• Published 28th Mar 2017
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The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse: The Equestrian Adventure - wingdingaling



All Mickey had ever known was his own home. And for years, peace and prosperity had reigned. However, unknown to him, there is another magical kingdom in need of a hero.

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Chapter 14: Come Around

Chapter 14

Come Around

The fire blazed all around Applejack. The heat alone practically made her hat singe as she ran through the flaming orchard toward the villains on the hill.

Another wind blew from their direction, making the flames all flare toward her.

The farmpony dropped to the ground, covered her head, then stood up when the wind from the hill stopped.

The Big Bad Wolf had just finished blowing more of the flames across the orchard, when he noticed something in the light of the fire.

"Hey, boss: looks like we got us a hero down there," Big Bad said, pointing to the rapidly approaching Applejack.

"Tryin' to keep us from doing our job, huh? You should gubba-gubba-get down there and take care of her. I'll keep this bonfire burning," the sheriff said.

"Me!? I ain't goin' in there! Ya could cook a hundred pigs in a blaze like that!"

The sheriff deliberately placed one hand on the butt of his rifle, which was leaning on the wagon full of unlit torches behind him.

"You say that like I'm givin' you a choice, fuzzy," he said.

Catching the turkey's drift, Big Bad lowered himself to all fours and ran headlong into the fiery orchard.

Before the sheriff could return to burning the orchard, something else caught his eye. Some way away from Applejack, the duck from earlier, who he had told to go on his way, was now rushing through the orchard toward him. That was just another troublemaker for him to take care of. And he was going to quickly rectify it.


"Applejack!!" Donald shouted over the roar of the flames. "Applejack!!!"

There was no answer.

"What am I doing in here!? She's probably already roasted alive!" Donald said.

There was a distant banging sound, and the burning cactus next to Donald burst into embers.

"WAK!!! What's goin' on here!!?"

Another bang, and another cactus burst.

"I'M UNDER FIRE!!! HELP!!" Donald shouted.

Another shot was fired at him, and the duck dropped right to the ground. Reaching under the back of his poncho, he produced the popgun he had, and held it tightly in his hands as he bellycrawled across the ground.

"This is takin' me right back to my days in the service,'' Donald thought to himself. "Too bad none of my pals are here to cover me!"

The duck rolled to the side, underneath a row of burnt cacti.

More shots were fired, and the cacti that Donald hid under were blown away in a complete row, making a clean slant from the bullet's trajectory. The fruits that had been growing on the cacti were all dropped around Donald.

Donald peered from under his cover and saw the turkey on the hill. Now that he knew his enemy's position, he had only to fire back. He aimed his weapon and realized a fundamental flaw with his tactic.

"What the heck am I using this stupid thing for?" Donald wondered to himself, and put his popgun back in his poncho.

Remembering what had worked so well against the Big Bad Wolf earlier, Donald took off his hat and loaded it with one of the charred fruits.

The duck rolled out from under his cover and swung his hat around, before letting the fruit fly.

The sheriff was aiming his next shot, when he saw a projectile coming toward him. Snapping his aim at the new threat, he shot it right out of the air and was splattered by a hail of fruity flesh.

"Hrm..." the sheriff grumbled, as he wiped his face off. He didn't even have a chance to retaliate, when another fruit came flying toward him. It was quickly shot out of the air, and was followed by another, closer than the last.

The sheriff ended up having a hard time keeping up with the volley of fruit that was thrown at him. Finally, a piece of fruit was practically in front of his beak, before he dodged it. He thought it had missed him completely, until it landed in the wagon full of torches.

The embers on the fruit ignited a cluster, which soon spread to the entire stock.

The sheriff gobbled loudly and hopped backwards.

A volley of well-aimed fruits all flew past the sheriff, and battered the wheels and frame of the wagon. The burning wagon rocked backward, and started to roll forward.

