Fall Weather Fiends

by Bookpony579

Chapter 3

Back at the race, AJ and Rainbow were neck and neck...

....right up until Applejack tripped, that is.

"Woah!" AJ gasped as she fell face-first into the ground, allowing Rainbow to gain a sizable lead.

AJ regained her bearings as the other racers passed her by.

"I don't believe it!" She cried out.

"I know, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Twilight lightly jogged up to her, admiring the scenery.

"Not the scenery, Twilight. Rainbow Dash just tripped me!"

"Applejack! That;s an awful thing to say! And if you slowed down and looked where you're going, like me, you'd see that you tripped over a rock." She pointed to the area where AJ tripped, revealing a sizable rock sticking up from the ground.

"What?" AJ blinked in disbelief. "Oh, hayseed! Now I got a lot of ground to make up to catch Rainbow!" With that, she rushed off.

"Just be careful!" Twilight called out as she jogged, unaware of the figure watching her.

---

The race continued, and through hard effort, AJ managed to regain her place.

"I don't believe it!" Pinkie exclaimed. "After a huge setback, Applejack is back at the front of the pack! But can she keep it?"

She looked back to the other racers. "Let's check on the others...huh?" She rubbed her head in confusion, noticing some of the racers were gone. "Looks like we have about two or three racers who lost their way. Or at least are really slow runners. Don't worry though, we have expert trackers who will find them in no time! Now let's get back to the front runners. AJ's at the front of the pack! She's the head of the pack, all right. The pick of the litter! The cat's pajamas! Oh wait, why would Applejack take some poor kitty's PJs? That's not very sporting of her."

"Not so fast, Applejack! This race isn't over yet!" Rainbow called out.

"It is for you. Heh." AJ chuckled.

"Woah!" Rainbow soon found herself face first in the dirt, and just as quickly was passed by the other racers.

"Guh, I don't believe it, Applejack tripped me!" Rainbow stormed.

"Don't you people ever look where you're going?" Twilight jogged up to her."You tripped on a stump. See?" She pointed to where Rainbow fell, revealing a small stump.

"Oh, I see. A big cheater is what I see."

"Rainbow, Applejack would never cheat. It was just an accident." Twilight argued.

"Sure it was." She then noticed her friend's glare. "I mean, yeah, I'm sure it was!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Anyway, did you hear what Pinkie just said about the missing racers?"

"Don't worry about it." Rainbow waved it off. "This happens every year. One or two people miss the path markers, or they try to find a shortcut and get lost. They always find them so it's no big deal."

"I know." Twilight shifted uncomfortably. "It's just-"

"Can we cut the chit-chat? I've got a race to win."

Twilight just sighed. "Alright, Rainbow, but remember, this is just a game."

Rainbow ran off. "Yes, but the rules have changed, and two can play at that game."

Twilight just sighed again and kept jogging, unaware of the glowing eyes following her movements.

---

Out in the forest, another lone racer was trying to find her way.

"Now where was..?" She kept going, trying to find the path but came up with nothing. "Ugh!" She groaned. "I must've missed the path markers a while back."

She tried retracing her steps when a voice called out.

"Are you lost sweetie?"

The teen turned to find a shadowy figure lurking in the trees.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I must have missed the marker. If you could tell me where they are..."The teen didn't know why, but the figure made her very uncomfortable.

The figure chuckled "Oh don't worry, I'll help you find your way...eventually."

The runner raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I just need you to come with me for a while."

The teen put her hands on her hips and gave her a flat look. "Look, no offense, but your a creepy person walking around the the woods. Give me one good reason I should go with you."

The figure chuckled again, this time more cruelly. "Oh...maybe because of him?" She pointed at something behind the runner.

The teen turned, and her eyes widened with fear at what she saw.

She gulped as the creature approached.

---

Rainbow and AJ were once again neck and neck.

"As the racers enter Equestria's Whitetail Wood, it looks close between the two frontrunners!"

