• 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 40: Scrapyard Scrape

Chapter 40

Scrapyard Scrape

Sparks flew as a sledgehammer struck an enormous lock over and over.

The stag beetle with the hammer huffed, and struck the lock on the shed again. No matter how he tried, it seemed that he could only manage to scuff the iron catch.

“Hurry it up! Someone’s gotta heard us already!” said the ant keeping lookout.

“I’m tryin’! This lock’s tougher than it looks!” the stag beetle said, as he kept swinging against the lock.

“Then hit it harder!” the ant replied, as he scanned the area for intruders.

“You want to give this a shot? I told you we should have brought the hacksaw. It’s quieter,” the stag beetle said, stopping a moment.

“Yeah. And a heck of a lot slower. That crusty old feather head at the front desk would probably have come out and seen us before we was halfway through the chains,” the ant rebutted.

“So what? Harry’s got us covered up high. That one-winged schmuck comes out, Harry gives him a long-range lobotomy. End of story,” the stag beetle said, as he swung harder still.

Their cohort’s skill was soon to be put to the test. On a distant rooftop, a hornet sat at the ready with a sniper rifle.

From his table, under the shade of a large umbrella, Harry the hornet looked at his reflection in a glass as he combed his slicked hair. Once he pocketed his comb, he examined his teeth in his reflection. Perfect, as always. Sparkling, white, and one of polished gold that stood out greatly from the rest.

He chuckled at his reflection, and bobbed his eyebrows. Who could resist a face as charming as his own?

At the very periphery of the reflection, the sniper did not notice something else moving.

Down in the scrapyard, Qard was the first to round the pile of junk outside his door. When his shed came into view, he saw both of DiMosco’s men. Less than a second after he arrived, Applejack, Fluttershy, Donald and Uncle Scrooge all ran to his side.

“Thieves!!” Qard yelled, as he took hold of a piece of metal to fight off the two goons.

“Cheese it! We’re caught!” the ant exclaimed.

The stag beetle stopped what he was doing, and threw his sledgehammer at Qard.

It was pure instinct that made Applejack rush forward. The sight of the oncoming projectile made her instantly recall the games that she played with her sister back home.

Whenever Apple Bloom tossed her a bad apple, Applejack would buck it right into the refuse cart to be composted later. Now, as she was faced with a flying sledgehammer, the farmpony thought to take out a different kind of garbage.

The hammer was upon her.

Applejack turned, and raised her rear hooves.

She felt contact, as the familiar shock of a bucking impact rippled through her being.

The ant had just reached into this coat for his firearm, when he had to sidestep the oncoming hammer.

The stag beetle dropped his shotgun when he was hit squarely in the face by the hammer.

The tool bounced into the air, and fell toward the ant.

“You dirty, cud-chewin’--” the ant said, as he drew his pistol from his coat.

That was all he could say, when the hammer landed directly on top of his head, making him unintentionally toss his weapon somewhere into the nearby junk heaps.

“I did it…!” Applejack said aloud to herself, more asking than anything. She dared to look over her shoulder, and saw both bugs were knocked to the ground. “I did it!”

It was the breakthrough she had been working for, ever since her magic was stolen from her. From the time she was in Santillama, she felt as if she had been on the track to finding what was lost. And it seemed that what Uncle Scrooge had told her then was true. One single tiny spark of motivation and inspiration was what it took to get the grandest task done. Just as she had always done before, when she used her special talents to farm apples, win athletic competitions and market her business.

Donald, Fluttershy and Uncle Scrooge all went to congratulate their friend.

“Applejack! You bucked!” Fluttershy said.

“I knew ya had it in ya! Never had a doubt!” Donald said, as he emphatically shook the farmpony’s hoof.

“How did you do it?” Fluttershy asked.

“I…” Applejack began, unsure of what to say. After a moment, she knew precisely how she accomplished such a feat with no magic of her own. “I knew what I had to do, an’ the rest just came natural.”

“Ah-ha! Precisely, lass,” Uncle Scrooge said, “Just like I told ye at the llama village. Just apply yerself, an’ the world is yours!”

“Thanks, y’all. Don’t know if I’d ever o’ done it without ya,” Applejack said.

