A Dash of...

by Mr Merritt

Chapter Three

A Dash Of...

A MLP:FiM Fanfic by Mr. Merritt

MLP copyright Hasbro

As the group of ponies and one baby dragon reached the farmhouse on Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack immediately noticed something amiss. Sitting on an old rocking chair on the porch, sound asleep, was Granny Smith.

“Heh, I bet Granny Smith could sleep though a hurricane.” snickered Rainbow Dash.

“Granny is a lighter sleeper than you think.” snapped Applejack. “But why is she nappin’? She ought to be getting lunch ready by now…” The mares approached the house, allowing Applejack to take the lead so she could gently nudge the elderly green mare awake.

“Huh...wazzah…” stammered the old mare.

“Granny, why are you out here? Shouldn’t you be inside makin’ lunch?”

“Lunch? Oh, it’s been taken care of.” chortled the mare. “Jes look in the window…” Now totally confused, the Earth mare did as she was told, followed by the rest of her friends, who crowded around and above her.

“I swear, I reckon that youngin’ was born with a pan in one hoof and a knife in the other…” added Granny before dozing off again. Indeed, the sight before the mares and dragon was very impressive. For the second time that day Peppermill was busy preparing what looked to be a multiple course meal.

“Woah…did you see him with that knife? That was cool!” squealed Rainbow.

“He is very good, isn’t he.” agreed Fluttershy.

“His technique is impressive. I think he’s been trained.” This comment came from Spike, which earned him few surprised looks. “What? Have you ever seen Twilight try to cook? I had to learn pretty quick or else we would both of starved a long time ago. Besides, cooking with gemstones isn’t easy.”

“Ohh! Ohh! Did you see that flip of the pan? He didn’t even miss a beat!” cheered Pinkie.

“Wow.” That was all Twilight could say. Rarity, who had yet to comment, seemed to be intently focused on the colt. Suddenly…

“Canterlot”

“Pardon?” asked Spike, more than willing to listen to the white unicorn.

“Canterlot.:” Rarity repeated firmly.

“Is that a knock-knock joke?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“I’ve seen cooking like that before in Canterlot. I think Spike might be right about this colt being trained.”

“Canterlot? He’s an awful long way from home then if that’s the case.” murmured Twilight.

“Oh…my…you don’t think he ran all the way from there, do you? Chased by…” Fluttershy began to tremble slightly at the thought.

“Um…hello?” The raspy voice of the colt cut through the chatter of the mares and dragon. They all cringed as one and looked back into the kitchen. Standing at the window, chewing his bottom lip anxiously, was Peppermill. The mares all began to look away, various degrees of embarrassment on their faces. Applejack recovered first.

“We’re real sorry about that Peppermill. It’s jus…we weren’t expecting you to make lunch too.”

“I…have to make…it up to you…before it all…goes wrong.” mumbled Peppermill.

“Look sugarcube…why don’t you come on out here so we can talk.” offered Applejack.

“Um…you should…come in here. The food…shouldn’t be….left unattended.” The mares looked at one another, and silently filed into the kitchen. As they did, Rarity gave a quiet whisper.

“He said ‘unattended’. His choice of words makes it sound as if he had had some sort of formal education…” Applejack had to admit that Rarity may have had a point about her theory about where the colt may of come from. Soon all the mares were sitting around the table as Peppermill continued to work at the stove.

“These are mah friends Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Spike.” announced Applejack.

“How do…you do.” rasped Peppermill, nodding at each of them in turn.

“How do you cook like that? That is amazing!” gushed Pinkie Pie, which earned her a collection of dark looks from a few of the others. Leave it to Pinkie to ignore bein’ subtle grimaced Applejack.

“It’s…something I’m good at. But…I had…really good teachers.” The colt was unable to prevent a twitch in his eye, which the mares silently took note of.

“Are you sure you are ok kid? I mean, that’s a pretty good shiner your sporting.” Rainbow Dash asked with a frown.

“Um…it doesn’t hurt…anymore at least…” was the careful response. He seemed to be polite, though still wary of the sudden attention he was getting. It was around now that he seemed to suddenly register something. He gave Spike a genuinely surprise look. “A…dragon?”

“Yep. One hundred percent dragon.” remarked Spike with a grin.

“Wow…” His gaze then fell onto Twilight Sparkle, a thoughtful look on his face. “Did…you say…Twilight Sparkle?”

“That’s right.” nodded the unicorn. “Have you…heard of me?”

“I…remember hearing…that name. Some ponies…were talking…about Princess Celestia…having a special student.”