The sheriff gobbled louder, as he stumbled away from the wagon, and fell down the first three feet of the hill. Stumbling to his feet, he saw the wagon rolling toward him, and ran away from it down the hill.

He tried veering to the side to allow the wagon to roll past him, but it was not that easy. The wagon swerved onto two wheels, and rolled after the turkey, not allowing him to escape.

The sheriff ran down the hill as fast as his chubby body would allow, until he was hit from behind by the wagon and went careening down the hillside on the front of the fiery ride.

He impacted hard at the bottom of the hill, and rolled to a stop. The sheriff was the first to land, followed by the torches clattered around him. The wagon came falling lastly, was promptly shot by the sheriff, and burst into flaming lumber. The parts of the wagon stacked themselves up neatly around the sheriff, along with the axles and wheels landing and leaning against the stacked wood.

"So, that's how he's gubba-gubba-gonna play it, eh?" the sheriff growled, rocking the lever on his rifle. "It's time for a duck hunt."


Applejack had seen the sheriff run down the hill from the flaming wagon, and marveled at how it followed his every move. Now, the turkey was in the orchard with her. All the better, now that she didn't have to climb a hill to get him.

She was just on her way to where she saw the sheriff enter, when something else approached her.

The Big Bad Wolf was charging her on all fours like a savage predator.

Applejack knew that her usual strength wasn't up to snuff without her magic. But that didn't stop her from winding up a world-class buck for the wolf.

Before he was anywhere near her reach, Big Bad stopped and blew toward the flaming cacti around Applejack.

Applejack couldn't believe her eyes. Somehow, the flames next to her formed into a pair of hands that tried to grab for her.

"What the buck!!?" Applejack said, as she backed away from the flames.

The flames behind her tried to attack the same way.

"What in tarnation's goin' on!?"

Big Bad blew at the flames again, making small fireballs fly off and land on the ground. The fireballs all suddenly grew stubby arms and legs, and started running toward the farmpony.

Applejack backed away from the tiny platoon that had formed before her, and stomped her hoof on one that got too close.

"OW!" she shouted, finding that stomping a flame would indeed burn. However, she had snuffed it out.

She backed away, and found a shovel. Likely, one of the tools that the workers were using before the field caught fire. Taking the shovel in her teeth, she slammed it down on another fireball, and another and another after that, snuffing them out.

One of the fireballs had wised up, and jumped on the handle of the shovel.

Applejack let go of the tool, just before the fire reached her face, and watched the wooden handle burn to ashes. Not about to be deterred, she took the metal head of the shovel in her teeth, and used to swat more of the living fireballs.

Big Bad continued to blow into the blaze, sending more of his diminutive minions to his opponent.

Applejack was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the assault. She needed to stop it at its source. She started by driving a wedge into the army of fireballs by swinging the shovel head side to side. Next, she placed the tool on the ground and charged forward like she was plowing a field.

The fireballs were thrown aside, and the wolf was coming closer.

Big Bad huffed, but didn't have a chance to puff when Applejack was upon him.

The farmpony slid her shovel head beneath the glutton's feet, and flipped him like a flapjack. While he was still in the air, Applejack tried to buck him away, only to merely graze him, lose her balance and fall on her face. This was followed shortly by Big Bad landing on her.

While they were both on the ground, they watched the fireballs from before start jumping on one another, merging together. One by one, they all combined, until they were a single fireball as tall as Applejack. The large fireball reached down and picked up the shovelhead that Applejack had dropped, and patted it threateningly in its palm.

That was their cue to leave. Big Bad was the first to run away, pushing Applejack into the dirt when he ran.

Applejack looked up and moved her head, just before the shovel came down on her. She scrambled to her hooves and ran through the orchard away from the fireball, which kept trying to attack her.

She caught up with the Big Bad Wolf, and quickly sped past him.

"Hey!" Big Bad shouted. He yelped, when he felt the swinging shovel just barely miss him, and grabbed Applejack by her tail and pulled her behind himself.

