Codex Ponera - Cliffside Eyrie

by Pepperbrony

Chapter Four

Rainbow and Scootaloo crested a hill and a farmhouse came into view. It had red walls and lavender tile roofing, topped with a weathercock bearing an apple in place of the more traditional rooster.

“There it is,” said Scootaloo. “Our home. Applejack and Big Mac won’t be happy that we lost Apple Bloom, you know.”

“Kid, I’m sorry, but we’ve been over this!” replied Rainbow. “This is more important than one filly. I have to get warning to Duchess Coloratura before the griffons can organise their attack, and I don’t have time to look for your friend.”

“It’s not like the griffons have already surrounded Cliffside,” shot back Scootaloo. “But Apple Bloom needs our help now!”

“Squirt, enough. We’re done talking about this for now.”

“Arrgh!” Scootaloo screamed in frustration before charging ahead to the farmhouse. She threw the door open and started calling for Applejack and Big Mac.

The ponies so summoned came to the door just as Rainbow Dash got there herself.

“Well, howdy there partner,” said Applejack to Rainbow, proffering her hoof, “we sure weren’t expectin’ any visitors today, but ya sure are welcome. This here is my big brother Big Mac, and I’m Applejack, but my friends call me AJ.”

“Applejack?” said Scootaloo.

“Uh, hi. I’m Auditor Rainbow Dash,” replied Rainbow, trying in vain to release herself from Applejack’s vigorous hoofshake.

“AJ?” Scootaloo tried to interrupt.

“Auditor, huh?” asked Applejack. “Well, I’m sure ya won’t find anything amiss in our bookkeepin’, ain’t that right, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup,” replied the stallion.

“Big Mac?” Scootaloo said.

“Big Mac here handles all our accountin’ here on the farm, he’s got the head for all them fancy mathematics,” said Applejack.

“Guys?” Scootaloo narrowed her eyes and lowered her ears.

“Oh, I’m not here about your books,” replied Rainbow. “Actually I’m here to-”

“Ah, of course, ya here to buy some apples!” interrupted Applejack. “You’re out o’ luck I’m afraid, we just brought in the latest crop for Countess Coloratura.”

“No, that’s not it, I’m here to- wait, Countess Coloratura? When did that happen?”

“Hey, guys, come on,” said Scootaloo.

“Oh, shoot, I went and did it again,” said Applejack. “I meant Duchess Coloratura, o’ course-”

“HEY, EVERYPONY!” shouted Scootaloo. “STOP IGNORING ME!”

Everypony turned to Scootaloo in surprise.

“Scootaloo, that was mighty rude of ya,” scolded Applejack. “Can’t ya see we’re havin’ a chat with this here pegasus pony?”

“But Apple Bloom is in trouble! We have to help her!” cried Scootaloo

“What do ya mean, AB’s in trouble? What’s goin’ on?” asked Applejack.

Rainbow scratched the back of her head. “It’s kind of a long story. Can I come in?”

“Sure, I guess.” Applejack stepped back to allow Rainbow in, and Big Mac led them to the lounge.

“Like I said, I’m an Auditor,” began Rainbow, “but there’s more to being an Auditor than checking everypony’s bit books. Can you keep this to yourselves?” When everypony else nodded, Rainbow continued. “We’re actually… agents of the Crown.” Applejack’s raised an eyebrow at that, which was not missed by Rainbow. “Okay, we’re spies. We keep an eye on anypony suspicious or up to no good, to protect the ponies of Ponera. I was on a mission in Jewelport, sort of my final exam to become an Auditor myself. Anyway, my mentor, Octavia, betrayed me to ponies working for Duke Svengallop, who is trying to take the throne from High Mare Granny Smith. I escaped and stowed away on their airship, and from there I overheard when Octavia finalised a deal where they help the griffons to retake Cliffside Eyrie.”

“Apple Bloom and I heard that too,” interjected Scootaloo. “We saw the airship fly over the canal, so we crossed the bridge to see what it was doing. We caught up to them in this clearing down the path over the bridge. That’s where we heard them talking to the griffons, but when we tried to sneak away...” Scootaloo trailed off, tears beginning to fill her eyes. “It’s all my fault! I stepped on a twig, and it broke, and everypony heard it and started chasing us, and Apple Bloom was on the wrong side of the tree, and she ran the wrong way-ay-ay!” She broke down crying, tears flowing freely.

