Stuck in a Tree
Chapter 0
“Worst. Idea. Ever.”
Diamond Tiara was exhausted, sweaty, and covered in tree sap. If that wasn’t enough to get the filly riled up, she was stuck dangling high in a tree by the cords of her parachute with her tiara stuck in a bird’s nest right above her. If she hadn’t agreed to this, she would’ve been relaxing at home, playing video games. Silver Spoon was out of town until tomorrow, so that would’ve left her to spend time with Alula or Royal Blue.
“Don’t worry.” Sweetie Belle continued frantically to try and untangle herself from her chute, tugging at the cords wrapped around her body. She’d been doing this for while with no real progress. In fact, it seemed as though she was getting more tangled with each move she made. “I’ll have us out in no time.”
Diamond face-hoofed at Sweetie’s efforts. Even though it was admirable, it wouldn’t be enough to free them from their ensnarement. She was just going to tire herself out even quicker. “Just stop, okay? That’s not helping either of us.”
She managed to get Sweetie Belle to stop her movement and look at her. They stayed in silence for a moment, trying to reasses their dilemma. Diamond did her best to stay calm and not lose her cool, not wanting to say anything rash. “We have to find a way to get down from here without getting hurt.”
“What do you think we should do?”
At that, the pink filly gave a sigh. “That’s the problem. I don’t have a plan, so we’ll need to put our heads together and think of something.”
Given their current predicament, Sweetie Belle was a bit skeptical. “Do you really think whatever we come up with will work?”
“I don’t know.” Diamond gave a quick tug on her parachute cords, hoping to loosen them from around her. She gave up soon after trying, not wanting to waste too much of her energy. “Where are your stupid friends at? They should’ve been back here by now with help.”
“They’re not stupid!” Sweetie Belle countered, glaring at her rival. “I’m sure they’ll be back any second. Just you wait.”
Diamond rolled her eyes. “Sure~ they will.” She wouldn’t put her hopes on it. “Well, even if they get back, we can’t just stay like this. We should at least try and untangle ourselves. Maybe we’ll even find a way to get down.”
“Good idea.” Sweetie tried moving her legs again, a bit more slowly this time around to avoid getting herself tangled even more. She managed to get her right foreleg free before trying for the other one. It was a tedious effect, but after careful maneuvering and concentration she managed to liberate it.
She gave a sigh of relief, feeling the circulation return to her hooves, and looked back at Diamond Tiara. The filly had finally managed to get free as well. Getting the cords from around their torsos was easier now that their arms were unstuck, leaving the two of them dangling from the straps of their parachute bags. “Now if I can just get my tiara back from those stupid birds, I’ll be back in business.”
Sweetie raised an eyebrow. “You’re worried about your tiara now?”
“Oh just shut up,” Diamond responded. There was no way she’d be able to reach it with her parachute still tangled up in the branches and leaves. Instead, she broke off a small branch nearby and aimed it at the nest.
After lining up her shot, she threw the branch, only to miss entirely and have it fly over the tree instead. There was an awkward silence; Sweetie Belle barely suppressed a snicker after witnessing the failed throw. Diamond glared daggers at her before reaching up to grab another branch and trying again.
She hit the nest this time; the birds flew away as it plummeted to the ground in a mess of twig and leaves, along with her tiara. They looked down at it, the headpiece lying on the dirt.
“Your tiara fell.”
“I know that.” Diamond Tiara sighed. Now was not the time to start arguing. Despite her earlier thoughts, getting down was more important than trying to get to her tiara. “Do you have any suggestions?”
Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin and thought up a solution. “Maybe if we swing towards the tree, we can grab hold of it and try to climb down.”
Diamond glanced at the bark and back at the unicorn in front of her. “You sure we’ll be able to reach it?”
Sweetie Belle smiled. “Of course! One the count of three.” They turned themselves over to face the tree bark. “One. Two. Three!”