Applejack jumped over the next swing, caught the seat of Big Bad's pants with her teeth and pulled him behind herself.

Each one continued to push the other back as they ran away from the attacking fire, until they both jumped into a wheelbarrow that was in the orchard, and rolled down the flaming path.

The fireball jumped into a cactus that hadn't started to burn yet, and tossed the shovel to another burning cactus. The flames caught the shovel head, and tossed it to another flame. And that to another.

Applejack continued her fight with Big Bad in the rolling wheelbarrow, both she and her opponent trying to get the upper hoof. Most importantly, she was careful to stay clear of his teeth. She knew that whatever the glutton bit, he intended to swallow.

She almost thought she had him when he ducked low, but became aware of something behind herself. Turning to look, she ducked just in time, as a shovel head came swinging toward her.

Her hat remained in the air, allowing the weapon to pass between her and it, while Big Bad took a chance to come up. He had to duck clear, and his hat remained stationary, just as Applejack popped her head back up into her own hat.

She was about to duck again, but the wolf's hand on her chin stopped her, forcing her to take the full brunt of the shovel to her face.

Applejack reeled from the blow, and sent the wheelbarrow swerving uncontrollably, until it fell over.

She rolled to the ground, while Big Bad was unfortunate to have rolled into a patch of fire, which burned his tail, making him howl in pain.

Applejack knew the flame with the shovel was coming again, and had enough of its presence.

A fiery arm raised the shovel head to attack Applejack again.

Applejack lifted the wheelbarrow over her head, and slammed it over the top of the burning cactus that held the shovel head, snuffing out the fire and making it drop its weapon. That was one danger down. Now, she had to take care of the wolf.

Big Bad swung his cleavers downward.

Applejack rolled over the top of the wheelbarrow, which took the full hit

Big Bad jumped over the wheelbarrow and swung his cleavers again.

The farmpony dodged and tried to counter with a buck, but missed completely and struck a burning cactus.

"YEEEOOWCH!!!!" Applejack shouted, as she bounded and somersaulted on her hot hooves.

Big Bad backed away from her, as she was swinging her hooves right toward him. He crossed his cleavers in front of himself to block, only to be thumped by Applejack anyway.

The glutton flew backwards onto the front patio of the house, right onto one of the tables, and saw pigs flying around his head. Applejack came jumping out of the orchard next, her hooves and the tip of her tail smoking from the flames.

Big Bad shook the flying pigs out of his vision and saw the llamas turn their hose to Applejack. A devious idea crossed his mind.

"Más presión de agua! Necesitamos extinguir ese yegua!" Paya's father shouted.

Paya and Fluttershy both ran to the pump to start heaving it up and down. The water from the hose sprayed further to reach the farmpony, and was just able to extinguish what few flames were on her, before the stream of water suddenly dropped in pressure.

A fountain of water sprayed upward in the middle of the hose where Big Bad had chopped into it. He pulled his meat cleaver out of it, and looked at the llamas that surrounded him.

"Ya wanna get me fer this, don't ya?" he gloated. "Well, come on! One at a time! All at once! Either way, I eat good! Gah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!"

Both Paya and Applejack approached the wolf, ready to take him on.

The glutton's eyes glinted as he licked his chops.


Donald ran left.

*BANG*

"WAK!!"

Donald ran right.

*BANG*

"WAK!!"

Fire was to his front and back, leaving the duck with nowhere to escape to. Slinging fruit would do no good. Not when he couldn't see his opponent.

He tried running left again, and bumped into a plow. That was what he needed.

Donald grabbed hold of its handles, dug its blade into the ground and charged forward, creating a trench in the ground that he sank into, just as another bullet whizzed over his head.

The duck tunneled through the ground, and circled around through the flaming orchard. Soon, he had a network of trenches he could navigate on his search for Applejack. Unfortunately, it was not Applejack he found.

The sheriff stood with one foot on either side of a trench, his rifle aimed right at Donald.