Applejack went to comfort the crying Scootaloo, while Rainbow spoke. “It’s not your fault, squirt. It was an accident. Anyways, that’s when I flew out, windcrafted at the griffons chasing the other kid, and joined up with Scootaloo here. She helped us get clear of Octavia, but we had to cut the bridge before she and her new friends could chase us back here.”

“And now Apple Bloom is trapped over there,” sniffed Scootaloo. “It’s my fault. I stepped on the twig, I cut the bridge, I started the wildfire, it’s all my fault!”

“Easy there, Scoots,” said Applejack, holding Scootaloo close. “Like Rainbow here said, the twig was an accident. You had to cut the bridge or we’d all be runnin’ from this Octavia mare, and the wildfire- wait, wildfire? What wildfire?” Applejack looked to Rainbow for an explanation.

Rainbow grinned sheepishly. “The squirt crafted up this massive flare, trying to scare off Octavia. But her fire was hotter than I expected, so, uh, I kinda blew it away from me. All the way to the far side of the canal. Heh, between the fire and the hole I made in the ship’s envelope, at least the crew of the Scavenger are gonna be too busy to track us down for a while.”

“So what happened to Apple Bloom?” asked Applejack.

“Last we saw she was being chased by the griffons, but I blew them out of the sky so hard that I injured their wings, they won’t be flying for a while,” answered Rainbow. “As long as she’s in decent shape she should be able to stay ahead of them. Her crafting will make up the difference, right?”

“No, it won’t,” said Applejack, ears lowered in concern. “Apple Bloom has no craftin’. She’s as smart as a whip, and she’s been runnin’ around trees and forests ever since she could run, but she ain’t so much as called on a furylamp, let alone done any real craftin’.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened in shock before her ears drooped and her face fell. “Oh. Wow. I’ve never heard of that before.” She looked at Big Mac and Applejack, before turning to Scootaloo. “I didn’t realise. Now I get it, why you were so determined to help her, because she can’t help herself-”

“HEY!” interrupted Scootaloo, glaring at Rainbow, who took a step back in surprise. “She can too help herself! She’s not useless, she just can’t craft. I don’t want to help her because she’s useless, because she’s not! I want to help her because she’s my best friend!”

Rainbow blinked at Scootaloo, glancing over at Applejack and Big Mac before returning her attention to the young filly. The adults weren’t looking much less hostile than Scootaloo. “Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Applejack closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath to calm herself. “Tain’t your fault, sugarcube. But that don’t change the fact that she’ll need help gettin’ back across the canal if y’all went and cut the bridge.”

“I know, and I don’t want to leave her hanging, but Duchess Coloratura must be warned about the attack,” replied Rainbow. “I have to get to Cliffside Eyrie.”

“Eeyup,” said Big Mac. “And so do you, Scootaloo.”

Rainbow blinked at Big Mac, surprised as much by what he had said as the fact that he had spoken at all. “What do you mean?”

“She heard this conspiracy too, didn’t she?” he said. “She can stand as witness to back you up when you talk to the duchess.”

“What?” cried Scootaloo. “But I can’t go to Cliffside! I have to help Apple Bloom.”

“No, Scoots, I’ll go after AB,” answered Applejack. “Big Mac can to the Eyrie and warn the duchess about these griffons and them bad ponies.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to object further, but Rainbow interrupted her. “They’re right, squirt. You’re a witness to what Octavia is planning, and I’m gonna need all the help I can get convincing Duchess Coloratura that she needs to prepare for a furycrafting attack. Applejack looks to me like she knows her way around a forest, right?”

“That’s for sure,” replied Applejack. “And with Winona helpin’ me, I’ll find AB in no time at all.” The wooden walls rippled as Applejack smiled fondly at them. “You lot go on and see the duchess, and by the time ya get back home, Scoots, AB’ll be waitin’ for ya, ready to go crusadin’ for ya cutie marks again.”

Scootaloo hung her head and sighed. “Okay.” She looked up at Applejack. “You will find her, won’t you AJ?”

“Don’t you worry none, Scootaloo,” said Applejack. “I’ll find her as easy as blinkin’.” She turned to Rainbow. “But before ya go, what do I need to know about these here nasty folks? I’d hate to run into ‘em and not know what I’m up against.”