“Um…does this mean you are from Canterlot? I mean, that is where Twilight is from…” asked Fluttershy carefully.

“Yes…I’m from Canterlot.” agreed Peppermill sombrely.

“How did you get here sugarcube?” coaxed the orange earth pony.

“Um…I ran?” Peppermill began to squirm under the scrutiny, clearly not liking the memories being brought up. Applejack immediately left her spot at the table to put a comforting foreleg around the neck of the colt.

“Ah know you are finding things tough, but me and mah friends want to help you. We need to know what exactly is going on. If it’s true that yer from Canterlot, and that you ran all the way from there, then, well…” Applejack paused, letting the colt answer the question for himself. He looked like he was struggling, wanting to speak but unable to get the words out. The group waited patiently, not wanting to force anything.

Then it happened…

Twilight noted at first the sudden look of surprise on Spike’s face, followed by a seemingly uncontrollable bulging of his cheeks. A message? she realized to herself.

“BURP!” A burst of flame erupted from Spike, and it brought forth a scoll that plopped onto the table. At the same time Peppermill gave a cry of sheer terror and collapsed to the floor.

“Fire…” he wailed, trying to squeeze himself into as tight of a ball as possible. Applejack made a move towards the colt, but was cut off by a flash of yellow. In seconds Fluttershy had embraced the quaking colt in her forelegs, making soothing noise and stroking his dark mane. Pinkie, in a show of forethought, began to shut off the stove as Rainbow Dash scooped Spike up and ushered the dragon outside. Twilight quickly followed the two out of the house, while Applejack and Rarity hovered over the colt and Pegasus, her heart breaking.

Dear Celestia, what happened to you? she thought despondently.

***

Lunch was salvaged by Pinkie Pie, but none of the mares felt like eating. Despite Fluttershy’s brave attempts, Peppermill eventually passed out and was carried into the spare room. The rest of the mares gathered outside, trying to console an equally upset Spike.

“This is my fault.” moaned the dragon, distraught over sending the colt into a panic.

“It wasn’t your fault Spike. You know you have no control of when a message comes.” This came from Twilight, nuzzling her assistant warmly. “It did give us some more insight into Peppermill.”

“Insight?” questioned the dragon.

“Something involving fire must have happened to him, something bad.” said Rainbow Dash with a sigh.

“A colt…badly beaten…ran all the way from Canterlot…frightened by fire…this is most distressing.” announced Rarity with an unhappy frown.

“He was so scared.’ whimpered Fluttershy, her empathetic nature bringing her close to tears.

“Ah know…” The mares looked up to find a emotionally drained Applejack coming out of the house towards them. “And ahm gonna find out who did this to him, and so help him, her or whatever when ah do…” Spike and the other mares looked at each other warily. They had never seen their friend Applejack this mad before. Whatever was going on, she was taking it to heart.

***

No matter how much any of them tried, none of the Apple family could get Peppermill to leave the spare bedroom after the fire incident. For three days the only way they knew the colt was in the house at all was the empty plates that were left outside his door after he would be brought a meal.

Work continued as always at the farm, though tensions were high. Applejack was still fretting over the colt, as did the rest of her family. Big Macintosh still could feel the intimidation pouring off of the colt when ever he was present. Granny Smith tried to convince her grandchildren that the best thing for the colt was time to heal. And Applebloom…

The yellow filly had become just as obsessed at finding out what exactly was causing Peppermill so much pain and terror and her older sister. Despite taking time away from her quest to discover her cutie-mark, she was determined to make things right. As a result, she had enlisted the aid of her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders in hopes of curing Peppermill’s ills.

Unicorn, Pegasus and Earth filly sat around a table in their clubhouse, puzzling over the situation. Applebloom had tried to introduce Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to the colt, but nothing seemed to make him open the door to the guest room.

“He is so scared.” sighed Applebloom. “AJ thinks some pony hurt him real bad…”

“I know big sis was writing to some of her customers in Canterlot about whether they know about a missing pony there.” admitted Sweetie. Scootaloo was silent, staring out of the window with a stern expression. She hadn’t said much about the situation, but her friends knew this was nothing more than her trying to be ‘tough’ like Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe we can get him to make something for us.” said Applebloom “He’s really good at cookin’. Even Granny Smith said she could learn somethin’ from him.”

“Are you saying that because you think it would work,” piped up Sweetie Belle, “or because your hungry?” This won her dark look from the red-maned filly, in which the unicorn filly returned. This staring contest continued for a moment until Scootaloo suddenly spoke up.