Donald lifted the plow, and let the bullet bounce off the blade, before veering to the side to burrow more.

The sheriff jumped into the trench and chased after the duck.

Donald knew he had to lose the turkey. He steered himself into the path of a row of flaming cacti and allowed them all to fall into the trench behind him. Perhaps not the smartest thing to do, since the burning plants quickly caught up behind him and burned his tail.

"WA-A-A-A-A-AAAAAAKKKK!!!!!!" Donald shouted, as he burst out of the trench, fanning his tail in midair.

Another shot was fired at him, and a cactus to his side burst into embers. Through the burning rows, Donald could see the sheriff coming toward him, batting the flaming cacti out of his way, before rocking the lever on his rifle.

Donald ran with his head low, until he found one of his trenches. The duck ran through its length, until he felt he was a safe distance away. He crawled out and plucked a fruit from a burning cactus. After tossing the fruit like a hot potato, he took off his hat and allowed it to land inside of it, before slinging it over the rows of cacti.

The turkey was taken completely off guard when the flaming fruit came lobbing over the cacti right on his face. He took the hit directly, and recoiled backwards into the flames.

"GUBBA-GUBBA-GUBBA-GUBBA-GUBBA-GUBBA!!!!!!!" the sheriff gobbled loudly, as he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off. By the time he had put his flaming tail feathers out by forcefully sitting on the ground, he saw many more fruits come flying toward him from his side.

These fruits were shot out of the air, but he was assaulted from his other side by more of the fiery fruit.

The sheriff was pelted over and over, until he was knocked over. In the distance, he could see Donald's webbed feet running through the rows, until the duck disappeared into one of the trenches.

Donald ran through his trench system, hoping to find a place to reappear that wouldn't take him into the path of a cactus he had dug up. His path ahead was clear, until he heard the sheriff's rifle fire off. Ahead of him, a row of cacti fell into the trench, nearly stopping the duck in his tracks. But, it would not easily stop the fleet-of-foot-fowl.

Donald planted his feet on either side of the trench and ran along the walls, until he was over the burning cacti.

Another shot was fired, and Donald had to duck low as he ran to avoid having any of the fallen cacti land on him.

He finally ran straight up a trench wall, out to the surface, where he was shot at again.

A row of fruit was clipped off by the shot, sending it all raining down on Donald, who caught every fiery fruit, and juggled it all.

The duck could see the turkey walking through the rows toward him again. He quickly removed his hat and caught one flaming fruit in it, and slung it at his opponent. He juggled the rest of the fruit, and caught them one by one in his hat to sling at the sheriff.

Each of the fruits were shot out of the air, as the sheriff came closer and closer.

"Take that! And that! And that! And that! And that! And that! And that! And that! And that--" Donald shouted, as he slung each of his fruits at the sheriff, until the fat bird was completely upon him. The duck started sweating bullets under the larger size and fierce expression of the turkey, which was only exacerbated by the fire around them.

The sheriff raised the butt of his rifle, and slapped Donald square in the face with it.

Donald spun around and around from the force of the blow and fell over backwards into one of his trenches. As the bells rang in Donald's head, he heard Fluttershy scream in the distance. It came from the direction of the house, and the duck was quickly on his feet to run to his friend's aid. Until, his bill struck the barrel of the sheriff's rifle.

The sheriff stood at the edge of the trench, his finger ready on the trigger.

Another scream in the distance, and Donald swung his hat on the back of the sheriff's head and swung himself over the fat bird, just as a shot was fired. At the same time, the sheriff was knocked into the trench, while Donald ran away as fast as he could across the tops of the flaming cacti.


Fluttershy shrieked again, as she watched Applejack dodge another swing of Big Bad's cleavers.

Their fight moved to the outdoor patio. For a time now, Applejack and Paya had both been trying to gain the upper hoof against the wolf, only to be kept at bay by a swing of his blades or a snap of his jaws.

