A Dash of...

by Mr Merritt

Chapter One

A Dash Of...

A MLP:FiM Fanfic

By Mr. Merritt

My Little Pony is copyright Hasbro

Run

Run

Don’t let him be behind me

Run

It hurts so much

Run

So tired

Just…leave…me…

…

…

…help…

***

There was a lot more to Sweet Apple Acres than a bunch of trees, as any of the Apple siblings would tell you. Most ponies didn’t realize that the farm took up a considerable amount of land near Ponyville. And as a result, having to keep all of its many acres under a watchful eye took a lot of work. Though they both would of rather been bucking or ploughing, doing a run of the borders of their land was a necessary job. And so, after a quick breakfast of oatmeal and (surprise!) apple slices Applejack and Big Macintosh made their way to the farthest reaches of their property.

“Two bits says the far fence is down again…” drawled the orange mare, peering out at the horizon as Celestia’s sun began it’s ascent into the sky. This was a running bet between the brother and sister, one that was more for fun than for any real money. If they had taken it seriously, Big Macintosh would be indebted to his sister for a long, long time.

“Nope…” rumbled the red draft horse. He always held out hope that said fence would be still upright, no matter how often he was wrong. The law of averages and all that…

“Whatever you say Big Mac.” chuckled Applejack. The two ponies eventually reached the far part of the farm, where few apple trees actually grew. The soil in this part of the land wasn’t ideal for growing, but it had been a part of Sweet Apple Acres since Granny Smith had been their age. The siblings maintained it out of tradition more than anything else.

Picking up a bit of speed, Applejack trotted ahead. She was anxious to finish this chore and get back to some meaningful work. As she approached a small rise, she could make out the wire and wood fence that divided the acreage from the rest of the land. To her genuine amazement, the fence was still standing. She chuckled as she approached, realizing that her big brother had finally won their friendly wager for once. She looked back over her shoulder, intent on letting Macintosh bask in his victory. But the red stallion was nowhere to be seen.

“Big Mac?” she called out. She had been certain that he had been right behind her. She headed back over the rise, and managed to catch some red fur out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be kneeling over something just on their side of the land boundary. She approached her elder brother, curious as to what had got his attention.

It was a sight that would be burned into her mind for a long, long time.

It was a young colt, judging from the size. Applejack guessed his age to be somewhere between Applebloom and herself. But she also could tell that this pony had been through a lot, not necessarily any of it good. He was muddy, and where there wasn’t mud there was dirt; she almost never realized that the colt’s natural color was a dusty grey with a dark black mane. There were many scratches and bruises all over his body, and he looked frightfully thin. When Big Macintosh gently lifted the pony’s head, they saw the beginnings of a blackened left eye beginning to form.

“Gonna swell up pretty badly…” rumbled Big Mac, shaking his head sadly as he gently laid the pony’s head back to the ground. The entire time the colt didn’t move, but the steady rise and fall of his chest was a welcome sight. All in all, it was not something neither of the two siblings would forget.

“What in Celestia’s name happened to him?” asked Applejack softly.

“Don’t know.” rumbled the red draft pony “But I know this didn’t happen from runnin’. Somepony did this to him.”

“We ain’t leaving him here.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement from the mare. No Apple worth their trees would leave some pony, even a stranger, like this. The two ponies managed to lift the colt, who remained unconscious, like a rag doll onto Big Mac’s broad back. With a steady gait the stallion made his way back, while Applejack raced ahead to let Granny Smith know about their discovery.

***

It was with immense reluctance that Big Mac and Applejack left the colt with Granny Smith while they tended to the daily work in the orchard. While they knew that he would be in good (if shaky) hooves with the family matriarch the knowledge of their discovery still burned in their minds.

As the younger ponies tends to the trees and fields, the elder carefully washed as much of the dirt off of the colt as she could. He wouldn’t be able to get a proper cleaning until he woke up.

Assuming he ever did…

At the very least she discovered that the young pony had, in fact, a cutie mark. Under all of the grime on his flank sat the image of a long wooden pepper grinder, the type you might find in a fancy restaurant. Granny allowed the colt to sleep on the large couch that dominated the living room of the farmhouse as she began working on lunch for her grandchildren.

The elder mare hummed to herself as she gathered the pots from the cupboard and food from the larder. She hadn’t been trying to make much noise with the intent to not wake their guest, even though he had not showed any signs of life for the last few hours. None the less, Granny Smith was startled to find a trembling figure in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

“Well, yer awake I see…” she murmured to the colt as he stood before her. Though his gaze was locked onto the floor, she could see at least one dark eye that looked haunted and nervous. Thankful that her nagging hip wasn’t going to result in any sudden movements, she tottered to the colt. He flinched slightly when she gently tipped his head up with a shaky foreleg to get a better look at his swollen eye.

“Gonna take some time before you’ll be seeing out of that eye.” she sighed.

“Um…” This small noise from the colt made Granny raise an eyebrow. “May I use…the bathroom…ma’am?” The colt had a quiet, raspy voice that brought to mind someone who had yelled too much.

“Up the stairs, down the hall, the last door.” she replied, managing a warm smile.

