The Crimson Rage

by Time Shield

Chapter 2: "The Spread"

THE CRIMSON RAGE

By: Time Shield

CHAPTER 2: “The Spread”

The school bell rang at the schoolhouse, and moments later all of the children began to pour out from the door, heading off in different directions back to their homes. Three of them, however, walked together in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle smiled as she walked and said, “All right! What’s on the list for today, Apple Bloom?”

“Well,” Apple Bloom replied, “the storm earlier was makin’ me think: what about we try getting’ our cutie marks in predictin’ the weather? That would be really useful to the town and such, ‘specially on a day like today. I don’t even think the town has anyone that can predict the weather.”

Scootaloo frowned and remarked, “That’s because the other pegasi schedule everything themselves. You don’t need to predict it when you’re making it.”

“Oh… right…” Apple Bloom said sheepishly.

Sweetie Bell looked back at the school as they walked, “I would’ve thought we’d get our cutie marks in cleaning things up, after all that help we gave Miss Cheerilee when the storm was over.”

“Yeah, but do you really want your special talent to be cleaning?” Apple Bloom asked.

Sweetie Belle reconsidered, and said, “I guess not.”

“C’mon, we’re Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Scootaloo insisted. “We can’t leave any stone unturned. In fact, I have a few ideas on what we can try today!”

“Really? Like what?” Sweetie Belle asked, brightening up.

Scootaloo jogged on ahead and said, “I’ll tell you all about it when we get to the clubhouse. Let’s go!” The three of them started running together, giggling.

As they ran, another pony came down the path, running very quickly past them in the opposite direction. Apple Bloom only got a glimpse as they passed each other, before the shape disappeared in a cloud of dust, racing back towards Ponyville. Surprised, she said to herself, “Twilight?”

“It was?” Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo nodded, “I think so. She was in a pretty big hurry…” She shrugged it off, and the three of them continued running off towards their clubhouse. With a whole afternoon of Crusading planned, they didn’t have any time to spare.

---

Twilight Sparkle slammed the door open to the library and called out, “Spike!” She looked around quickly and spotted Spike on the ladder, busy re-shelving some books. “There you are. Hurry, we’ve got an emergency!”

Spike quickly slid down the ladder and asked, “What is it?”

“I need your help finding me all the books on rare illnesses we have,” Twilight ordered. “Make sure to get that copy of ‘Perplexing Pony Plagues’ as well.”

“Got it,” Spike replied, and immediately moved the ladder over to a different bookshelf, climbing it. “What’s wrong? Is somepony sick?”

“I’ll explain in just a minute; for now, we have to work fast!” Twilight exclaimed, pulling books down from the shelf with her magic. She tossed books aside one at a time as she looked at their covers, “No… no… ugh, where could it be…?”

She looked up just in time to notice a book being dropped from above, and caught it with her magic. Spike looked down from the top of the ladder, “There’s ‘Perplexing Pony Plauges’! I’ll see if we have any more.”

“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said, carrying the book over to the table and putting it down. She opened it up and started turning pages fervently, “There’s got to be something in here that can help us…” She went through page after page of strange illnesses, quickly scanning the symptoms for anything that matched what Big McIntosh was experiencing. I see red, puffy eyes on some of these, she thought, but Big Mac’s were so bloodshot, they were almost glowing… and none of them say anything about becoming violent, hallucinating or anything else that could cause him to be acting the way he did…

A knock came from the front door; Spike set down the books he was going through and went to answer it, opening it up. He smiled and greeted, “Hey, Rarity, Fluttershy!”

“Spike,” Rarity said, nodding a greeting. She stepped in and looked concerned, asking, “Twilight, is something the matter? The two of us saw you running here in an awful hurry.” Fluttershy followed her in, nodding quietly in agreement with Rarity.

“I just came from Sweet Apple Acres,” Twilight told them. “Big McIntosh caught a disease while he was in the Everfree Forest, and I’m trying to find out what it was.”

“Oh, that’s terrible,” Fluttershy said, and then took an unsteady step backwards, “Do… do you think it’s contagious?”

Twilight didn’t pull her eyes up from the book as she spoke, “I don’t know, but we’ve got him held right now, and Applejack’s watching him. He’s not going anywhere.” She sighed in frustration, closing the book and hanging her head, “Nothing! I can’t find anything that matches the symptoms! Spike, are there any other books left we can try?”

“I think you already went through them all,” Spike told her.

“But if it’s not in your books,” Rarity asked, “then what shall we do?”