Paya came close to successfully charging the wolf, but hesitated at the last moment when one of his cleavers came down on her. She dodged to the side, only losing some of the wool on her neck.

Applejack came next, bucking wildly just beyond the reach of Big Bad's weapons. For the longest time, something didn't feel right whenever she bucked. And she knew precisely what it was. Ever since her magic was stolen, she hadn't been able to do the things that she had done naturally her whole life.

Ducking under a bite, Applejack's eyes met with Big Bad's. Now was her time to buck him into submission and reclaim what was taken from her.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!!!!"

Applejack fell flat on her face from the sudden jolt the sound gave her. Her bucking hooves only knocked down a nearby table.

Everypony looked to the source of the distinctive squawking, and saw Donald running straight toward them across the tops of the flaming rows of cacti, until he jumped off into their midst. The duck ran wildly back and forth, his feet smoking and the tips of his poncho flaming.

"PUT ME OUT!!! PUT ME OUT!!!" Donald shouted over and over, as he rammed into the wooden patio furniture, hopped through the adobe flower planters and knocked over the potted plants. All the while, he set them all ablaze.

The sight of the nearby fire gave Big Bad another devious idea.

Fluttershy ran from Donald, as the flaming duck charged around. Finally, the pegasus dove forward for cover, as Donald jumped high over her, landing right on the broken part of the hose.

"Aaaahhh. What a relief," Donald sighed contentedly, as his feet and poncho sizzled loudly.

Fluttershy almost looked up from the ground, only to duck in cover again as another wind blew.

Big Bad had turned to face the house, and blew the flaming items on the patio inside. The flames in the house did not spread quickly, but rapidly filled it with smoke.

"Gah-ha ha ha!!! I think this's the first time I took down a house stronger than sticks! Ol' mom'd be so proud o' me," the glutton guffawed.

<"Paya!!"> Flor called to her daughter. <"Cormano and Cereza are still inside with Frutito!!">

Time stopped for Paya. The three youngest members of the family were trapped inside of a house that was rapidly filling with smoke. Over the roar of the nearby flames, she could hear the screams of the frightened crias, mixed with the cries of her infant son. All hesitations thrown aside, the farmllama ran past Big Bad into the house.

Big Bad inhaled for another blow to fan the flames in the house, only to cough loudly and blow himself backwards after Donald slung a flowerpot into his gut.

"Somebody get inside and help Paya!! I'll take care of this firebug!" Donald declared.

Donald Duck was many things. A raging hothead. A borderline coward. A malingering loafer. A magnet for bad luck. And for all his flaws, he was also a family man who paid back those he owed. Messing with the family of the llamas who offered him such kind hospitality was a grave offense that he would not take lightly.

Fluttershy had heard the screams of the crias, and watched Paya as she went into the house. She heard Paya calling the names of her family that were still inside, followed by a loud coughing fit. Fluttershy herself had conducted several fire drills at her own home with all the animals before, and knew that such expertise would come in handy now. Only, she was too scared to get much closer to the burning house.

"Cereza!? Cormano!? Dónde estás!?" Paya called from inside.

The desperate call of the farmllama was what pushed Fluttershy to go inside the house. She covered her face with her wings, crouched low and crawled beneath the smoke.

The first steps into the house were hazardous, at best. The flaming furniture and plants blown in by Big Bad were the first obstacle Fluttershy faced, along with the fire that started to spread from them. With her head kept low, the pegasus slowly shuffled around the fire to the direction she heard Paya's voice.

The smoke was nearly blinding despite how thin it was. Tears leaked from Fluttershy's eyes as they were stung by the fumes and battered by the heat. She squinted hard to see anything, and caught sight of four red hooves from her vantage.

"Paya!" Fluttershy managed to call.

Paya turned her head, and ran to the pegasus.

"Fluttershy!? Qué estás haciendo aquí? Sal afuera!" Paya said.