“Thank you…ma’am.” The colt carefully turned around and slowly made his way up the stairs. His stiff movements showed that he was sore and possibly in some pain. Granny made a mental note to gather some willow bark for the colt to chew, then went back to the stove. She suspected that a good hot meal would do the colt some good.

***

Applejack and Big Macintosh approached the farmhouse, ready for lunch and ready to check up on the colt. The tangerine mare entered the kitchen first, and stopped in surprise and relief at the sight before her. Granny Smith was plating up vegetable stew and some dark rye bread at the table for the young colt who seemed to be fighting the urge to wolf down the food before him.

“Well, it’s good to see yer up and about sugarcube.” said Applejack happily. The colt froze in mid-chew, his one good eye focusing on the mare before him. Granny Smith quickly spoke up.

“This here is mah oldest grand daughter Applejack. It was her and her brother that found you out in the far fields.” Granny Smith began to plate up more food as the colt slowly returned to his meal, keeping his good eye on Applejack.

“And who might you be?” asked Applejack kindly. The colt remained silent as Granny piped up.

“The youngun’ ain’t ready to answer that yet. I know, I’ve tried…” Deciding to give the colt the time he needed, Applejack began to eat. That is, until she heard two sounds: the heavy footfalls of her brother on the front porch, followed by a frightened whimper from the colt. The next thing she knew the colt had dropped to the floor, curled up into a tight ball, a heart-wrenching moan coming from him.

“Easy, easy…” soothed Applejack, who had practically leapt across the room to examine the terrified pony. Meanwhile Big Mac, who had saw the whole thing, quickly backed out of the house and back onto the porch. There was no doubt in his mind that he was the source of the sudden terror the colt was experiencing. He sat heavily on the ground, every little whimper he could make out from the kitchen like a stab in his big heart.

Eyup…somepony did something to him he thought to himself sadly.

***

Big Macintosh was well-known for his great strength and his stoic personality. But many ponies didn’t realize that just because he rarely showed emotion on the surface didn’t mean his was incapable of it. Right now, as he pulled the plough across the field, his heart was heavy with unhappiness.

One of the things he had learned in his life was that his great size could be rather unnerving to those who weren’t expecting it. There were many time when an attempt to befriend some pony was stopped cold by the shock of seeing such a huge pony bearing down on them. This was the only explanation he could come up with as to why the young colt he and his sister had discovered earlier that day had reacted so badly to his presence.

Despite both his sister and grandmother’s attempts to coax him back into the house, it wasn’t until the young colt had been taken to the guest room on the second floor of the farmhouse that Big Mac dared to enter. And even then he ate quickly and left, not wishing to bring any more trouble to the colt. It didn’t stop him from heaving a great sigh or two as he worked.

As Big Mac tilled the fields, Applejack was bucking apples. She recalled from a conversation she had once with her friend Twilight Sparkle about ‘muscle memory’. Apparently when one’s body had done the same thing over and over again, the body would eventually grow used to the actions and it could be done without needing any sort of messages from the brain to do so. The tangerine mare suspected that was what she was experiencing right now, for while her body bucked and sorted and carried baskets of apples, her mind was somewhere else entirely.

To be precise, her mind was on a young colt that had fallen into a fitful sleep in her house.

Her elder brother’s words when they had first discovered the grey colt came bubbling to the forefront of her mind. Somepony did something to him. The very idea of this was enough to make her buck at the trees a bit harder than necessary, eliciting a few loose branches and leaves among the fruit on the ground. While they had no real evidence to back this theory, the truth was seemingly as plain as the swollen eye on the colt’s face.

Another rather painful piece of evidence was the reaction he had to Big Macintosh upon seeing him. This wasn’t just some foolish fright at a much bigger pony. Clearly the sight of her brother must of brought up a painful memory for the colt. The pony that hurt him thought Applejack grimly. If so, I’d like to give that varmint a piece of mah mind…

***

When Granny Smith had began her daily nap in her over-stuffed easy chair in the living room, she had been alone. But when she woke up, she found that the young colt had apparently woken up and recovered from his emotional break down. He now sat back on the couch, looking steadily down at the floor. With a sad sigh, Granny managed to climb out of the chair (and Celestia knew it seemed to get harder and harder every day to do so) to start preparations for supper.

As Granny began to ponder what to do with the well-stocked larder, she managed to catch a flash of red and pink from outside the kitchen window. She tottered over to find her youngest grandchild Applebloom trotting up the path to the farmhouse. As the young filly closed in on her home, she picked up her pace. Granny Smith knew what was going to happen: in a yellow blur she would shout a greeting to her granny, race upstairs to put her school bag away, then race right back down intent on reaching the clubhouse built near the house.

Sure enough, the door swung open and Granny tried to call out to her, but with a rushed babble that sounded like ‘afternoon Granny!’ the filly raced in and out of the kitchen. The elderly mare could only sigh and shake her head, amazed at the endless energy her youngest granddaughter had.

A few moments later the green mare was met with a surprising sight. She found Applebloom slowly backing into the kitchen from the living room, a look a puzzlement on her face. She didn’t stop until she bumped into the elderly mare. She plopped down onto the floor, looking up into her grandmother’s wizened face.

