Hot Chocolate Comes to Town

by Bronyxy

2 Fillies in Distress

The sun was coming up to its zenith and casting the smallest shadows under the two ponies as AJ led them unerringly through paths between the trees that were invisible to non-farming folk, giving the impression that she was using some kind of direction finding magic of her own. Although being guided through an apparently featureless forest of laden apple trees, Chocolate felt complete confidence in her companion and would have followed her to the moon if that was where she had led them.

The conversation was easy as the two swapped stories and anecdotes getting to know a little about each other. All the stories met with at least a ripple of mirth while the funniest resulted in great roars of laughter, and on one occasion Chocolate was left fighting for her breath and sounding more like a pterodactyl than a pony when she was finally able to breathe again, tears rolling down her muzzle.

After a long walk that Chocolate didn’t really want to end, she spied a large red earth pony hard at work and at a call from her companion he stopped and raised his head towards them. As soon as he could see he had company in the form of a new mare, he hurriedly tried to stroke his dishevelled yellow mane into some semblance of order with a forehoof, but his results only created spiky tufts of mane sticking up untidily.
“Oh, Big Mac” sighed AJ “You look just fine as you are. This here’s Hot Chocolate and I’ve been tellin’ her nice things about you.”

Hearing this compliment in front of the new mare, Big Mac suddenly went all sheepish and AJ recognised a blush breaking out across his face. Chocolate couldn’t make it out against his red coat, but immediately caught the sentiment as he tripped over his words and found it difficult to look at her.
“Don’t you go frettin’ now” AJ reassured “I’ve only gone and said you’re the strongest and kindest stallion round these parts.”

“Hello Big Mac, we’ve come to bring you your lunch. May I put it down?” asked Chocolate.
His shyness taking over once more, he giggled self-consciously, even his earlier tentative grasp of words having now completely left him and pointed with a forehoof to a spot on the ground where it was duly lowered into place in a pale blue aura.
“Honestly Big Mac” chided his sister in a friendly voice “Sometimes you’re worse than a filly!”

“I’d be happy to keep you company while you have your lunch if you’d like” offered Chocolate.
At this point, Big Mac looked like he would burst from a mixture of both pride and embarrassment.
“Oh, now what did you want to go and do that for?” asked AJ in mock exasperation “He’ll be so tongue tied he won’t be able to eat nothin’!”

AJ went to her brother’s side and sat down with him, giving him a reassuring hug as he fought a losing battle in trying to muster his composure and just simpered.
“You big ol’ galoot” she teased gently, taking her hat off and draping it over his face, an action that just made him giggle more. Chocolate looked in surprise at what was clearly the biggest and strongest stallion she had ever seen and marvelled at how bashful he was; in truth she found his innocent display rather endearing.

As the giggling entered a lull, AJ’s ears pricked, and she looked up quickly trying to locate the source of something she had just heard.
“Hush now everypony” she said “Did anypony hear that?”
In a heartbeat, Big Mac’s bashfulness evaporated, and he suddenly became alert, raising his head and staring hard in the direction that his sister cued with the rock steady pointing of her muzzle. Chocolate also obeyed AJ’s request and followed the others in looking and listening intently.

The barest wind rippling through the trees sounded like somepony shuffling a deck of cards near a microphone and the song of a rising lark would in that instant have rivalled the loudest siren for its sheer incongruity. After a few seconds of intense focusing – there it was again! It sounded like the desperate cry of a foal. With no further information to go on, the group rose as one and galloped off in the direction it appeared to be coming from, the two fit farm ponies soon leaving the unicorn far behind.

The closer they got, the louder the cries rang in their ears, the trees starting to thin out as they approached the extreme limits of Apple Family land. Finally, from between the tree trunks the ponies caught sight of a young pegasus by the side of a well, screaming loudly and running in frantic circles. The brother and sister jumped over the ranch fencing each with a majestic clear leap and landed with a heavy thump on the other side, the ground beneath them reverberating to the shock of their impact before reverting once more to the steady thunder of their galloping hooves as they continued on.