"Paya, get down!" Fluttershy choked out, as she gently lowered the llama's body to the floor.

Paya slightly resisted at first, but found it slightly easier to breath on the lower ground, and complied the rest of the way. Once she was on the ground, she and Fluttershy both crawled through the house, calling the names of the crias who were still inside.

The answer came when they heard the call of the crias from the back of the house. From what the adults could gather, they had run to the furthest point away from the fire and smoke when they found the three young llamas at the back room.

Cormano held tightly to Cereza, who was holding the crying Frutito in her hooves.

"Paya!" Cormano said, when he saw his sister coming through the smoke.

Paya and Fluttershy both quickly checked if the crias were alright.

<"Paya! Frutito is--"> Cereza began.

<"Is he alright?"> Paya interjected.

<"Yes! But, he needs to get out of here!">

Paya readily agreed with her little cousin. She tied her manta differently around her shoulders, so that it would cradle her son against her chest when she placed him inside of it.

"Stay low, everypony! And follow me!" Fluttershy said, lowering the crias to the ground.

Fluttershy crawled her way through the house, having mentally tracked her trail through the house since she came in. Following closely behind her were the llamas in her care.

In seconds, she was able to lead them to the front of the house, only to find that the flames had spread further, blocking their exit.

They needed to get out of there quickly. Especially Frutito, who wouldn't be able to stand much more of the smoke. Paya gave her son over to her brother, took a breath in and slowly stood up.

"No! You have to stay down!" Fluttershy said.

Paya didn't listen. She walked to the nearby table and picked up a chair that was set at it in her hooves. With a mighty heave, she threw it right through one of the nearby windows. Next, she yanked the tablecloth off the table and draped it over the broken window to protect the others from the glass.

Quickly, Fluttershy and Paya helped the crias out the window, before they followed after.

Outside, they could all breath easily, and were soon swarmed by the other members of the family to get them as far away from the danger as possible.

However, such a thing would not be quite so feasible.

Donald spun along the edge of a wooden shelf with his hat in one hand, snagging flowerpots off with it and hurling them all at Big Bad.

The wolf wasn't quite as coordinated as the turkey was, getting hit by almost every projectile slung at him. But, that didn't stop him from blowing some of them back with quick bursts of his own breath.

Applejack bucked one of the patio tables toward the glutton, only for him to knock it aside.

The table was knocked into the front door of the house by Big Bad’s cleaver, where it quickly went up in flames, spreading the fire within.

"Aw, horse apples!" Applejack said.

"The pump! Buck it, Applejack!" Donald shouted, after he jumped over Big Bad's swinging blades.

The nearby pump was all but useless. Without the hose attached to it, it would do no good. Until she caught onto what the duck was trying to tell her.

One good buck would be what it took to break the pump at its base and send a spray of water into the house. If they weren't able to save the llama's field, they would surely be able to save their home.

Applejack quickly ran over the pump, and started bucking it with all her might. Each hit vibrated the contraption, shaking her along with it. Even without her magic, she knew that she was going to succeed here where she had failed every other time. She had to for her friends.

With one last grunt, Applejack shot her hooves out and felt something give. It was then that she knew she had succeeded. Then, she looked at what she had done.

She had indeed broken the pump, but only broken off one of the caps on the side of it, which sent a powerful torrent of water not to the field, not to the house, but across the patio.

Paya and her family were sprayed, and quickly dispersed.

Donald and Big Bad both stopped their fight to see what all the screaming was about, just before the cap Applejack broke flew in and hit both of them in the head. Big Bad was the first to go down, followed by Donald.

"Aw, Applejack...!" Donald moaned, before losing consciousness.

It was the worst thing that could have happened. Applejack quickly tried to help the others to their hooves, starting with Fluttershy.

Paya looked around frantically for her son, calling his name, until her eyes met with the front of the sheriff's rifle. Looking up, she saw the fat turkey with his weapon in one hand, and holding her crying son in his other.