“Now, when we get back home you can still buck for your harvest,” Fluttershy said.

“Yes,” Uncle Scrooge said, as a familiar gleam shone behind his glasses, “Speakin’ o’ havin’ the world in yer hooves: have ye ever considered expandin’ yer apple business?”

“Oh, brother…” Donald groaned. For a moment, he thought his uncle would present his humanity to another, only to see the old tightwad’s instincts kick in again.

Fluttershy too felt a tiny spark within herself. Even if she could only get a cranky old zahak to tell her his name, she felt as if she had rediscovered something she thought could never have back. And it was only herself who noticed Qard had already passed them by.

The elderly zahak hobbled to his shed, where before he could even begin to inspect it for damages, the two thugs on the ground started to stir.

Fluttershy gasped, and pointed to the source of her distress.

The others saw what she indicated, and readied themselves for action again.

“Looks like these clowns wanna have another rodeo,” Applejack said.

“Get on back in the shop, toots. We’ll call you when we’re done here,” Donald said to Fluttershy, as he rolled up his sleeves.

Fluttershy stood rooted to the spot as her friends approached the recovering toughs. When both insects were on their feet, she turned tail and quickened her pace back toward the shop, not wanting to witness the violence that was sure to follow.

She was just at the entrance of the shop, when she was suddenly halted.

Big Bad and DiMosco both filled the doorway, keeping the pegasus from escaping.

“Team effort, sweetheart. Everybody’s gotta pull their weight ‘round here,” DiMosco said, as he unsheathed his revolver from his cane. “‘Course, if--HARRY--was doin’ his part, me an’ the wolf here wouldn’t have to be playin’ the field, would we, darlin’?”

On the distant rooftop, the hornet didn’t hear his name called. He simply kept primping and preening, lost in his own reflection.

Fluttershy looked at the two before her. She only glanced at Big Bad’s bared teeth, and ran headlong into the labyrinthine scrapyard.

“I don’t want any o’ these do-gooders leavin’ here alive. So, Zeke, I’m delegatin’ you to gettin’ rid o’ that there canary horse,” DiMosco said.

Big Bad licked his chops, and smiled hungrily at the thought of devouring Fluttershy. Her color made him think immediately of cornbread with butter, making him think she would go deliciously with a pot of chili, or a platter of pork rinds.

Letting his stomach be his guide, the glutton ran into the maze of junk after Fluttershy, ready to make a delicacy out of her.

With Big Bad gone, DiMosco went to complete his own objective. He pulled back the hammer on his revolver, and walked into the fray.

Smoothly and calmly, the magnate walked past Applejack, who was doing battle with the large stag beetle.

The farmpony bucked.

The stag beetle blocked and countered with his hammer.

Applejack dodged and backpedaled.

The stag beetle advanced.

Past them, DiMosco did not even flinch as Donald was thrown to the ground behind him. After him, Uncle Scrooge was thrown on top of his own nephew.

The ant stood at the ready, jabbing at the air, daring his opponents to come back.

DiMosco reached the shed, where Qard stood trying to reinforce the lock with more chains, catches and bars.

Before the elderly zahak could finish locking the first lock, he began coughing loudly, and was easily knocked aside by DiMosco. From the ground, Qard watched as the magnate aimed his pistol at the large padlock, and fired.

The sound of the gunshot made everyone in the scrapyard jump, and snap their attention to its source. Donald began checking himself for any open wounds.

From his distant vantage point, Harry jumped in his seat. He had been slacking on his duties, and was sure to hear about it from the boss.

The hornet quickly downed his iced drink, and held his head from the rush of brain freeze he inflicted upon himself. He fumbled to the edge of the rooftop vantage and nearly fell over the side.

Fumbling as best he could, Harry managed to keep hold of his sniper rifle, but could not stop from falling nearly over the edge.

The assassin hooked the edge of the roof with his foot, and buzzed his wings as best he could.

DiMosco held his smoking gun as he looked at the lock on the shed. The bullet he fired had only managed to dent the heavy catch.