The yellow and white pegasus filly seemed oblivious of their approach and continued running round screaming, clearly panicked, only taking notice once the farm ponies were right up alongside her.
“My sister!” she cried “She’s down in the well! You’ve got to help!”
Big Mac immediately set to work with the winch and lowered the bucket as fast as he could, while AJ peered over and deep into the well trying to get a better view.

Out of breath and only now having arrived at the fence that the other two had jumped with such ease less than a minute before, Chocolate caught sight of the panicking white pony and forced her panting body to climb over the fencing when something caught her eye and made her stop. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she had seen a flash out of the corner of her eye and stopped midway over the fence. It may have been her exhaustion or how far she was away, but suddenly the pegasus filly didn’t seem to be quite the same as she had been a moment before.

Rueing her lack of fitness, she rested her breathless weight on the top rung of the fence which promptly collapsed under her as she toppled unceremoniously onto the meadow, her gasp of surprise mingling with the crack of the fence, making such a noise that the mysterious pony turned suddenly to face her. She hit the ground face first, but rose quickly, her ears pinned back, trying to focus on the pegasus filly once more. Although she was a little concussed trying to focus on what had caught her eye just a moment before, she could have sworn she saw another flash of green light before the whole scene resumed the normality she had witnessed as she had run up to the fence in the first place.

The whole episode seemed so unbelievable that Chocolate dismissed the idea. She must have mistaken what she had seen. After all, it was a bright day and the other two were way ahead of her in focusing on the priority of helping the filly. She was increasingly certain that the unaccustomed physical exercise coupled with the bright sunshine was playing tricks on her. Also, she didn’t want to say anything out of line unless she was absolutely certain, because she was trying to get accepted and didn’t want to make a fool of herself. She must have mistaken what she had seen.

Chocolate ran up to the well, ensuring that she kept the pegasus filly directly opposite her; just in case. The filly’s young eyes looked up into those of the suspicious unicorn, who suddenly felt an uncomfortable feeling course through her that she couldn’t quite pin down. Whether she said something or not, this felt wrong and she made a mental note to keep the filly in sight at all times. Scarily, she felt that the filly could read these thoughts even without her needing to vocalise them.

She illuminated her horn and sure enough saw a form in the bottom of the deep dry well and aimed her magic aura past the descending bucket levitating the subject of the filly’s concerns and raising it upwards.
“Aw, shoot!” said Big Mac dejectedly “I just ain’t as quick with the bucket as you are with your magic.”
“Come on now Big Mac, don’t you fret” comforted his sister “We was just lucky she was here, that’s all. If she wasn’t, then you’d have been the only way that poor filly would be gettin’ out.”

The light blue aura seemed shockingly bright within the tight confines of the dark well and Chocolate couldn’t make out too much detail of the victim she was retrieving, but brought her carefully up the narrow shaft, the bucket coming to rest gently on the inert form as it ascended, until eventually she leaned back as her load approached the lip of the well. While Big Mac and AJ fretted over the motionless yellow pegasus filly, carrying her down onto the ground, Chocolate instead looked towards her white companion who just stared wordlessly straight back at her. This was most unnerving and she felt a shudder inside, but was determined not to show it.

In an instant, the white filly broke away from boring into Chocolate’s mind and suddenly became the caring sibling worried about her sister, making a fuss and trying to crowd past the farm ponies to get in. Something was wrong here, quite badly wrong she mused, grateful for the numerical advantage that she and her new friends had over the two strange pegasi.