“Well…” Fluttershy suggested, “if he caught it in the Everfree Forest… um… maybe…”

Twilight raised her head with a gasp and said, “Of course! Maybe Zecora knows what it is!” She smiled and said, “Thanks, Fluttershy! I’ve got to get back down there right away!” She started for the door.

“We’re coming along,” Rarity insisted. “I can’t have you going in the Everfree alone.” Fluttershy didn’t say anything, but just looked away. Rarity nudged her, and she quickly smiled and nodded in agreement, though she didn’t look confident.

“Alright, then let’s go!” Twilight said, flinging open the door and running outside with the other two following close behind. She thought furiously as she ran, Zecora’s an expert in everything involving the Everfree Forest… If she doesn’t know what this is, no pony does…

---

Applejack sat in the clearing, her eyes fixed on Big McIntosh, who was still dangling from the tree. After a while of thrashing, he had stopped struggling and simply hung in place, eyes closed and giving the occasional low growl. The longer she watched him, the more it started to affect her; she thought, I… I just can’t stand to see Big Mac like this… Wh-what if there’s no cure? What if he’s like this forever? These thoughts caused tears to well up in her eyes, and she told him, “You’re gonna be okay… Trust me…” She glanced back at the path and whispered, “C’mon, Twilight… please…”

When she turned her attention back to Big McIntosh, his eyes had re-opened and were staring directly at her. That was the worst part to her: seeing her own brother staring at her with those terrible red eyes. He clenched his teeth and gave another growl, then suddenly started thrashing again, swinging heavily from side to side.

“Hey, you stop that now!” Applejack ordered. She got back to her feet and stood her ground firmly as she spoke, though fear was beginning to creep into her voice. “Y-you just hang tight, and Twilight will be back with a way to fix you up. Y’hear?”

Big McIntosh responded by letting out a loud howl and suddenly thrashing strongly, causing the swing to carry himself near the tree trunk. He slammed both of his front hooves into the tree, and the force of the tremor snapped the branch. It fell to the ground and he fell along with it. Applejack gasped and took an involuntary leap backwards.

Getting back to his hooves, Big McIntosh started to walk into the clearing, but stopped when the rope around his leg pulled taut, pinned down by the branch. With a frustrated grunt, he tugged at the rope with his rear leg, snapping the rope and freeing himself.

“N-now, Big Mac…” Applejack stammered, trying to hold her footing but growing nervous as he started moving towards her. She backed up, and her eyes quickly darted around the clearing, trying to find a good escape route or something she could use to defend herself with. “Just t-take it easy…”

With a roar, Big McIntosh leapt towards her, trying to tackle her. Without anything else to try, Applejack instinctively spun around and bucked hard with her rear legs, catching him in the chest and knocking him back. She panted from the exertion; bucking trees was one thing, but her brother was strong, and even that one hit took a lot out of her.

It didn’t knock him far, and he recovered quickly, charging again. She had no choice but to do the same thing, this time bracing herself more tightly for the hit. As he got close, she bucked her legs at him again. This time, however, he dodged to one side and responded by clamping his teeth down on one of her legs in the air.

Applejack cried out in surprise as Big McIntosh pulled her off of her feet and yanked her through the air in a half circle; he let go, flinging her against the side of a tree behind him. After the impact, she slumped down, pulling the bitten leg up to her chest and wincing from the pain. She forced an eye open to see what he was doing, and noticed that he was standing still, watching her. She was confused as to why he wasn’t attacking anymore, until she realized her vision was starting to blur…

Oh no… Applejack thought… No no no… She shook her head as her thoughts became a jumble and the heat coursing through her body began to rise. Her breathing quickened, and then rumbled as she reopened her now red, bloodshot eyes. A growl escaped from her throat and she got back to her feet, ignoring the bite on her leg as if it wasn’t even there. Big McIntosh turned his attention back to the woods and ran off, while Applejack did the same in the opposite direction…

---

Sweetie Belle carefully lifted a playing card with her teeth, moving it towards the giant tower of carefully arranged cards. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo held their breaths, watching from a safe distance. Cautiously wiping the sweat from her forehead, Sweetie Belle lowered the card and set it on top, then gingerly let go of it and backed away. The tower wobbled for a moment, then stopped. She exhaled in relief and settled back down atop the stack of crates she was standing on to reach the top.

“Nice one!” Apple Bloom called up.

Glancing back at her side, she said, “Still nothing. Are you sure this is really going to get me my cutie mark?”

“Sure I’m sure!” Scootaloo replied. “Just one more card and it’s yours!”

“Alright… here goes…” Sweetie Belle said, picking up the last card. The other two watched expectantly as she edged it closer to the top. She leaned out from the crates, trying to reach the last spot to lay the card, but a moment later the crates started to wobble.

