Little Redd: the Lost Concept of Peace

Chapter One

Little Redd

KA-BOOM!

"Derpy, watch it!"

"Sorry!"

Rainbow Dash soared through the thick clouds, repeatedly kicking out the electricity within before being able to safely dispose of them.  Derpy worked above her, and as another bolt of lightning came dangerously close to Rainbow, she darted out of the way and began work above Derpy to avoid the ridiculously powerful Pegasus.  She could work quickly, she was just dangerous when she did.  She was simply unaware that apologizing couldn't heal a lightning burn.  Dash finished clearing the sky and, alongside Derpy, made her way back to Ponyville.  Along the way, the air between them filled with repeated apologies and reassurances.  Eventually, they left the fields north of Ponyville and landed in Ponyville Park.  They went their separate ways, with Derpy going to Sugarcube Corner for muffins and Rainbow Dash to Sweet Apple Acres to try to talk some cider outta Applejack.  Or Big Mac, whoever came first.

Rainbow Dash took off with less speed than usual, as she was feeling particularly lazy at the moment.  She drifted over the village, gazing down

on everypony with little concern for keeping a sharp eye on things.  Bon Bon was trotting around with Lyra, doing the usual whatever they did.  Rarity was just heading into the spa, and Dash shuddered at the sheer prissiness below.   Her attention turned towards Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing out of Sugarcube Corner with Derpy on her back chewing on a muffin.  Dash watched the buildings begin to thin before they vanished from her line of sight entirely, instead taken up by two dirt roads.  One wide and well used with ponies of all shapes and sizes using it for inter-city travel, the other of which drastically thinner and less trodden.  She followed the thinner path, keeping an eye on the ground directly below her, until she saw the front gates of Sweet Apple Acres through her mane.  She dipped down, and nearly collided with a tree as her hooves hit the ground a little too hard.

"Applejack?"

When no response came, she got a little louder.

"Applejack?"

A quirked expression met her features, and she approached the front door.  She opened it completely, met Applejack's eyes, and started talking.

"Hey, Applejack, could you-"

She stopped as she realized there was a scene playing out before her.  Applejack, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith were currently having lunch at the Apples' dining table.  But that's not what irked her.  An unfamiliar dark gray unicorn about her age with a mussed white tail and mane was mid-bite to a half-eaten daffodil sandwich, her deep red eyes focused on Rainbow Dash.  A thick streak of matching red ran from behind her right ear down through the center of her mane  A brown crosshairs adorned her flank, and she wore a golden loop over her front left ankle.

After a moment, RD broke the silence.

"Uh, hi, I'm Rainbow Dash."

The other mare, now composed, put down her sandwich, stood, and extended a hoof to Rainbow.

"Hullo, I'm Little Redd." she responded, smiling.

Rainbow Dash accepted the hoof-bump, only to recoil in surprise as Redd's Eastern accent reached her ears.

“You’re from Trottingham?”

Little Redd’s smile faltered the slightest.  If RD didn’t have naturally attentive eyes, she probably wouldn’t have caught it.

“Actually, I’m from a smaller town...”

Her eyes matched her voice as they trailed off a ways past Dash into the yard, before she turned back to Applejack.

“I must be going on now.  Thanks for the lunch, Applejack.”

Applejack’s attention had been on them the entirety of their short conversation.

“Oh, it’s a pleasure, Lil’ Redd.  Maybe later this week you an’ Ah can get together again.”

Redd flashed AJ another of her quick smiles.

“Perhaps.”

She nodded to Rainbow as she walked past, and made her way down the road awhile before turning out of sight.

Rainbow Dash turned back to Applejack.

“Who was that?”

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Redd sat in the floor, eyeing the large cauldron with disdain.  Zecora threw some other herb in the mix, and stirred it with her long wooden spoon.

“I understand your worries, Redd, but this brew should clear your head.”

Redd looked up at the wizened zebra with a cocked brow.

“I know it will help, I’ve drank it before.  It just tastes so horrible.”

Zecora smiled.

“Dearest Redd, everything comes with a price.  A bad aftertaste or your thoughts in a vice?”

Redd lowered her head.  The poet had a point.  Redd would much rather her mind remain calm than to constantly…

She shook the thought from her head, and looked back at Zecora.  Her mouth opened, ready to say something, before closing itself.

“Oh Little Redd dear, what is it you need me to hear?”

“N-nothing, Zecora.”

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The news had been going around for a few months, but everypony was frantically freaking out now.  Simply because a single band was coming to Canterlot.  Thousands of fans from several miles around was coming to the concert of the Red Hot Filly Peppers.  The ponies in the band had been playing since they were fillies, and they hadn’t bothered in changing their name since reaching maturity a few years ago.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity came willingly.  Applejack refused to come at all, and said she would rather hear it on a very miniscule level on her farm amongst the crickets while the concert was going on that night.