It was then that Rainbow saw a low hanging branch, and got an idea.

Racing ahead of AJ, she pulled back the branch, waited a second, a let go.

*SMACK!"

The branch hit AJ in the forehead, knocking her down as Rainbow took the lead.

"Hah!Hah!"

AJ growled. "Why that little cheater! She did that on purpose!"

She continued running, quickly catching up. Then she noticed a beehive in one of the trees.

She raced ahead and with a hard punch, knocked the hive out of the tree while she ran ahead.

Rainbow quickly noticed the swarm of angry bees, and raced forward in fear.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

This gave AJ a good chuckle.....that was until she noticed that Rainbow was quickly catching up and the bees appeared to be after her too.

"Aww...hayseed!"

Rainbow and AJ both ran as fast as they could from the bees, now both being fueled by fear and adrenaline.

Finally, they noticed a forked path with some very thick bushes and dove right in.

The bees swarmed in place for a second, making a '?!' sign before moving on.

As the other racers passed, Rainbow and AJ took a quick breather....before noticing who they were hiding with and glared at each other.

"Hey! You cheated!" Rainbow accused.

"You cheated first! What with hitting me with a branch!?"

"You sent a bunch of bees after me!"

The two growled at each other, not noticing Twilight jogging down the path.

"This really is a nice place for a walk." Twilight noted, admiring how the sunlight tilted against the rich red and burning orange leaves. "We should come out here for a picnic sometime, or at least a walk."

"I'm glad you like it my dear."

Twilight turned and found a woman standing back a way. She wore a long black cloak with a hood that covered most of her face. Twilight could tell the woman was old because of the way she was hunched over and the old, wrinkly, and long fingernailed hands holding her cane in place.

"Oh! Uh...can I help you?" Twilight asked, her gut telling her that something was wrong.

The woman chuckled. "Why actually, yes you can. You se..." She stepped towards Twilight. "I need something that you have."

"W-what do you mean?" Twilight stammered, stepping away from the woman.

"Oh...you'll find out."

Twilight felt herself back up against some, so turned around and gasped.

The creature towered over her, with the body of a bear, but was white and black with yellow stripes, bug wings, antennae, two sets of claws and a stinger.

"A bugbear!?" Twilight gasped.

"Yes, my baby has certainly been very helpful. He's helped collect almost everything I need. The only thing left....is you!"

The bugbear roared, finally drawing the attention of AJ and Rainbow, who looked on from the safety of their bush.

Twilight summoned her magic, ready to fight. However, this gave the witch the opportunity she needed as she pointed her cane at Twilight, shooting a light blue beam of magic.

Twilight was hit and collapse to the ground, now bound with magical restraints on her hands and feet.

The two hidden girls gasped at what they saw.

As the bugbear picked up the struggling girl and covered her mouth, the old hag laughed again, a cold, cruel laugh that shook the three young mages to their bones.

"Now I finally have the last piece! Come on my baby, let's show her mummy's little hiding place!"

The woman tapped her can on the ground, causing her, the bugbear, and Twilight to teleport in a puff of smoke. Rainbow and AJ jumped out and tried to stop them, but it was too late.

"TWILIGHT!!!!!"

Author's Note:

Can anyone guess what old MLP villain I based her on?

Hint: She's not from G4 and she went by a different name.

Comments

[Comickook]

All I can say is EXCELLENT job on the latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. And, at least now, Rainbow and Applejack SHOULD be willing to put their differences temporarily aside long enough to save Twilight and the others.

Just one detail, though. I think at one point, you accidentally put in "Don't you ponies ever look where you're going?" when you meant "Don't you PEOPLE ever look where you're going?"

As for the villainess, I'm going to guess it's either Catrina or Hydia, but I WILL admit that I COULD be wrong. (the only other female G1 villain I can think of off-hand [there COULD be others, though] is the G1 Somnambula and SHE would be striking from the targets' DREAMS as opposed to this way).

Anyway, I will VERY certainly be looking forward to more of this.