Stampede
A low rumbling resounded through the small town. Dust and rocks shook as the wooden buildings clattered, many almost brought to collapsing and tumbleweeds...tumbled, but much more bouncily.
The driver for the train looked out the window of the machine, eyes widening as he saw what was heading towards him. He quickly leapt out the window and hide in the local saloon, not a minute after the train and several of its cars were knocked off the tracks and sent flying as a five or six buffalo stampeded into town.
Just nearby, Rotten Bad Apple and his kin watched from the top of a building, the patriarch laying back on a sunbathing chair.
“Well now, it’s showtime.” Rotten sneered. He nodded to Worm-Eaten, who jumped off the roof and onto the back of one of the buffalo, unnoticed as it tore down the streets.
---------------------------------------------
Sheriff Silverstar set about calming various panicking ponies as the sounds of the stampede drew nearer, which was not an easy task. Deep Roots frowned as he turned to the competitors.
“My deepest apologies, but it would appear we will have to postpone the declaration of the winner of this year’s competition.” He lowered his head. “I am deeply sorry, truly I am.”
“Come on everypony!” Hard Cider called out. “We Apples know how to deal with a stampede!”
“Ve vould also like to assist, if we can.” Night Light offered.
“We don’t need your kind of help!” Big Mac shouted, pressing his face close to Night Light’s. “All you’ve done is made the rest of us look bad in front of our family!” he opened his mouth to say more, only for Applejack to pull him over with a hard glare of her own.
“Now see here! You may be my brother, but are you SERIOUSLY declining a unicorn’s offer to help us!? Their magic should be of a better advantage here than anything else we could do, and we need all the help we can get!” The fashionista panted, her gaze holding her brother in place.
“Applejack!” Juicy Apple stomped a hoof. “That is no way to talk to yer brother!”
“Why do ya keep sidin’ with those ponies!?” Applebloom exclaimed. “They’re driving down our business! The farm is in a lot of trouble!”
“That’s right!” Hard Cider added. “We need as much we can get, but those Sparkles’ keep takin’ away our customers!”
Applejack sighed, her gaze stern. “First of all, the farm is fine, nopony seems to be starving and everything seems to be in good shape. Secondly, Ah only came here because you said you desperately needed my help, and because Bloom and Mac asked me. I was under the impression you genuinely needed my assistance. However, you pushed me to compete in events Ah was ill-prepared for and offered no assistance of your own. Thirdly, Ah will stand by my friends and those they care about, including their families and friends, especially if they are offering to help in a CRISIS. Or did you forget that a stampede IS ACTUALLY DANGEROUS AND AH CANNOT BELIEVE YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY TRIED TO GET BLOOM SOMEHWERE SAFE!” She snorted, teeth gritting at that last part.
“But Ah wanna help too!” the filly objected.
Applejack’s gaze softened. “Bloom, Ah know you’re too young to understand this, but you got to remember one thing: no matter how Ah act around others, who Ah ‘side’ with on certain matters, you are my little sister and Ah will always love you. And as such, Ah am trusting our brother and our parents to make sure you stay safe.”
Hard Cider opened his mouth a few times and raised his hoof, but sighed. “Alright, yer right.” He glared at Night Light. “But the moment this dang stampede is over with, I’m takin’ ya down, Unicorn.” He turned around as Big Mac began to escort a protesting Apple Bloom to their hotel room.
That was when one of the train carriages fell down from sky and near the stands.
The ponies in the stands leapt from their seats and ran in a mad panic, some being scattered as massive, angry buffalo tore through the wooden seats started rampaging around the plain.
“Everypony evacuate!” Sheriff Silverstar shouted, leading most of the civilians away from the rampage as others either ran in fear or got knocked to the ground.
Rainbow Dash fired blasts of magic at the buffalo to keep them at bay and drive them away from the town, while Hard Cider and Juicy Apple worked together to hogtie the legs of the rampaging beasts, the Sparkles using their own magic to set up barricades to keep the buffalo from returning into the town streets.
“Help. Save me. SOS.” Pinkamena dryly stated, her tail caught in the horn of a buffalo, seemingly unnoticed by the angry creature. Rarity chased after, trying to sue her magic to help untangle the pink rock farmer from afar, though her inexperience with suing magic was making her efforts difficult.
Fluttershy meanwhile giggled excitedly as she flew around, examining the buffalo, scaring a few with her unusual behaviour and causing them to crash to the ground.
Applejack looked around at the chaos, looking nervous and apprehensive, trying to decide how she could help anyone and who exactly she should help. Her friends? Her family? She couldn’t fight, she wasn’t strong enough to take down a buffalo, and she couldn’t make a lasso to save her life, let alone throw one with the skill and accuracy of her parents. She was starting to feel useless. She looked up as she felt a hoof on her shoulder.