“Dang. Well, that’s what I get for only loadin’ one bullet,” DiMosco said to himself. He curled his lip, placed his first two fingers into his mouth, and whistled loudly into the distance. “Hey! Harry! How ‘bout a little lockpickin’!”

With his wings buzzing rapidly, Harry started steadily levitating himself back onto solid ground. Putting his compound eye to his scope, the hornet found his mark. The lock was in his crosshairs, and he squeezed his trigger.

Everyone looked to where DiMosco had called out toward. In the distance, a glint of light shimmered for a moment, then vanished.

Though she had no idea what it was, Applejack knew it had to be intercepted.

She stomped her hoof on a sheet of thick metal, flipped it into the air, and bucked it toward the shed.

Two loud bangs sounded. The first was Harry firing his rifle. The second was the sheet of metal embedding itself into Qard’s shed.

The fired bullet bounced off of the metal sheet, and through the hole in the top of DiMosco’s hat.

The fly caught his hat, before it was blown off his head.

The moment his trilby was put back in its place, Qard got to his feet and swung a metal rod at DiMosco.

DiMosco parried with his unloaded pistol and countered with his cane.

It was like a signal. The moment the two elders started battling, the others continued their vicious melee.

Uncle Scrooge jumped to Qard’s aid, fighting against DiMosco.

“Aw, real nice, Unc!” Donald shouted.

He was punched in the bill, and sent sprawling backwards.

Applejack’s hooves were both grabbed when she tried to buck, and was rolled like a bowling ball.

The duck and farmpony met in the middle and crashed into one another. Both popped into the air, and landed atop one another. Their respective hats landed on one another’s heads.

“Boy, oh boy...I’m gonna feel this tomorrow…” Donald said, as he exchanged hats.

“An’ it ain’t even lunchtime yet…” Applejack groaned.

Both yelped as a bullet shot past them, and slightly dislodged the metal plate that was shielding the lock on the shed.

They did not know why or what. But, something was inside of that shed that needed to be protected. Between two armed thugs, an assassin’s bullets and their boss, they could not imagine a more harrowing task.


In the winding pathways of the scrapyard, the beetle continued to plod along its way. It had eaten its fill at the shop, and now went to wherever its tiny legs would take it to find its next meal.

The ground began to tremor, as hooves pounded the sand.

Not wanting another fiasco like on the railway, the beetle quickly rushed into hiding inside of a tin can.

From around a bend, Fluttershy appeared and stopped a moment to look around herself.

Even though she hadn’t seen him begin pursuit, she knew that a predator was after her. To make matters worse, it was an intelligent, cunning ambush predator.

Everywhere she looked, she thought she could see traces of where Big Bad may have been hiding. Beneath a lean to of scraps. Inside a rusted pipe. Or was he beneath the very sand itself?

The beetle began skittering inside of its can, making it roll as best it could, until it stopped against a jutting rebar.

With just that one hit, the junk loosened, and started to tumble forth. Like a stack of dominoes, the entire thing began to fall down.

The sound of clattering metal spurred Fluttershy to run faster, accidentally kicking the beetle’s can forward as she did.

The beetle flew through the air, holding onto the inside of the can for dear life. As it flew, it saw something on the path before it.

Big Bad rounded the corner, facing Fluttershy with his cleavers drawn.

The pegasus screamed as she faced down the gaping maw of the glutton, until the open end of the beetle’s can lodged itself into his mouth.

Big Bad gagged and choked on the can, as the beetle inside held fast to keep from sliding down the glutton’s throat.

With a huff and a puff, Big Bad blew the can out of his mouth with the force of a cannon.

Fluttershy ducked as the can flew over her head, and crashed into a pile of junk behind her.

The beetle had fallen out of its can and landed in the sand between Fluttershy and Big Bad, just as the glutton started toward his prey.

Fluttershy gasped when she saw the helpless insect in the path of the heavy paws padding toward it. Putting her own safety out of mind, she dashed forward.

Big Bad readied to lunge, cleavers drawn.

The beetle looked side to side at the two goliaths rampaging toward it.

Before it could run away, Fluttershy dove forward and reached for the beetle.

Big Bad dove, mouth agape to devour the pegasus.

Keeping low, Fluttershy flicked the beetle into the air and onto her mane.