Fluttershy on the other hand, was terrified, and insisted on inviting Henry the bear.  Twilight cringed when she heard what they planned to drag her into, but still came.  Rainbow even helped Scootaloo into getting there.

They hung around Sweet Apple Acres before leaving, and once the sun hit the horizon, Rainbow Dash went to the bathroom and they left, bidding Applejack goodbye all the while quickly trotting off to the train station.  Applejack simply walked to the base of an old apple tree and lays down to listen to the evening swell over the horizon.  After her friends had been gone for a few hours, she heard a faint cheer as bass took over the distant cobblestoned streets, soon followed by drums and, in Applejack’s opinion, a terribly nasally singer.

She rose to her hooves, and trotted into Ponyville.  Heading into the marketplace, she saw Little Redd at the herbal booth.  Stepping up to greet her, Redd suddenly whirled on Applejack.

“Not now, Applejack!”

They both cringed back at the same time, both equally startled by Redd’s random outburst.  Little Redd threw her bits on the counter, stuffed her herbs in her saddlebags, turned on her heel and sped out of Ponyville towards the Everfree Forest.

Applejack was taken aback, from both the yelling and from Redd’s sudden departure.  She fought with herself, weighing the decisions against one another as hard as she could.  She turned to the herbalist, who shrugged, and just stood in the middle of the market, before sighing and going home to see about dinner.

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“I got—the herbs—like you—asked.”  She panted, stumbling into Zecora’s tree.  A worried look passed over the zebra’s face.

“Dearest Redd, you look near death!  What could have you so short of breath?”

Anger flashed across Redd’s face for a split-second, but she caught herself before she could spit anything vile.

“Nothing, Zecora.  Just get the potion done.”  She dumped her saddlebags on the floor and turned back out of the door.

“When I get back, it’d better be done.  That isn’t a threat.  It’s a warning.”

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Applejack poked her various fruits and vegetables about her plate, her head’s weight on her hoof, lost in thought.  She didn’t see it, but she could feel Granny Smith’s worried old gaze on her.  Finally, she broke the tension.

“Applejack, what’s the troubles, deary?”

She sighed.  Raising her eyes to her Granny, they moved to Big Mac, then to Apple Bloom.  She sighed again, and turned back to her grandmother.

“It’s Little Redd, Granny Smith.  She seems angry at somethin’, but Ah can’t figure it out.  She’s just—distant.”

Granny Smith smiled warmly.

“She’ll be just fine, Applejack.  If she’s got somethin’ apickin’ at ‘er, then let ‘er be, ‘less she decides to tell ya herself.  Otherwise, it’s prob’ly jest pers’nal.  No shame in bein’ pers’nal.  Ain’t that right, Macintosh?”

Big Mac’s eyes widened as his head leapt to attention.

“Ah, uh, er, I mean...”

He carefully composed himself.

“Eeyup.”

Applejack cocked her brow.  Her older brother only acted so nervous when Granny was really, really irked with him about something.

“Er, you alright, Big Mac?”

He hesitated.

“Eeyup.”

She didn’t bother hiding her doubt.

“Mhmm.”

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Rainbow Dash hovered above the crowd, arms pumping in the air not unlike her cider dance.  Scootaloo clung on to her head for dear life, the little filly’s wings twitching nervously.  Below her, Henry the bear had a clear circle around him, not because he was being aggressive, but just because, well, he was a bear.  Who wouldn’t steer clear?  Besides, of course, Fluttershy, who was on his shoulders screaming her head off.  Twilight was at the back of the crowd trying to focus on her books, while maintaining a consistent soundproof barrier around her.  Rarity was off somewhere, probably flirting.  Pinkie Pie had, at this point, managed to get on stage and dance the Pinkie way amongst the musicians, defying physics, blah blah blah, she’d heard it all before.  She would probably be getting arrested if Rainbow Dash hadn’t utilized her “bathroom” break back at the farm to snatch a barrel of cider, of which the band had too much of.  Their performance had suffered for it, but Pinkie Pie was there to compensate.  Just at the end of her favorite song, she leapt off the stage, vanished in an explosion of confetti, and reappeared in another pop of the colored paper right above Twilight, who was stunned amongst her books.  She could be easily heard over the music.

“How did you even do that!?”

Pinkie fell on top of her, her bubbly soul only able to keep her in the air for so long.

“Do what?” She asked happily.

”THAT!”

She wildly gestured to the general direction of her pile of books, which were empty binder-to-binder, the only remnants of the pages the confetti that exploded out of them.  Pinkie’s eyes widened.

“Oh…”

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