“Look AJ,” Big Mac said as he stood close to his sister, Applebloom on his back, “Ah know you wanna help, Ah do, you’ve always prided yerself on helpin’ ponies whenever you can, but you’ll just be in the way. Everypony else got it covered, so just come with me an’ Applebloom to somewhere safe.”
“Ah...you’re right, Macintosh, but still...” The fashionista looked down shamefully. “What good is it being the ‘element of loyalty’ if I can’t even decide who I can be loyal to...or even be able offer anything beyond fashion tips...?”
“That’s why we wanted ya to come home!” Applebloom shouted. “Yer wastin’ yer time on that stupid dressin’ up stuff, you should be with us, helpin’ on the farm, buildin’ up yer strength so ya can help in the hard times!”
“Applebloom that’s enough.” Big Mac scolded, causing the filly to shrink back a little. “AJ’s been yelled at and scolded enough. Ah miss her too, but she’ll never come home if’n we treat her like Uncle Rotten.”
“But she’s just like Uncle Rotten!” Applebloom argued.
The stallion glared, disappointment and anger in his eyes. “Don’t you ever say that again. Don’t you ever compare yer sister, yer own flesh n’ blood, to that cantankerous, mean spirited jerk.”
“But they are! They both turned their backs on our family jus’ so they could do somethin’ useless and stupid!”
Applejack frowned, her features stern. “Bloom, do not say that. Ah am persuing my dream, there is nothing wrong with that. Besides, I am able to make a fair living.”
“yeah, but it ain’t what ya supposed to be doin’!” Applebloom interjected. “Pa says so himself: yer an Apple, which means yer supposed to be on th’ farm with yer family not livin’ by yerself tryin’ to act like those prissy unicorns in Canterlot, or those Sparkles!”
“You can say whatever you like about me, but don’t you ever such awful things about Twilight or her family!” Applejack shouted. “You don’t even know them, just what FATHER and MOTHER say about them!”
“Uh girls...” Big Mac tried to interrupt.
“They are ruinin’ our lives!” the filly shouted back. “They’re gonna drive us out of our home and steal all of our business! They’re nothin’ but mean ol’ unicorn snobs who don’t care what happens to other ponies!”
“Stop saying unicorn like it’s a slur! They are not bad ponies, mother and father are just bad businessponies!”
“You sayin’ ma an’ pa are dumb!?”
“Are you suggesting that being a unicorn makes one a bad pony!?”
“WHY CAN’T YOU UNDERSTAND HOW SELFISH YOU’RE BEING!?” Both sisters shouted at each other, blinking as their ears pricked up as they heard the playing of banjo music.
“The hay?” Applejack wondered, looking upwards.
“Where’s that music comin’ from?” Applebloom asked, turning her head in the same direction.
As the sisters looked up, they saw a massive buffalo standing over them, its eyes glassy and filled with a swirling spiral as Worm-Eaten Bad Apple sat on its back, playing on his banjo.
“Well howdy,” the black-coated stallion greeted with a nasty smirk, “seems you folks havin’ a bit of a communication issue. This place ain’t safe to be havin’ an argument, certainly not for a little filly such little Bloomy.” His smirk widened into a grin, baring his yellow teeth. “Lemme take her off yer hands, if’n ya wouldn’t mind.”
Big Mac snorted, turning to face the other stallion with a hard glare. “Shoulda known you Bad Apples had somethin’ to do with this.”
“You should’ve jus’ kept quiet like ya always do, cuz.” Worm-Eaten growled, playing a few notes on his banjo, the buffalo he sat on sudden charged forward, knocking Big Mac to the ground and sending Applebloom into the air as the large beast trampled the stallion underneath.
“MACINTOSH!” Applejack shouted in shock, looking up at the retreating Bad Apple in anger, eyes widening as she noticed her younger sister in the stallion’s grasp. “Bloom!”
“AJ!” The filly called out fearfully. “Help me!” she was silenced as Worm-Eaten wrapped a gag over her muzzle.
“Ah, shaddup ya lil brat.” Worm-Eaten commented harshly as she continued to play his banjo.
Applejack growled and gave chase, only to be freeze in her tracks as Braeburn ran in front of her.
“Eep!” The fashionista yelped.
“What they hay is goin’ on here!?” Braeburn asked, looking confused and scared.
“Wha...Where have you been!? Ah thought you were still here with the judges!”
“Sorry! I had to...well, ya know...go to th’ li’l colt’s room...but that ain’t important right now! What’s with all this ruckus and craziness!?”