The beetle unleashed a high pitched scream as the glutton’s cleavers barely brushed against its antennae.

Fluttershy could feel the steel passing over her head, and folded her ears to keep from losing one of them.

Big Bad saw he had missed with his blades, and snapped with his jaws.

Fluttershy was quickly passing beneath him, as his teeth closed down around her.

With a sudden jerk, Fluttershy found herself stopped in mid-air and pulled backwards. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her tail was caught in Big Bad’s mouth.

Panic struck the pegasus. As Big Bad pocketed his cleavers, Fluttershy tried to scramble forward through the sand, only to be pulled back by the glutton’s clawed hands.

The beetle watched as his savior was pulled toward Big Bad’s open maw. Not about to let a favor go unreturned, it began searching for a way to free Fluttershy.

The sand that the pegasus was kicking into Big Bad’s face sparked an idea.

Using a trick that it knew to gather moisture from the air, the beetle stood on its head, opened its shell and amassed a load of sand onto its back. Once at full capacity, the beetle skittered along on its front legs down Fluttershy’s back, across her tail and up Big Bad’s arms.

“Owoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!!” Big Bad giggled when he felt the sudden tickling sensation up his arm.

Looking to the source, he let go of Fluttershy’s tail with one hand to swat at the bug.

Without losing a grain of sand, the beetle hopped and landed on the glutton’s hand. When Big Bad shook his hand, the beetle flew off and landed on the top of his nose.

It was just where the beetle needed to be. Taking the sand from its shell, it dropped its entire payload into Big Bad’s nose. Fanning its shell, it blew the grains deeper into his nasal cavity.

Big Bad gagged loudly. He sniffled and chuffed, as a feeling welled up within his nose. With a huff and a puff, he loosed an enormous sneeze that blew the beetle, Fluttershy, some light scraps of junk and most of the sand before him down the path in the scrap heaps.

Fluttershy rolled to a stop against a mattress, and dodged out of the way of the scraps that followed after her. Lastly, the beetle thudded against the mattress above Fluttershy, and landed on her head.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked the insect in her mane.

The only answer the beetle gave was a high-pitched groan, and fell over backwards in her hair.

Both snapped to high alert when they saw Big Bad brush the last of the sand off of the tip of his nose and glare at them both.

The beetle took hold in Fluttershy’s mane, and Fluttershy herself ran full throttle away from the glutton.

Through the maze of junk, the stacks of metal seemed to rearrange themselves in ways that forced Fluttershy to run in complete circles.

Above and below herself, she could hear Big Bad chasing after her. How he was doing so, she couldn’t tell. All she knew was that she had to escape no matter what.

There was a stack of pipes before her. Remembering how she avoided Big Bad before, she began climbing straight over the top of them.

Through machinations she was too terrified to take the time to ponder, a hairy arm with a cleaver in its clawed hand protruded through the opening of a neighboring pipe.

With a yelp, Fluttershy swung herself out of the way of the attack, right into the path of the second slicing blade.

The pegasus quickly scrambled up the stack, hoping the nightmare would pass.

The pipe in front of her face blew a wind that nearly knocked her back to the ground.

Fluttershy managed to hold on with only one hoof, as Big Bad’s snapping jaws shot out to grasp her.

The pegasus yelped and let herself fall out of reach.

She caught herself less than a hoof below and narrowly avoided losing a hoof to a cleaver.

Using the blade as a hoofhold, Fluttershy started climbing upward once more.

Another blade swung, slicing off only the very tip of Fluttershy’s hoof. Not even stopping to see the extent of her injury, she continued climbing up.

Big Bad’s open jaws shot out directly in front of Fluttershy’s face.

Her hooves shot up and closed the glutton’s mouth. Quickly, she scrambled upward, over Big Bad’s face. Finally, she was at the top of the junk heap.

Fluttershy saw where she was. The wide path in the middle sprawled before her, and the safety of the shop was only hundreds of hooves away.

The sound of moving metal behind her spurred her forward. As she scrambled down the scrap heap, her hooves stepped upon a slab of sheet metal. Before she could comprehend what was happening, Fluttershy went sliding down the hill of junk as though she were tobogganing through some ferrous, jagged snow.