“Come on, Scootaloo, we’ll load the wagon for the trip to Cliffside,” suggested Big Mac, “while Rainbow fills AJ in.”

“Go on squirt,” said Rainbow when Scootaloo looked to her. “Just don’t leave without me.”

Turning back to Applejack, Rainbow began to tell her what sort of ponies she might encounter on the far side of the canal.

---

After making their goodbyes, Big Mac led Rainbow and Scootaloo toward the road and they began their journey to Cliffside Eyrie and Duchess Coloratura. Applejack, meanwhile, stayed at the farmhouse long enough to pack her saddlebags with some supplies she thought she might need during her search for Apple Bloom.

“Let’s see here, I’ve got a canteen fer drinkin’, some apples fer eatin’, some flint and a knife fer firestartin’, I’ll have Winona fer findin’ my way, what else do I need?”

Applejack looked around to see if anything struck her as useful in her search for the wayward filly. Her gaze fell upon a photograph of the family. Applejack and Big Mac stood behind the younger Scootaloo and Apple Bloom before the farmhouse, all smiling after a job well done. The photo had been taken on the day the four of them had finished building the very farmhouse they now lived in. Applejack smiled at the memory.

“Don’t you worry, AB. I’m comin’ for ya.”

With a final glance around to ensure she had everything she would need, Applejack set off. She headed toward the back end of the orchard, where the rope bridge crossed the canal. She saw the column of smoke well before she reached the end of the property, and narrowed her eyes in concern for the orchard - wildfire was not a farmer’s friend.

When she reached the edge of the canal, however, she spotted a number of rough-looking ponies on the far side, directing their furycrafting efforts against the blaze. Applejack watched a yellow unicorn mare with a maroon mane watercraft a huge mass of water out of the canal and directed it to shower over the flames. Applejack winced at the damage all that salt water would do to the soil.

“That’s gotta be that Moondancer mare that Rainbow told me about,” Applejack muttered to herself. “Ah, and that must be Octavia and the twins.”

A gray-coated black-maned earth pony mare had just joined the others, accompanied by a pair of near-identical yellow unicorn stallions. The mare called something to the ponies fighting the fire, who reorganised themselves in response. Applejack thought they started making better progress against the wildfire, though they still had quite a bit of work ahead of them.

She heaved a sigh of relief, partly for the safety of the orchard, but mostly for the fact that the ponies were all distracted by the blaze. She made her way south along the canal, keeping out of sight behind her apple trees, until she was certain she was far enough from the ponies to not be noticed. Glancing around for a tree that would suit her purposes, she approached one of the apple trees she and Apple Bloom had harvested from earlier that same day.

Looking a little more closely at the tree, Applejack took on a bemused expression. “Hey there, Bloomberg. AB got your apples down this mornin’, didn’t she? I’m gonna need your help to find her. Do ya mind?”

Through her woodcrafting, Applejack could feel the tree’s wood fury bend to her will. “Thanks buddy.” She willed the tree to bend down to the ground, away from the canal. Once the topmost branches were on the ground, she stepped onto them and let out a breath. “Hoo wee, I really hate this part.”

Applejack held a hoof to her hat and closed her eyes for a moment longer than a blink. She then willed Winona to push the tree upright as quickly as possible, and was thus tree-catapulted toward the far side of the canal.

“Whoa!”

She looked ahead to see exactly where she would land, and was pleased to note she was headed directly for a pine tree. With a quick gesture from Applejack, the tree bent some of its branches into position just in time to catch the ballistic pony. The instant Applejack came into contact with the tree it bent down away from the canal, catching her and following through so as to gradually absorb Applejack’s momentum without causing her any serious injury. When she came to a complete stop, Applejack simply stepped out of the branches onto the ground and willed Winona to allow the tree to resume its natural pose.

After a quick shake of her head, Applejack looked back over to the far side of the canal. “Boy howdy, Bloomberg, you kick like a mule.” Then, with a quick look north to ensure she hadn’t been spotted, she set off into the forest, circling around the fire and the ponies trying to contain it. With Winona’s help, the shadows of the forest embraced Applejack and she vanished from view.

Comments

[CTVulpin]

Impressive woodcrafting trick on AJ's part.