Applejack sighed, calming herself. “A stampede of buffalos ran through the town, and they look very angry for some reason. And Worm-Eaten was riding one of them, and he just kidnapped Applebloom!”
“WHAT!?” The stallion exclaimed in shock. “THAT...Ah mean, how could this have happened!? And today of all days!?”
“Look, we don’t have time to get in a panic, first Ah need to go save Applebloom,” Applejack pointed behind herself as her friends and family fought the stampede, “you should go over there and help protect the town.”
“Sh-shouldn’t Ah go help you though?”
The mare shook her head. “Ah’m afraid not, darling. You’re the deputy sheriff, your responsibility is the protection of the town first and foremost, plus I need somepony to tell everypony else what happened.”
Braeburn nodded slowly, uncertainly. “A-alright...Ah’ll do that. Jus...Jus be careful.”
Applejack nodded and ran down the road, following where she last saw Worm-Eaten ride off. Braeburn ran towards the plain, where only a few buffalo remained, running around wildly.
Night Light and his wife panted, Twilight collapsed on her mother’s back, exhausted, their magic resources dwindling. They were knocked over like bowling balls as Hard Cider and his wife were thrown into them by one of the last remaining Buffalo, which was being chased by Fluttershy, who tried to grab a nonchalant Pinkamena from its horn.
“Fluttershy,” Pinkamena stated dully, “I will give you so much bits not to rip me off this thing and tear my tail off and make me shout in a comical fashion.”
“Awww, how’d you guess my plan?” The Pegasus pouted.
“Pinkie sense.” The pink mare answered simply. Her eyes widened and she yelled out as the buffalo’s scalp fell off, sending her crashing into Fluttershy, causing the Pegasus to crash to the ground.
“What the hay?” Pinkamena got up, lifting the horn stuck in her tail, along with the entire face of a buffalo. “A mask...?”
The ‘buffalo’ in question roared, charging into the derelict, overturned train, pushing its hooves against the metal. There was a nasty, grinding sound as it pushed the train up the road at an incredible speed, towards the horizon.
Rainbow Dash looked around, noting that all the other Buffalo had been stopped in their tracks. “...so, we won?”
Hard Cider got up with a scowl, grunting in pain as he pushed on he cracked his back with hooves. “Ah sure don’t feel like we won.”
Deep Roots walked towards the group, a grave expression on his features. “While we’ve had problems with buffalo in the past, they were never this violent. I wonder what happened to make them act like this...?”
“Does it matter?” Juicy Apple retorted gruffly, shaking her head clear.
“Whoo!” Fluttershy cheered as she shot up into the air. “That was fun!” She giggled as everyone else glared at her or looked at her oddly.
“Terrible news!”
The gathered ponies turned to look at Braeburn, who ran over with an urgent look on his features.
----------------------------
Appleack looked around the town, panting. She had ran through the streets for a while, and still saw no sign of Worm-Eaten, the buffalo or ehr sister.
“Ah never realised how BIG this town was...where did they go?” Her ears perked up as she heard a loudly, metallic grinding noise. She turned her head and screamed as she saw a massive...thing rushing towards her, sparks flying around from underneath it.
She quickly ran between two buildings and watched as what upon closer inspection seemed to be the train she and her friends and family had rode on to get to Appleoosa was pushed down the wide street on its side by what appeared to be a hornless buffalo with a white head.
“Well that is certainly peculiar...” She noted with a raised brow. After the...whatever it was left, she moved forward, looking around, sighing in defeat as she slumped to the ground. “Ah’m sorry Applebloom...Ah’m sorry I failed you...” Tears fell down her snout and she sat like that for a while before some ponies came towards. She felt hooves on over her shoulders as her father called out from a short distance.
“it’s ok Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said as she held her friend in a gentle embrace, “we’re gonna help.”
----------------------------------
Rotten Bad Apple tapped his blunderbuss against his hip, whistling in approval as he looked up at the train that Bruised Bad Apple managed to bring for him.
“Now that’s a mighty fine piece of engineerin’ right there!” He grinned up at Bruised. “You made your ol’ pa right pleased, Bruisey.”
He walked over and pulled out a set of tools. “Jus’ need some minor adjustments, an’ we’ll be good to go.”
“Hey! Lemme go!”
The other stallion turned to look as Worm-Eaten tossed a struggling Applebloom into a small cage and locked it.
“When my Pa hears about this you’ll be sorry!” Applebloom threatened, her hooves gripping the bars tightly.
Rotten chuckled. “Oh ya poor thing. We only brought ya here to keep ya safe.”
“Keep me safe?” The filly blinked.