The beetle held tightly to her mane, jolting up and down with every tremor beneath them.

The makeshift sled hit an upturned scrap near the bottom and sent the two passengers flying from their seats and sliding through the sand below.

Fluttershy picked her face out of the sand and spat out the grains. She scrambled to her hooves and shook the sand from her feathers, before she noticed her friends in their melee.

Behind her, she heard Big Bad climb up to the top of the junk heap. Before she started running, the glutton jumped into the path before Fluttershy, cleavers drawn.

There would be no running back to the shop. She would have to keep running through the maze of junk.

“Applejack! Help!!” she shouted, just before Big Bad lunged to attack.

Applejack heard her friend’s call, and just saw Fluttershy get chased into the maze of junk.

The stag beetle swung his fist one last time at the farmpony.

Applejack ducked and let her opponent’s fist fly over her head. With one last buck, she knocked him backwards and rushed to Fluttershy’s aid.

“Take care of him for me, Don! I’m goin’ after Fluttershy!” Applejack said, as she ran off.

“Just swell! Leave me to fight off not one, but two beef-headed--” And that was all Donald had time to say, just as the ant and the stag beetle both punched the duck in his face.

Donald rolled backwards, until he ramped up a bent I-beam, flew into the air, and crashed down onto a pile of scraps.

He slid down to the bottom, taking with him an avalanche of metal. Once in the sand, the duck was clobbered with everything from old valves to lead pipes to aluminium siding. Finally, two large metal shutters landed on top of Donald.

The ant and stag beetle both moved in to finish him off.

Donald took hold of the two shutters, held them in front of himself, and sprang forward, knocking both opponents over.

Before he could discard them, Donald shielded himself with the shutters again to block the ant’s kick.

The stag beetle stood up and attacked Donald from the other side.

Donald held up his shutter, and was pushed backward from the blow.

While the stag beetle agonized over his aching fist, the ant attacked again.

Donald blocked his punch, and while his opponent was reeling in pain, he pushed the ant backward.

“Wak-ak-ak-ak-ak! Come and get me, boys!” Donald taunted.

Both opponents accepted the challenge, and ran at the duck full speed.

“Uh-oh!” Donald said, as he shielded himself from both sides.

The thugs both crashed into the shielding shutters, and smashed Donald between them.

He fell to his knees in a daze, and his opponents took advantage.

The ant kicked Donald in the face, knocking him backwards.

Donald shielded himself, as the stag beetle jumped into the air for an elbow drop.

The duck was smashed beneath his own shield, as the stag beetle howled in pain over his elbow.

“Nice shot, Maurice. Now, quit whinin’ an’ let’s finish this duck!” the ant said.

He opened one shutter as if it were a cellar door, but saw that Donald was not beneath it.

“What the--?”

Donald came spinning out from beneath the sand, holding both shutters outstretched as if he were a living helicopter.

Upward he spun, hitting his opponents multiple times in rapid succession. When he landed, he had to duck under his uncle’s swinging cane.

“WAK! Watch it!” Donald shouted, before he had to duck again.

Uncle Scrooge and Qard’s battle with DiMosco had shifted across the sands to nearer the others.

While Uncle Scrooge and Qard both looked like they were fighting with all their might, DiMosco looked as invigorated as if he had already begun to battle.

The magnate twirled his cane, trying to hit both opponents at once.

One after the other, the ant, Donald, the stag beetle and Qard all ducked out of the way. Finally, Uncle Scrooge blocked the blow with his own cane and countered.

DiMosco blocked with his unloaded pistol, and manipulated Scrooge’s cane to block Qard’s pipe.

With the three weapons locked, the magnate swung his cane again, first hitting Uncle Scrooge, then Qard.

The zahak swiped with his clawed hand.

DiMosco dodged and had to move as Harry shot another bullet to dislodge the shield in front of the lock.

The slab of metal loosened again. One more shot was likely enough to allow the others to knock it loose.

DiMosco holstered his gun and held his cane laterally to fend off his two attackers.

Uncle Scrooge struck.

Qard struck.

Both were blocked.

DiMosco advanced.

