Black and Blue

by autobot

An Apple Pie Problem - Chapter 3

Red had been trotting for a few minutes now, trying to balance speed with a smooth ride for the injured pony on his back, and he was constantly looking back at his sister scanning for any sign of her awakening. Unfortunately, he looked back at just the wrong moment; his forelegs stumped an annoyingly placed rock, sending him and his injured cargo barrel rolling along the road. After flipping over a few times Red stopped in a heap on the road, his thoughts were still fixed on Soul, ignoring his own pain he pushed myself of the ground and looked around for his sister; he was surprised when a groaning voice came from behind him.

“Well,” the familiar voice began, Red spun round to see Soul pushing herself back onto her hooves “I suppose that’s one way of waking me up, you may be a great flier but you suck at trotting.” Red simply sighed in relief and threw his forelegs round his big sister neck and hugged her tightly. Soul wasn’t really a cuddly pony most of the time, but for her little brother, she made exceptions. After a quick hug the two ponies checked themselves over, identifying their various cuts and bruises. “Well, suppose a healing spell is in order, eh?” Soul said with a small smile. Red nodded and with that acknowledgement, Soul closed her eyes and concentrated on the simple yet effective healing spell. Her green horn glowed as a black aura surrounded the two ponies with Red flinched in pain as he always did when Soul used her magic on him. After a few seconds the magic faded, and the siblings stood feeling refreshed and painless.

For a pony who hit the ground head on at high speed, Soul had come off very well, even if she hadn’t have used the healing spell. Soon they were on their way towards Ponyville, and with their stomachs growling they took to the sky, Soul taking a running jump to get herself airborne, but Red however simply spread his wings and with one huge flap; he was a good ten feet off the ground; a true testimony to his massive wings. Happy to be flying again, the pair soon made it to the outskirts of Ponyville. It really was a great looking town, the old style buildings and sort of scattered structure layout making it seem just that little bit more perfect. They could see ponies going about their daily business below them, and with so many bright colours, it made Red and Soul both blink furiously. That was going to take some getting used to for them both.

Soon Red spotted a nice looking café and flew close to Soul. “That looks like a good one,” he said pointing down to the quaint looking café below them. Soul smiled and nodded,

“Make sure you cover your horn up Soul, best to keep a low profile.” Soul nodded in agreement, adjusting her hair so her horn was covered sufficiently. Red snapped shut his wings and dived sharply; he did want to keep a low profile but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to make an entrance. Soul decided it best not to try and follow this time, simply gliding peacefully down toward the ground.

“Go get ‘em little bro,” she whispered to herself as Red shot towards the ground, his speed ever increasing. Red grinned as the time came near, he was about rooftop level, many ponies had already noticed him plummeting towards the ground and were staring up at him in horror and surprise. Finally Red was but metres from the ground, he gritted his teeth and threw open his wings, putting all his strength into pushing them forward; basically he was simulating a giant air brake. He hit the ground with a controlled ‘thud’, the huge blast of air from his braking kicking up dust, dirt and all pretty much everything in its path, including a couple of fillies. When the dust had settled, Red stood tall and proud, wearing a harsh expression on his face but with a slight grin in one corner of his mouth. All the nearby ponies stared in shock at the black Pegasus, many who had fillies with them ushered the youngsters away. Moments later Soul landed calmly next to Red, trying to contain herself at the ruckus Red had caused, the two shared a quick look and then smiled. They found an empty table outside the café and made themselves comfortable, then after removing their baggage they relaxed in their chairs. Red looked his sister in the eye, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Awesome?” he simply asked with a chuckle, Soul giggled and nodded.

“Very awesome!” She replied happily.

After a slightly awkward conversation with a very nervous waitress, the pair had order their food, what would now be classed as brunch as it was approaching midday. As they waited for their food they discussed their plan of action, considering the many towns they had been through, Ponyville seemed like the most welcoming and stable, so sticking around for a while seemed like a good idea.