"This what you're lookin' for, chica?" the sheriff said.

Paya was beyond anger as she watched the sheriff holding her son. She wanted nothing more than to rush forward and stomp the turkey into nothingness, but knew that one false move would mean the end of her.

"Any of you who speak pony, tell this little girl my proposition," the sheriff said.

Paya's mother stepped forward hesitantly, ready to translate for her daughter.

"Hrm..." the sheriff began. Now, things were all in place, and he began to speak. "You don't gubba-gubba gotta worry about this little cria. I got every intention o' handin' him back to you. But first, you gotta do something for me: you take your family, and you get off this property. Or else you, your friends back there, and even this little guy are all going to have some bad accidents," the turkey threatened, hovering Frutito closer to the fire.

Paya clenched her teeth, and tears seeped into her eyes when she heard her mother's translation. She opened her mouth and shouted a long string of curses at the sheriff, just inches from the front of his rifle. Finally, she broke down sobbing and fell to her knees.

"Sí...Sí! Te daré cualquier cosa! Solo déjame tener mi hijo espalda!" she begged the turkey.

Fear clutched everypony watching, as the sheriff backed away from Paya, and allowed Frutito onto the ground.

The baby ran across the ground into his mother's hooves.

Paya held tightly to her son, stroking his coat and quieting his crying. Slowly, she looked up and saw the sheriff motion with his rifle toward the exit of the property. Without ever taking her eyes off the turkey, Paya backed away to her family, just as Donald's incessant squawking reached their ears.

"PUT ME DOWN!!! PUT ME DOWN, YA HAIRY PALOOKA!!!!" Donald jabbered.

Big Bad walked up behind the group, and threw Donald face first to the ground. When Fluttershy and Applejack tried to help their friend up, they both froze when they felt the wolf's claws grasp their shoulders.

"Heh-heh. Looks like we caught 'em, boss," Big Bad chuckled. "The guys what started this little barbecue here, eh."

The sheriff smiled malevolently, while the llamas watched in horror.

"What're you all still doin' here? Move it!" the sheriff barked at the llamas.

Not one of the llamas wanted to oblige, but they were all forced to for the safety of one another. Soon, each of the llamas was trudging down the mountain, away from their home. Behind them, Applejack, Fluttershy and Donald were all led from behind by Big Bad and the sheriff.

"What a fine mess this turned into," Donald grumbled, with his hands held over his head. "Rrgh! This is exasperating!"

"Stop sayin' that already!" Applejack angrily muttered.

Author's Note:

Donald put it best. What a fine mess this turned into. What's going to become of those llamas? What will happen to their home? What's to become of our heroes? How will they get out of their current predicament? And just why does the sheriff want all this property so badly?
I know that a fight in the middle of a fire is something that I've done before. But, I went back and reread Minnie's fight with The Massster, and I sort of got the feeling that the fire was more of a setpiece, rather than some kind of presence or hazard. I figured that for this chapter, something more like 'Mickey's Fire Brigade' should be done, where the fire is a constant nuisance. I don't know how well I did that, but I gave it a shot.
I've been busy lately, so I've been writing this chapter mostly close to my bedtime. I'm not sure if that's affected the quality of the work any, but something seems a bit off about the action in this chapter to me. Maybe it's that I don't feel like the sheriff did all that much, as opposed to the badger and The Massster? Aw, well. It's probably all in my head.
I think by now that we have established that Donald's costume for this arc is modeled after Andean boladeros, but in the next chapter we will see him get some other more creative uses out of it. Uses that we have seen him do before in a certain video game *wink* *nudge*.
It also looks like a few roles have been reversed. Fluttershy may well have found her role within this group, while Applejack is now doubting her own. But, will the mares realize it?
In the upcoming chapter, we will have a high noon showdown with these corrupt lawmen. But, if they have already failed to save the llamas, what more can our friends do? I hope the next chapter answers any questions that you all have. Rock on \m/

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