The attacking elders retreated as they were pushed back.

The magnate struck again, hitting Qard with one end of his cane and Uncle Scrooge with the other.

Both recoiled. The blows they received triggered something deep in their systems. Qard began coughing heavily, and Uncle Scrooge held his chest again.

Instead of attacking, DiMosco twirled his cane and planted it in the sand.

“You old timers feelin’ okay? Looks like yer both due for a box an’ a slab,” he chuckled.

Uncle Scrooge breathed deeply as he held his chest. He had gone through far worse that what he was up against in that moment. And he wasn’t going to go out by losing a battle to the greediest swindler since Flintheart Glomgold.

His heart settled, and the tycoon took his fighting stance again.

DiMosco rolled his compound eyes, and raised his cane to attack.

One last shot from the distant sniper, and the metal plate flew loose from the shed, leaving the lock unprotected.

“WAK!!” Donald exclaimed.

He pushed back his two attackers, then charged DiMosco with his shields up.

The magnate was unprepared for what happened next, as he was forcibly pushed between the lock and the sniper’s aim.

DiMosco pushed Donald back, and moved aside from the lock.

“What’re ya waitin’ for!? Shoot!” he shouted to his distant cohort.

Harry took aim again.

All thoughts left Donald’s head. He dove forth with his shutters held up, and blocked the next bullet.

The impact of the large, high-velocity round dented the metal shutter, but otherwise left its wielder unharmed.

“Y-Ya wanna get into the shed? Ya gotta go through me!” Donald said, as his knees shook.

The three insects all readily accepted the challenge. The stag beetle cracked his knuckles, the ant rolled up his sleeves, DiMosco straightened his hat as they all closed in on the duck. High above, Harry chambered his next round.

“Cover the lad!” Uncle Scrooge shouted, as he and Qard both rushed forth to defend Donald.


Applejack ran through the maze of junk, hoping at once to find Fluttershy and avoid The Big Bad Wolf.

She knew she had seen Fluttershy run through that corridor. But with the many twists and turns afterward, she feared she had lost her way.

“Fluttershy!!?” Applejack called out.

She listened for a moment, knowing that she had given herself away to any nearby predator.

There was no answer.

Between Fluttershy’s timidity and Big Bad’s cunning, Applejack knew an answer was not likely. Suspecting an ambush at any moment, Applejack ran on her way, staying on high alert for any sign of her friend or her enemy.

“Fluttershy!!?” she called again.

“Applejack!!” came the answer.

That was it. The call came from somewhere nearby. Now, to follow it.

“Fluttershy!!?” Applejack called again.

“Applejack! I’m over here!”

Far as the farmpony looked, fast as she ran through the maze, she couldn’t see where Fluttershy was at. Finally, she found something.

A metal barrel was shivering violently, as though what or whoever inside was scared senseless.

“Fluttershy!” Applejack said. She trotted over and gently tapped the barrel. “Come on out. It’s me.”

It was only then that Applejack noticed one telling detail. From a hole in the bottom, near the back, a bushy, black tail was seen protruding.

There was a flash of metal, and Applejack was only glanced with the flat of a blade as she backpedaled.

A drop of red appeared on her face where the cleaver brushed her.

Big Bad emerged from the barrel, wearing it around his middle like a loser at a horse track.

The glutton swung and teetered in his barrel.

Applejack bucked, and sent Big Bad rolling backwards.

From inside his barrel, Big Bad steered himself. He bumped against an old carriage wheel and set himself upright, wobbling around on his base. With his cleavers outstretched, he threatened to cut Applejack high and low.

Not wanting any more cuts than she had taken, the farmpony tried to keep clear of the cleavers. She tried bucking loose pieces of scrap at Big Bad.

Anything that hit him either bounced off his barrel or was deflected by his cleavers.

One circular saw blade that Applejack bucked stuck deep into the metal barrel.

Big Bad yelped and jumped out of his protective covering.

Applejack knew she had him, and charged to buck him before he recovered.

The glutton recovered quicker than she expected. Before he even landed on the ground, Big Bad huffed and puffed. When he landed, he blew forth a breath that conjured a sandstorm.

Applejack was halted by the blowing sand, and quickly found herself buried up to her chest.