“I reckon,” Red began taking a bag out of one of his many pockets, “With the bit we’ve got, we should be able to rent a flat or something. It won’t keep us forever so we will both have to find jobs… joy.” He finished with a sigh, opening the bag full of bit and pouring out the small gold coins onto the table. “Count those for me would you, Sis?” Red asked as he stood up off his chair. Soul shot him a confused look, “I’m gonna go check the town notice board… where ever the damn thing is.” Soul simply nodded and began counting up the bit as Red began walking towards the centre of town.

As Red wandered slowly towards the centre of Ponyville, there wasn’t a single pony he passed that didn’t do a double take in his direction, he really did stick out like a sore hoof. He hardly even noticed though, as he was used to being stared at like some sort of monster, after all he considered himself a monster so he didn’t mind. He came into what seemed to be the town square; there were many more shops here and a lot more ponies, thankfully they quickly moved out of Red’s way when they saw him approaching. Red couldn’t see a notice board anywhere nearby so he decided to ask one of the stall owners, and one in particular caught his attention. It was soon evident why it had, behind a small army of apples was no other than the Element of Honesty herself… Applejack. Red smiled to himself and set off towards the stall, and upon arriving he could see that the earth pony was busy with some customers, so he simply waited at the side until she was finished.

“Y’all hav’a great day now!” Applejack said as the last of her happy customers went away; she turned around briefly as Red walked up to the stall.

“Pardon me miss” Red said as politely as possible, the earth pony quickly turn back around probably expecting another colourful pony to be waiting for some more of great tasting apples… instead she was met with a tall, jet black Pegasus with some weird wings and different coloured eyes!

“Sorry to interrupt you miss,” Red continued, “But could you tell me if this town has a notice board? I’m looking for information on renting a flat.” Applejack stared at the frightening looking pony; she had never seen him before, or anypony like him for that matter! She straightened her hat and pulled herself together, putting on her best smile she replied with her usual welcoming voice.

“Sure is partner, s’over there by the town hall,” pointing a hoof towards the town hall, which ironically Red would of easily seen if he had flown over. Red grunted at his own fail but quickly smiled and thanked the earth pony for her help and began to turn away, he didn’t get far before Applejack stopped him. “Hold up’a sec there.” Red turned back around raising an eyebrow at the stall owner, “I ain’t ever seen ‘ya around town before, so I’m guessin’ ‘ya new.” Red nodded slowly, “Well let me be the first ‘ta welcome ‘ya to Ponyville, I’m Applejack, here hav’a apple, on the house!” With a flick of her tail, Applejack sent a bright apple Red’s way, who caught it in his mouth and devoured it with three bites. He sighed contently, thinking of the food he ordered at the café waiting for him.

“Thank you Applejack,” Red said, slowly beginning to spread his wings, Applejack spoke once more as he did.

“Oh yeah before ‘ah forget, since ‘ya new in town, watch out for a pink pony!” Red had heard about the party pony before, he wasn’t going to be caught out by her anytime soon. Red chuckled, not wasting anymore time he flicked opened his wings and grinned at Applejack.

“Don’t worry Applejack, Pinkie will regret it if she annoys me… or my sister.” With that, Red shot off into the sky, making a mess of Applejacks hair and blowing her hat off her head as he did. He didn’t look back as he flew towards the town hall, quickly spotting the notice board in front of it; he dived down and hit the ground directly in front of the board. He scanned over it, finally finding what he was looking for he plucked the article off the board and zoomed back into the sky.

Minutes later Red touch down back at the café and swiftly took his seat.

“Found anything useful?” Soul asked with a mouthful of pie, which came out something like “fmougnd anygyhingf umsdfhulf?” Red simply beamed and nodded, understanding his Sister’s lack of eating manners, and put the piece of paper in front of his sister, who took a glance between mouthfuls. Red looked at the table realising there was an empty plate next to Soul… yet she had another full plate of Apple pie. It soon became clear to him what she had done, Red glared at his older sibling, his right eye glowing ever brighter. A pie-filled grin grew on Soul’s face as she noticed Red glare at her, but she was not ready for what came next.

“BITCH, YOU ATE MY PIE!” was all that was heard before Red Eye threw himself at Soul.

Comments

[DuskWing]

Wow, he overreacts doesn't he.

[Boytrain1]

815346 well... he does like Pie... a lot, so its no surprise