that from here.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” the vendor’s voice came out, snapping Apple Bloom out of her memories.

“Oops, sorry,” Apple Bloom said as she looked back to the unicorn. “Ah…kinda spaced out there for a moment.”

“It’s alright,” the vendor said. “Happens to the best of us.”

“So do ya know where the dragon is?” Apple Bloom asked. “Have ya heard?”

“Are you really still worried about it?” the vendor asked. “Well…I guess that’s fine.” The vendor grabbed a map from her right and folded it out on the stand. “Last I heard the chased him just south of Applewood. Since we’re on the north side of Los Pegasus if you’re just heading to Applewood you shouldn’t have to worry about him. But I don’t think you have much to worry about anyways, since I know that the dragon won’t hurt any ponies.”

“Alright thanks,” Apple Bloom said.

The vendor rolled up the map with her magic and handed it to Apple Bloom. “Here, take this,” she said. “That way you won’t have to worry about getting lost.”

“Are you sure Ah can have this fur free?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah,” the vendor said with a smile. “Go ahead.”

Apple Bloom placed the map of Los Pegasus into her saddlebag. “Thanks,” she said as she turned around to leave.

But while Apple Bloom was walking away she heard the vendor say one more thing. “Back to my daughter, if she did run away I’m sure she would have a reason for it, but I’d wish she would tell it to me. I can’t help her if I don’t know anything.”

Apple Bloom gulped. She walked on without saying anything, but she couldn’t ignore the nagging guilt that she was starting to feel in her stomach. She told Applejack and Big Mac that she wanted to go, and they told her to wait. But as Apple Bloom walked away, she wondered if maybe she could have explained herself better.

Author's Note:

Well here you guys go. A bit late, but here is the next chapter of Blooming Travels. *Insert copy and pasted rant about dA that has no relevance here*

Anyways we get a look into the situation from a different perspective, the perspective of the ponies that are searching for Apple Bloom and Spike. As I've said before in the comments, while Twilight/Applejack and the Royal Guards are technically the main antagonists, or as close to main antagonists as you're going to get in this fic, they aren't really the bad guys here.

Comments

[UltiXevoz]

Well the vendor is giving out some odd vibes

[Luna-cy]

Pretty good chapter overall, most of my complaints would be extreme nitpicking, so good job on keeping the quality up.

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Twilight's reaction to discovering Spike went missing:

[Soniclink137]

3002730 Hmm...yeah, I am getting some strange vibes. Wonder what that is about?

3002981 Thanks.

And then that guard was immediately fired for calling Twilight sir.