Through the haze, Big Bad could see the top of the farpony’s hat disappear beneath the sand. Now, she was immobile, and was easy prey.

Applejack had just poked her head from the top of her sand mound, and saw Big Bad closing in on her.

From above, one large rubber tire after another fell from the top of a scrap heap and landed around the glutton. Soon, Big Bad was bound and immobilized from his ankles to his snout, and fell over to the side.

“Applejack!” Fluttershy called, as she ran to her friend’s side.

“Fluttershy! Hot dang, am I glad to see you!” Applejack said, as her friend dug her out from her sandy entrapment. “Why didn’t ya tell me you were up on that junk sooner? We both coulda been outta here an’ away from that wolf”

“Um, Applejack...I wasn’t on the junk pile,” Fluttershy said.

“Then who--”

Before Applejack would wonder who saved her with the tires, a tiny beetle jumped down from the top of the scrap heap, and settled into Fluttershy’s mane.

“New friend?” Applejack asked with a tiny smirk.

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy answered, glancing up at the insect on her head.

The sounds of Big Bad struggling to free himself cut the mare’s exchange short. Quickly as their hooves could carry them.

Behind them, Big Bad managed to get one clawed hand free and started scratching away at the tires.

The mares both ran through the winding paths of the scrapyard, until they found their way back to the wide, straight path in the middle. The way to the shop was unguarded, and the others were quickly growing overwhelmed by their attackers.

They knew what to do. Fluttershy ran for safety, while Applejack ran back into the fray.

It was coming down to the wire. The fight to protect whatever was in the shed was quickly being won. But not by any of Applejack’s friends. The only thing preventing the sniper from shooting the lock was the constant movement of his cohorts into his line of fire.

He had only three rounds left.

The hornet checked his pockets for extra ammunition, but only found brass knuckles, piano wire, pinup posters, counterfeit money, hair gel, a dozen or so combs and the paste that he used to polish his gold tooth.

Harry sighed. He would have to make his last shots count. Taking his rifle in hand and his eye to his scope, the assassin took aim again.

The lock was in his crosshairs, when a sudden wind blew a patch of dhaka seeds past him.

Harry sputtered and spat, trying to keep the seeds out of his face. In his zeal to keep them away, his finger slipped and pulled the trigger.

As Fluttershy was running to the shop, the errant bullet hit the sand before her.

“EEP!” she shouted, before running back to the opposite direction, toward the massive melee.

Try as the pegasus did to avoid the fight, she found herself caught in the middle of every battle.

She was accosted by the stag beetle, and ducked just as Applejack’s bucking hooves shot out.

As she crawled through the sand, Donald tripped backwards over her and was jumped by the ant.

Donald deflected the ant with his shutters, then held them up to block Harry’s next bullet.

Fluttershy stopped crawling when three weapons all at once clashed over her head. She ducked in cover, and laid shivering in the sand.

The owners of the weapons looked down to the pegasus in their midst.

“Fluttershy!” Uncle Scrooge said.

“Fluttershy!” Qard followed.

“Fluttershy? Looks like a Scaredy Cat,” DiMosco chuckled.

Harry saw his opening. One last bullet, and he aimed squarely between the three elders. Donald was busy with his own fight, and left a sliver of a trajectory path.

Focusing his mind, the hornet bared his teeth, letting his gold tooth glint in the sun.

The tiny glint caught Uncle Scrooge’s attention for just a moment, when they heard one last loud bang.

The bullet flew on its beeline path. Nobody knew what was coming to them, as it flew by them all. The only one who even remotely noticed it was Donald, who felt something pass between himself and the metal shutter that was only held inches away from himself.

The lock was hit. Its catch broke and the entire thing fell to the sandy ground.

“Boss! We’re in!” the ant called, before he was slapped by Donald’s shutter.

“Everyone! In the shed!” Qard shouted, before he and Uncle Scrooge both shoved DiMosco aside.

Fluttershy was helped to her hooves and guided by her friends.

Donald stood at the ready, and charged forth with his shutters held laterally.

The duck was able to push back DiMosco and the ant, but was stopped by the much larger stag beetle grabbing him from behind.