Apple Bloom cringed and said, “Careful, careful!”

Just as the card reached the edge of the stack, Sweetie Belle began to totter. She spun her legs to try and regain her balance, but the stack of crates toppled, crashing into the tower of cards at the same time. She hopped free of the crates just in time to avoid collapsing with it. As the remains of the tower drifted down across the clubhouse, she took one last glance at her side, and then dropped her eyes, “Aww…”

“It’s okay,” Scootaloo told her. “That was still awesome!”

“Yeah, you got way further than we did!” Apple Bloom added.

Sweetie Belle lifted her head and smiled, “I guess you’re right.” She started picking up the cards as she asked, “So what’s next?”

Scootaloo pushed one of the crates over to the side of the clubhouse out of the way, and then said, “Well, I was thinking we could head over to swimming hole and see who can hold her breath the longest.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, “Scootaloo, these are beginnin’ to sound more like contests than tryin’ to find our talents.”

“But that’s just it,” Scootaloo told them. “Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark because of a contest: the race she was in. Some competition may be just what we need to push ourselves that extra little bit!”

“That makes sense,” Sweetie Belle agreed.

“Sure,” Apple Bloom nodded. “In that case… last one to the swimmin’ hole’s a rotten apple!” She quickly ran out of the doorway to the clubhouse, and the other two giggled and followed her close behind.

They only made it out to the deck, however, as Apple Bloom suddenly came to a halt and held her front leg out to stop them. Scootaloo frowned, “What’s wrong?”

“Look!” Apple Bloom said, pointing off in the distance. They could see somepony coming up over the hill, and before long it became clear that it was Applejack, galloping in their direction. “What’s she in such a hurry for?”

“It’s like everypony’s in a hurry today,” Sweetie Belle said.

“She looks mad; I hope I didn’t do somethin’ wrong…” Apple Bloom remarked. She called out from the balcony, “Hey, Applejack!”

As she ran, Applejack’s head swiveled up to face the clubhouse, and Apple Bloom suddenly noticed something strange about her. The anger she saw was already something out of the ordinary; she couldn’t remember anytime she had seen her that mad before. But now that she could see her eyes, even at this distance they looked so red and unnatural, not the usual green. Something told her that this wasn’t right, that it wasn’t her sister…

With a gasp, Apple Bloom turned to the others and said, “Raise the stairs, quickly!”

“What?!” Sweetie Belle said, confused; Scootaloo also didn’t seem to understand the order.

“Just do it!” Apple Bloom shouted. The two of them did what they were told and grabbed hold of the rope connected to the stairs, pulling on it and raising them. As they were about halfway up, Applejack reached the clubhouse and jumped, catching onto the edge of the rising stairs with her front legs. The added weight started to push the stairs back down, but Apple Bloom jumped onto the rope and joined the others in pulling down on it. The stairs began rising again, and Applejack tumbled from them, landing on her back.

“Apple Bloom, are you crazy?!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “That’s your sister!”

“That’s not my sister,” Apple Bloom replied, tying down the rope and going back to the edge to look down at where Applejack had fallen. “Something’s different about her, look!”

On the ground, Applejack shook her head from the drop, then opened her eyes and growled, getting back to her hooves and staring up at the clubhouse; she began circling it like a wolf. The three fillies backed away from the edge, and Sweetie Belle said, “M-maybe you’re right…”

Applejack suddenly jumped, trying to grab the edge of the deck, but couldn’t get a hold of it. All three of them yelped and ran back inside of the clubhouse. Scootaloo ran to a window to try and see where Applejack was, and said, “What do we do?!”

“I don’t know!” Apple Bloom shouted back. She looked around the clubhouse for an idea, until her eyes fell on the crates they were using earlier. She pushed one of the crates over to the window, and then started trying to lift it up to throw outside.

“Wait!” Sweetie Bell called out, grabbing hold of her. “If you try to throw that at her, she’ll just use it to climb up here!”

Apple Bloom let the box fall back to the clubhouse floor and said, “Do you have any other ideas? We can’t just stay here forever!”

Scootaloo watched Applejack circling the tree again, and she asked, “Are we sure it’s all that bad? She looks mad, but she wouldn’t hurt us… right?”

“I don’t wanna take that chance!” Apple Bloom shot back.

“Me either!” Sweetie Bell agreed.

“Fine,” Scootaloo said. She leaned closer to the window as she saw Applejack stop circling the tree, and she started backing away slowly from it. “What’s she… doing?”