“Applebloom, what did you say this Peppermill guy looked like again?”

“Um, a grey coat with a dark mane. Kinda thin and a cutie mark that looks like one of them fancy pepper shakers you see at that fancy restaurant in town, why?” When she received no answer, Applebloom turned to where the Pegasus filly had been sitting but there was no sign of her. When a familiar sound of buzzing wings could be heard down below, the remaining Crusaders raced for the window, just in time to see Scootaloo taking off on her ubiquitous scooter.

“Scoot, wait!” cried Sweetie. Meanwhile, Applebloom was squinting out in the direction Scootaloo was racing towards. It was only when she saw a dark figure racing along that she felt her stomach turn into a knot.

“He’s runnin’! Come on Sweetie Belle, we got to go get help!”

***

With burning lungs and aching heart, Peppermill sprinted as fast as he could away from the farmhouse. There had been a brief moment of uncertainty in his mad plan for freedom when he realized just how high off the ground the second floor window of the spare room had been. But he managed to clamber down a drain pipe to the ground and never looked back.

As he ran, his mind churned like a stormy sea. The old fears were back, along with a new one: regret. He hated himself for leaving like he did, but he simply couldn’t risk it. The memory of the dragon flame dominated his mental vision, and the knowledge that every minute he spent with the Apple family meant their impending doom.

Whether the doom would be from his own jinxed luck or the inevitable vengeance he would bring to those who dare to show him any kindness was more than he cared to think about

***

“Man, he’s fast. Though if you were as scared as he seems…” Scootaloo mind raced as fast as she did as she raced along in pursuit of Peppermill. Despite his desperation fuelling him, she was closing the gap. Soon enough she got within yelling distance to the colt, and she cried out as loud as she could.

“Peppermill, stop!” Surprised, the colt looked behind him, to find an orange Pegasus filly on a scooter bearing down on him. This was enough of a distraction to cause him to stumble and do a nasty looking face plant on the ground. Scootaloo, with a grimace and the knowledge that she was responsible for this, bounded off her transport and raced to the now prone pony.

“Oh man!” she moaned. “Applebloom’s gonna kill me…”

***

Hours later one miserable colt, three distraught fillies and one furious mare sat at the kitchen table. When Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had first come running up to her, Applejack had been expecting a typical Cutie Mark Crusader situation. When she learned that Peppermill had ran away she had felt her blood run cold. The three ponies raced full speed to where Peppermill lay dazed and Scootaloo looking enormously guilty.

“Why in Equestria would you run off Peppermill? What has gotten into you?” demanded Applejack hotly. Peppermill had been silent the entire trip back to the farmhouse, and whatever explanation he was giving was nothing more than a low mumble that none of the ponies could comprehend.

“You were running pretty fast, for a cook I mean…” This was Scootaloo’s failed attempt to break the tension in the room. The burning hot look she got from Applejack silenced her quickly.

“Ah don’t think yellin’ is going to help sis.” offered Applebloom carefully. “Ah’m sure Peppermill has a good reason for what he did.” This caused the colt the nod his head desperately.

“I know, I know…” Applejack seemed to deflate, her initial anger spent. “I just…didn’t want to see him get hurt again…”

“He’ll hurt you…I’ll hurt you…I can’t stay here…” this squeaked-out plea from Peppermill surprised the ponies. “Trouble follows…me…everywhere. It was…my fault…”

“What was yer fault? Who is gonna hurt us?” begged Applejack.

“The…fire…and they…they…” Peppermill began to cry openly and wouldn’t say anymore. Applejack reached over and embraced the colt in a tight hug. The three fillies began to sniffle quietly, even Scootaloo.

“Oh sugarcube…” murmured Applejack, a few tears rolling down her own cheek.

Comments

[Knighthawker]

This is getting good... from what i can gather either has been chased by a dragon, or someone with access to a dragon.

[StatusQo]

come why dont they check if theres been any fire recently in Canterlot

[-Brutus]

I'm glad that I tracked this, it is good so far and leave us figuring out what exactly happened.

Keep in mind, he said "fire" not "dragon fire" so it could be ANY number of things, "they" burnt down his home, chased him with fire, burnt his family maybe? Any number of things.

[ElJorro]

What exactly is he making? thats what's missing from this story.

[ggg-2]

Frightened by fire and yet using a stove didn't affect him?

[anomoly]

4754399
I know it's been 7 years, but I feel entitled to respond. I thinks it's because the dragon flame was a lot larger than the stoves flame