Under the continued fretting of the white filly, her sister came gradually round, smiles of relief breaking out over the earth ponies.
“Hey, will you look at that” said AJ, visibly relieved “She’s a bit groggy, but it looks like everything’s where it should be!”
“Eeyup!” confirmed her brother

“You could probably use a little somethin’ right about now to make y’all feel better” fussed AJ
“We have some food with us over in the orchard back along, but I guess the only thing we’ve got with us is some Chocolate!” she joked, looking in the direction of her new friend “Ain’t that right, sugar cube?”
“Chocolate?” enquired the white filly.
“See, right there on her flank” giggled AJ pointing a hoof.
“What’s chocolate?” asked the white pegasus.

By now both pegasi were staring unblinkingly at their rescuers and the two earth ponies exchanged glances, AJ thinking fast.

“So where is it you two are from then?” she enquired conversationally.
“Canterlot” replied the white filly.
“Oh, I’ve got pegasus friends from there too. I wouldn’t mind bettin’ that y’all attended the same flight school at Dodge Junction on the outskirts of Canterlot?” said AJ giving her brother the slightest nudge.
“Yes of course” came the reply.
AJ gave her brother another nudge. No pegasus would ever give that answer and they both knew it.
“Hey now, let’s get a closer look at those wings of yours” said AJ “We’d better be sure you’re safe to fly before we leave you all alone out here. That would never do.”

At this, she and her brother moved forwards, pretending to show concern towards the yellow pegasus, then suddenly both leapt, AJ pinning the yellow one to the ground while Big Mac grasped the white one round her middle, lifted his forehoof and brought it down hard on her head.

Chocolate could not believe what she was seeing; one second they all looked to be getting on and next the two earth ponies had assaulted the young pegasi. Something told her that her new friends knew what they were doing, and once the white filly had been knocked out she witnessed it transforming into a sinister looking black creature with big featureless blue eyes and holed legs like it had crawled out of a nightmare.

Its yellow colleague was struggling hard now, and AJ held it firm while her brother delivered another hard blow to its head, causing it to reveal itself in its true form, just like the other one.
“Chocolate” would yuh go fetch the rope from the well please, sugar cube? We’re goin’ to tie these varmints up while we think what we’re goin’ to do with them.”
Chocolate did as she was bidden and unwound the rope from the winch on the well, returning quickly to watch the farm ponies hogtie the two changelings.

“So anyways Big Mac” said AJ taking a pride in her knotwork “I can’t say as I remember no well over here, can you?”
“Nope!” came the answer “Water table’s too low. It wouldn’t work.”
“What I thought too” she re-affirmed “Somethin’ mighty fishy goin’ on round here, but let’s get back and tell somepony before others come lookin’ for our ‘friends’.“
“Clever the way you found out they weren’t real pegasi” said Chocolate.
“Was fun really” replied AJ getting back to her knots “See, two of my best friends are pegasi and it weren’t none too difficult to ask them a question that was a load of nonsense. Can’t go assumin’ that just cos I ain’t a pegasus don’t mean I don’t know about them.”

“I hope you know about fences too” said Chocolate a little bashfully “You see, I kind of broke one a bit …”
“Don’t worry yourself none, sugar cube” she reassured “Big Mac ain’t goin’ to be jumpin’ over no fence with these two on his back, so we’d have to be makin’ a hole anyways. Besides, looks like you put it in just the right place.”
Much relieved for her new friend’s tact, Chocolate felt happier.

"You know” she said, feeling that as the changelings had now been unmasked “I thought I saw a green flash around one of the changelings earlier, but wasn’t sure so I didn’t say anything.”
“Yep, that’d be them alright. That’s what they do when they shapeshift. Anyhoo, we’re ready now; what say you and I follow Big Mac and keep an eye on these two varmints so they don’t cause us no more trouble?”

Big Mac set off and strolled unhurriedly to the broken fence, stepping daintily over the remaining bar and then heading unerringly back to the tree where his packed lunch still lay waiting faithfully for his return. He picked up his lunch and then set course for home, the two young mares following along behind, sharing more stories and keeping a watchful eye on their prisoners, AJ taking delight in giving a casual thwack over the back of the head of any that showed signs of waking up.