“Granny Smith, who is the colt sittin’ in the living room?”

“Don’t really know dear. Yer brother and sister found that youngin’ passed out in the far fields this morning’”

“He…doesn’t look very good.”

“Reckon he’s been through something mighty bad recently. What that colt needs right now is a friendly face…” While it was still hard to tell for sure, Granny was confident that Applebloom and the colt were fairly close in age. As a result, it was possible he might open up more to her than anypony else. The elderly mare felt a surge of pride when the filly showed she understood what she had heard, and walked back into the living room.

***

As much as she knew it wasn’t polite, Applebloom couldn’t help but stare with concern at the swollen eye the colt sported. The fact that the young pony radiated a sense of despair only furthered the filly’s concern. Steeling herself, she carefully sat herself on the other side of the couch.

“Hi, mah name is Applebloom.” greeted the filly. The colt was silent, but he did give her the briefest of glances. Deciding this was a good start, Applebloom continued. “What’s yer name?” The filly hadn’t really expected an answer, and while she was silently berating herself, she was surprised when the colt responded in a raspy voice.

“Peppermill…my name, is…Peppermill.”

“Peppermill…” murmured the filly. She found herself unable to stop herself from glancing at his flank, and felt the slightest hint of irritation at the sight of a cutie mark that matched his name. Recovering quickly, she addressed the colt again. “It nice to meet cha Peppermill. I know you’ll like staying here, um…I mean…” Once again Applebloom inwardly scolded herself at how awkward she had sounded. This wasn’t going as well as she had hoped. Her inner turmoil evaporated in a flash when the colt spoke once more.

“I…can’t be here. I don’t…want you folks…to get hurt…because of me. He might…he might…” The colt began to tremble, and the filly felt a blaze of empathy for him. Despite the clear distress he was under, he seemed to be more concerned about her family’s well-being than her own.

“I don’t know who your talkin’ about, but you don’t have to worry.” explained the filly firmly. “Mah family can take care of itself, and we ain’t about to let somepony hurt you either.”

“You…don’t know what…he can do. It…would be my fault. He’d hurt you…because of me.”

“Huh, let him try!” Applebloom’s confidence glowed as she placed a kind hoof on the colt’s shoulder. “Whoever did this to you ain’t no match fer the Apple Clan! We take care of our own!”

“I’m…not part…of your family.” whispered Peppermill.

“As long as you are under our roof, you are as good as family!” this firm statement came from Applejack, who entered the room. Peppermill began chewing his bottom lip anxiously, but the mare raised a hoof. “Big Mac is waiting on the porch. He won’t come in unless you want him to.”

“I’m…sorry if I upset him. It’s just…he looked…like…him…for a moment.” mumbled the colt apologetically.

“That’s all right sugarcube.” said Applejack. “Like mah sister said, we ain’t gonna let no one hurt you. But I got to ask: who exactly are you talkin’ about?” No answer came from the colt, as Peppermill immediately looked away from the two female ponies. Applejack stifled a sigh, but decided not to pry. She was just happy that the colt had opened up as much as he had.

“Soup’s on!" called Granny Smith, who poked her head into the room. “You up to another meal youngun?”

“Yes…Mrs. Smith…” said Peppermill softly. “And…Big Mac…can come in…” Granny nodded, and led her grandchildren and guest to the table.

Comments

[Ex-Nihilos]

Alright mate you got me interested.

Tracking like an 18th century French Tracker.

[Mother3Forever]

I'm not sure why, but this cheered me up a little bit after the horrible ordeal I went through today..... Which reminds me, I gotta go dwn to the church and get some stuff for a cross......

Pet issues, you know?

[BlueEricsson]

Imma track, yo.

[Boydogblues]

i like it,
tracking

[MistarFish]

Wonderful. I'm tracking.

[TenshuraX]

good, if you need a villan, i'm sure DJ would be more than happy
heh heh hehehehehehehe HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! yes i'm an insane robot scientist my absolute FAVORITE thing to do is torture, though i don't usually use blunt objects, i find knifes work MUCH better, especially for skinning, OH wait, i let my apprentice take care of the skinning but anyways, I am DJ Bl4ck0ut, a scientist who made a deal with the devil and became a robot. i am also the embodiment of insanity and cruelty. (i also have a back story, since i randomly aubduct ponies all the time, and use them as test subjects, he could have been the 'one that got away', and now knows the secret location of my lab) also, my eyes are blood-red, so that may give the red phobia thing,
i'm Fifty-Fifty, i can control luck
*sigh* i'm getting kinda tired of introducing myself like this, but i'm TenshuraX, please call me Tenshura. i'm just gonna stop the introductions right there, cause there are 13 total who need introductions, so i'm just gonna let Killkord introduce himself
Hello, i am Killkord, the psycologist.

[Capriccio]

Good start, certainly got my attention.

[-Brutus]

317697

I genuinely chuckled at what you said about track. I've have to agree, tracking this.

[StatusQo]

Interesting, gona track see where it leads

[randome284]

I'm liking this story so far, it's by kind of style. I need to go read the next chapter right now!
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