Before anyone could give a response, Applejack charged the tree, turning around at the last second and bucking against the trunk hard. The entire clubhouse shook and creaked from the impact. All three of the fillies retreated to the center of the clubhouse with a shriek, huddling together. About five seconds passed, and then another impact shook the tree; the clubhouse creaked louder, and a loose board fell from the roof.

“She’s gonna bring the whole clubhouse down!!” Apple Bloom cried out. A third impact hit, and more parts of the clubhouse began to splinter. The three of them started to scream at the top of their lungs, hoping somepony would hear them.

Down below, Applejack growled and backed up from the tree again and was preparing to buck the tree a fourth time. Before she could begin her charge, she heard a sound of something moving through the air quickly and looked to see what it was. Before she could react, another pony slammed into her at great speed, ramming its head into her side and knocking her away from the tree, skidding across the ground.

Rainbow Dash hovered in place, shaking her head from the impact, and shouted, “What the hay’s going on, Applejack?” She didn’t receive a response, but instead, Applejack picked herself up and glared back at Rainbow, a growl building in her throat. Rainbow frowned and said, “If that’s the way it’s gonna be, then fine… C’mon!” Lowering her head, she prepared to do another flying charge…

“Rainbow Dash! Wait!” Scootaloo called out from the window. Rainbow looked up, and the filly continued, “Something’s wrong with her; be careful!”

Looking back, Rainbow tried to figure out what Scootaloo was talking about, and then noticed the redness in Applejack’s eyes. She didn’t know what to make of it, but didn’t have time to think about it, as Applejack suddenly charged again. Rainbow rapidly dodged to one side, and the charging pony skidded to a halt, spinning around and starting another charge.

Rainbow flew up to avoid this charge and called out to the clubhouse, “Do you have any rope in there?” She turned her attention back to Applejack in time to roll to the side, avoiding a leap from her.

“I think so!” Sweetie Belle replied, quickly rummaging through the contents of the clubhouse. Finding some rope, she threw it out the window, and Rainbow caught it before it hit the ground.

Applejack growled loudly and started circling where Rainbow was hovering, while Rainbow tried to tie the end into a loop as fast as she could. She wasn’t as good with a rope as Applejack was, but she knew she could make do with what she had. As Applejack charged one more time, Rainbow dropped the loop and let her run into it, managing to snare one of her front legs. Once that was done, she started flying in a circle as fast as she could, creating a small tornado that simultaneously lifted Applejack off of the ground and wound the rope around her. When Rainbow stopped, Applejack hit the ground, bound tightly by the rope.

Rainbow landed and took a moment to breathe. Above her, the three fillies came out of the clubhouse and looked over the railing to see what had happened. As Applejack continued to struggle with her binds, Rainbow looked back up at the three and said, “Now, can somepony tell me what’s going on?”

“Rainbow Dash!” a voice called out, and she turned to see more ponies coming along the path. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Fluttershy ran over quickly from the direction of Ponyville, stopping once they caught up with Rainbow. Twilight caught her breath and said, “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow told her. “I just flew back from Manehattan, and I saw A.J. trying to shake these three out of their clubhouse. She’s acting really weird!”

Rarity gasped, “You don’t think…”

“Oh no,” Twilight breathed, moving a little closer to get a good look at Applejack as she thrashed on the ground. Twilight could see the same redness in her eyes that she saw earlier in Big McIntosh’s. “Not you too!”

“I-If Applejack’s here,” Fluttershy said, “then… wh-where’s Big Mac?”

Twilight quickly scanned the area with her eyes, but didn’t see any sign of Big Mcintosh. “We can’t worry about that right now,” she finally said. “I don’t like the idea of him running loose, but if we’re going to have any chance to stop this, we need to get to Zecora at once!”

“Zecora?” Apple Bloom repeated. After a moment’s thought, she suddenly reacted in shock, “Wait, did somethin’ happen to Big Mac too?!”

Looking up at the clubhouse, Twilight said, “You three need to get somewhere safe. Go back into town and head for Sugarcube Corner.” She looked at the rest and added, “Get me a wagon from the farm. We’re taking Applejack with us.” Everypony nodded, and the three fillies lowered the clubhouse stairs so they could come down. Rarity and Fluttershy started back for the farm, while Rainbow stayed with Twilight to keep an eye on Applejack. I shouldn’t have left her, Twilight thought as she sadly watched Applejack struggle and growl. I should’ve stayed with her… Now Big Mac is loose, and Applejack’s infected… and if it spread once, it could spread again. I can only hope Zecora has a cure… otherwise…

To Be Continued…