“Thass right, ya see, Appleoosa isn’t a safe place right now. Why, by sundown, the entire town will be overrun with stampedin’ buffalo angry at the farmers, and they’re so enraged they’ll most likely tear the town apart.” He chuckled sardonically.
“But...why ain’t you gonna do anythin’ if’n you know about this!?” Applebloom asked, shocked at ehr uncle’s seeming apathy for the well being of their family.
The older stallion stopped laughing, his expression, frowning scornfully. “Cause it’s all part of the plan.” He smiled kindly at her. “Now don’t you worry none, lil Bloomy, you’ll be nice and safe here, with us, away from it all. We’ll take good care of you.”
Bruised lifted up the cage and walked off, carrying and Applebloom in their hooves. “But for now, you’re gonna keep nice an’ quiet with the other hostages, if’n ya know what’s good fer ya.”
A gunshot rang out, Bruised staring at a small crater just beside them that was still smoking.
“Ah will not have mah kin talk to their family like that.” Rotten Bad Apple said warningly. “An’ ‘specially not to a child. Yer scarin’ the poor thing.”
“S-sorry pa...” The larger pony sweated nervously, walking slowly, holding the cage far more carefully as they left.
“Good.” Rotten blew the smoke off from his blunderbuss’ barrel, turning back to the train. “Whelp, best get to work fore’n my brother-in-law and th’ rest show up.”
“Pa, how do we even know they’ll even come?” Worm-Eaten asked, strumming his banjo as he laid against the rock wall of their hideout.
His father smirked. “Well, Bloom is Cider and Sis’ daughter, and a child no less, not to mention how hung up they are on the whole ‘family sticks togetehr’ thing. Big Mac’d help too, if’n you didn’t clobber him bad enough, which Ah hope fer your sake ya didn’t. AJ is not only loyal, but loves her siblings more’n anyone, so she’ll definitely try and help out. Her friends on the other hoof will probably help out too, seein’ as they came all this way to support her an’ all. The Sparkles strike me as the sort who’d care about this sorta thing even if it doesn’t concern em, so they’ll tag along too. And Braeburn will come along, seein’ as he’s the deputy an’ all.”
“An’ you said we gotta be careful of that there blue Pegasus, right?”
Rotten nodded. “Yep. She’s pr’bly the most dangerous one, seein’ as she’s Rainbow Dash.”
The younger stallion quirked a brow, halting hsi strumming. “Who?”
“Rainbow Dash, top graduate of Canterlot’s University of Magic, an’ the Element of Magic. She’s perty famous for bein’ the first Pegasus to be able to use unicorn magic, not to mention takin’ down Nightmare Moon herself AND Celestia’s personal student.”
Worm-Eaten’s jaw fell slack, his eyes wide. “A-are ya fer real!?”
“Mhmmm.” Rotten replied with a slow, curt nod. “That’s why our priority is takin’ her and the unicorns down. We can handle a few earth pones and a Pegasus jus’ fine, but unicorns and a magic prodigy? That’ll be tricky.”
Worm-Eaten regained his composure, frowning grimly. “You can count on me, Pa.”
“Good boy. Now, gimme some time to work on this here machine while we wait.” The stallion walked over to train and began to demonstrate his special talent.
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I like this chapter. I'm glad Bloom and Jack fought. It help clear the air. I only hope everypony can learn to be accepting of Aj's dream.
4789074 we shall see
You know, AJ mentioned what real loyalty is before, and that it includes defiance of those you are loyal to when they are wrong. This feels very much like a rehash f her earning her element, though in this case she's not pointing it out to someone lose but realizing it about herself.
4797158 hmmm true, though I have different ideas as to the potential moral or morals of this story.
Besides, Applejack's family dealings are quite different. Her loyalty isn't towards her family as a whole, more towards her siblings.
4798258 Considering the way they're acting, if they were my siblings I would have called them out quite a bit more harshly, and my family is as close as the canon "this is the best family ever" Apples. I've attended my second cousins' out of state birthday parties.
4799043 well, I am getting some ideas about that...
Also, I have plans for future stories in this verse still, so i may do those concurrently with this one if it goes on for too long
4799043 I should point out that Applejack has done a fair bit of calling out, hell she's argued with two members of her family twice in a single chapter. Which is very different to the Nightsteeds just simply accepting whatever Nightmare Moon ordered them to do, as per your original point.
4799267 fair point. Although I do have to say Comedy seems an inappropriate tag here. There's nothing funny so far.
4799588 Ehh YMMV there *shrug* if anyone else says anything, then I'll do that. Plus, who knows later down the line?
For all his faults, Rotten has a warped sense of family.