“Donald!” Fluttershy called.

The stag beetle released Donald when he was bucked from behind by Applejack.

“Just get to the shed! We’ll handle these bozos!” the farmpony shouted.

Fluttershy was hurried along when she saw Big Bad come bounding from the large central path. Even though he still had a tire stuck around his snout, she feared the fangs of the glutton.

She ran to the shed, just as Qard and Uncle Scrooge arrived. Once inside, they began coaxing their friends inside.

Big Bad saw Fluttershy in the shed, and immediately set his sights on her and the others with her. Unable to huff and puff, he wound up his arm and threw his cleavers at them.

“Jumpin’ jehosaphat!” Uncle Scrooge shouted, as he quickly slammed the shed doors shut.

The world was suddenly dark.

Two solid thuds sounded as the blades glanced off of the metal side of the shed.

There was a sound of a pebble dropping into a basin of liquid.

A light appeared from what seemed to be a shallow bowl of water. Next to it was a basket of what looked like sparkling, white rocks.

Qard took one of the rocks and dropped it into the bowl, and the light glowing from within grew bright enough to illuminate the room.

The shed had all of the usual accoutrements. Tools, a workbench, a seat, a tiny fridge stocked with drinks, and most importantly a project.

In the center of the shed, there was a large object covered by a heavy tarp. Whatever it was, no one could tell. Nor was there time to bother wondering. There were others still outside who needed help.

“Is there anythin’ in here we can use to help? Another exit?” Uncle Scrooge asked.

“The skylight,” Qard said, pointing to the small window above the workbench. He grabbed one of the tools from the bench and stood at the ready by the door. “Leave if you must. I’m staying to--”

The elderly zahak was cut off by a fit of coughing.

Fluttershy immediately helped him to the seat at the bench.

“Just give me somethin’ to squash those bugs, an’ I’ll be back out there in that hootenanny!” Uncle Scrooge said.

It was then that Fluttershy noticed something she heard.

“Wait,” she said.

“For what?” Scrooge impatiently said.

It was then that he too noticed what Fluttershy did.

There was no noise beyond the shed. Whatever struggle had been happening before, it was now completely silenced. As if everyone involved had gone away.

“Applejack?...Donald?” Fluttershy quietly called to the outside.

No answer came.

Footsteps were heard approaching. Soft crunches through the sand, toward the shed door.

“Somepony, please answer,” Fluttershy pleaded.

They all waited for a response. All they could do was sit in fatal anticipation, hoping for a friendly voice beyond the door.

Then, there came a knock.

Author's Note:

Sorry for abruptly ending the chapter like that. But, isn't the tension of not knowing who is beyond the door palpable? No? I'll just have to try harder next time.
Some surprising details have been developed here. The mares both seem like they're getting a hang of recovering their magical abilities back. They seem to be driven to it by their motivation to succeed at it. Motivation, which goes hand in hand with creativity and imagination.
Also, does it seem like Uncle Scrooge may be sick? Hm...This may play into an important plot point later.
More shockingly, did Applejack bleed in this chapter? Yes. But, again, don't be so alarmed. I've seen plenty of cartoon characters bleed in my day. Remember when Batman had a bloody lip in 'Batman: The Animated Series?' I don't know what the big deal with that was. I've had worse cuts when I shave. More to the point, there have been dozens of cutesy Y-rated cartoon characters who have gotten cuts and bruises. Applejack is not exempt.
Any of my regular readers know that I try to take great care with my action scenes. This one was no exception, as I wanted to show the ways that the mares were learning how to manage without their magic. In this case, what was it that really made them so good at their respective talents?
We also got to see a little bit more of Uncle Scrooge warming up to Applejack. Perhaps by the end of the story, they will go into business together. That is assuming that either of them lives to that point.
Another detail that we saw was the shutters Donald used to fight. Normally, the characters get their costume at this point in the story arch. But, not this time. That's going to come later. However, the shutters and the way Donald wields them are something of a hint of what he is going to acquire.
Before we see that, we still need to know what is hiding inside of the shed, and why DiMosco wants it so badly. That will be revealed in chapters to come, so just rock on for a while until then \m/

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