They kicked their hind legs back and forth, trying to gain momentum as they tried to swing towards the bark of the tree. It was easier said than done. They reached out their legs to grab it each time they swung towards the tree, each time failing to latch on before swinging outward again. The fillies were persistent, though. They kept at it, and found themselves getting closer with each swing.
“It’s too far,” said Tiara. She stopped swinging, as did Sweetie Belle. “If we were a bit closer, we would’ve been able to make it.”
“Looks like we’ll have to wait for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”
“There’s no way I’m waiting for those two.”
“It’s our bet best, unless you want to risk getting yourself hurt.”
Sweetie Belle had a point, much to Diamond Tiara’s frustration. There wasn’t much they could do from their position without the two of them risking injury in the long run. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said they’d be heading into town to get somepony who could help. Hopefully they’d be back soon. For now, as she saw, they would be stuck here for a while.
Sweetie Belle looked up at the sky and pointed at a cloud. “That one kinda looks like a kitten,” she stated, before turning her attention to another. “Oh, and that one looks like a bird!”
She gazed over at Diamond Tiara, a huge grin on her face as she silently encouraged the filly to try. As if I had anything better to do, Diamond thought. She looked up at the one of the clouds. “I guess that one sort of looks like a rabbit.”
“See? You’re getting the hang of this.”
Diamond gave a deadpanned look at the giggling unicorn filly. “That was one of the worst puns I’ve ever heard.”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and looked back up at the sky, spotting a cloud shaped like a duck. She figured they’d do something to pass the time while they waited for her friends to return. They took turns calling out what they saw, going at this game for at least ten minutes before Diamond Tiara had enough. “Can we please do something else?”
“Like what?”
Diamond tried to think of something they could do, though nothing of interest came to mind. Her thought process was interrupted when a couple of voices in the distance. She saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo approaching, followed closely by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Miss Rarity.
“Sweetie Belle?” Rarity approached the tree, looking up at her younger sister. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” the unicorn filly replied. “Just really sticky.”
“About time you two arrived,” Diamond said to the two crusaders below.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “And a fine hello to you, too, Diamond.”
"Apple Bloom told me you two were in a bit of trouble, so I decided to bring RD and Rarity for help,” said Applejack, patting her sister on the head. She was relieved to see the two fillies were okay, and the worst that’d happened to them was getting covered in leaves and tree sap. “Jus’ how’d you two end up like this in the first place?”
Sweetie Belle was nervous to answer her question, but decided against trying to keep it a secret. It was better to come clean now than having suspicion placed on her later down the road. “You know that hot-air balloon that’s usually tied down?”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Well… We thought we could get our cutie marks in skydiving, so we kinda took it.”
Rarity nearly fainted when hearing that. “Do you know how dangerous that is? You could’ve gotten yourself hurt—or worse!”
Rainbow Dash looked over at Diamond Tiara, who was just watching the entire thing unfold. She dangled from her parachute bag with her arms crossed, still waiting for somepony help her down. “So why are you here?” the pegasus asked.
“I lost a bet with Scootaloo,” replied Diamond, “so I had to come with them.”
Rainbow tilted her head at this. “You know you could’ve just ducked out, right?”
“Diamond Dazzle Tiara does not go back on her word. No matter how ridiculous the deal may be.”
The pegasus snickered. “Well alright, then. Let’s get you two down from there.”
Diamond Tiara sighed in relief. “Finally.”
Sweetie Belle felt an aura surround her body before being levitated to the ground in front of her sister. Rainbow Dash pulled Diamond Tiara away from her parachute bag, setting her safely on the ground. The pink filly quickly picked up her tiara and placed it back on her head where it belonged. Apple Boom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other before looking back at Diamond Tiara.
“Hey.” Apple Bloom called her attention. “Bet ya can’t last another crusade’n trip with us.”
“No! Never again,” Diamond quickly snapped. There was no way she was going near the CMC or their games for a while after this happened. “Now if you all will excuse me, I need to go home and take a bath to wash all this tree sap off.”
She headed down the path back towards town, not saying another word to the ponies behind her. After her unwanted experience being stuck in a tree, she wanted nothing more than to rest and relax at her house.
