...Doesn't keep the monsters away.
Applebloom was having a tough day. Thanks to her and her friends most recent exploits, she had accidently shirked her duties far more than once or twice and was met with a rather irritated Applejack. Not to mention she had come home covered in sap, debris, and other such nonsense for the umpteenth time. After a thorough shower and scrubbing, she had been bound, by obligation, to refrain from any more crusading until she had finished her chores for the day. And due to the ‘I’m older therefore have more power’ Rule, Applejack had told her that this was in effect indefinitely until stated otherwise.
To make a long story short...
“This sucks...” She muttered to herself, kicking a small pebble away. She was currently sitting on the porch of her home, grumbling to herself with pouted lips. Her friends had come by in the morning for an early start, only to be told the horrifying truth. When they realized she couldn’t go crusading, they told her they’d wait for her at the Treehouse until she was done, or until nighttime, but that didn’t need to be said.
Unfortunately for her, Applejack had yet to tell her her chores for the day. She’d only woken her up, gave her breakfast, a quick stinkeye, and told her to wait out on the porch. Although she did think Applejack was being a bit too punishing, she knew she was just trying to protect her.
‘Doesn’t help that this is already boring and it’s not even been ten minutes...’ She internally bellyached. Her thoughts were cut off when Applejack took a quick step out the door and let it close behind her. She trotted out in front of Applebloom and put a folded paper into her hooves.
“Here’s your list of chores you’ll be doing everyday. After you’re done, go tell Big Mac and you’ll be free to go.” Applejack said, frowning slightly at her sister’s forlorn expression. “Aw come on, Bloom, this ain’t nothing you haven’t done before. Besides, this isn’t that bad. Just your normal chores and a few others.” Applebloom sighed and looked up at Applejack with an annoyed expression. The look, although meant to be serious, only looked adorable in Applejack’s eyes. “This isn’t permanent, Bloom, just do this for a couple days and we’ll figure something out.”
Applejack walked over to the Apple Stand, hooking herself onto it. “Now, I’m gonna be in town all day so don’t forget to take a whistle if'n you go out into the woods. Y’all don’t want a nasty surprise, right?” Applejack joked, turning and trotting off towards the town, getting a perturbed expression in return.
Applebloom sighed and opened up the paper, groaning as she looked at the list. ‘Slop the pigs, feed the hens, blah blah blah, and yada yada yada... Ugh, why does this sound like so much more work than it is ...’ She thought, standing up to go and get to work.
The tasks had been quite simple, having done all of them before. The only problem that was seen was the unbroken monotony that came with every action. Alas, those had been the easiest of her chores, as when Applebloom looked back down at her list she discovered a rather unamusing assignment.
“Collect the apple baskets!?” She squeaked out, her eyes almost bulging. As if on cue, Big Mac walked up behind her with a small pushcart.
“Eeeyup.” He nudged the device towards her and chuckled as he saw her pout once more. “Don’t worry, this thing’ll make the work go ten times faster.”
“But isn’t this Applejack’s job?” She questioned, getting a nod from Big Mac.
“Eeyup.”
“And she thought because she wasn’t here, that I was grown up enough to do it myself?”
“Eeyup.”
“And there is no way out of this, is there?”
“Nnnope.” Applebloom sighed at her brother’s usual responses and reluctantly hitched herself up and wandered off towards the forest of trees, thankfully pointed in the right direction by her brother. The Task itself was easy enough.
Drag two or three buckets onto the cart, pull back to the barn, unload said cart, head back out, rinse, wash and repeat. But like all of her previous jobs, the monotony was starting to become unbearable. And to make matters worse, she’d only gotten ten buckets and there was still a whole field to cover. Unhitching herself, she stopped and sat down under the shade of one of the many trees.
“This is so dumb...” She muttered to herself, panting slightly from all of the walking and lifting she had done. Barely a minute had passed before she through her hooves into the air and shouted. “Gah! Ah just wish somethin’ would happen so ah didn’t have to do this!!”
The air whistled around her briefly, putting her on edge for a moment. When nothing happened minutes later, she looked back and forth through the woods, half-expecting to see Pinkie Pie or some other random pony to run through screaming their tail off about a monster. But when nothing happen, she merely accepted her fate and stood up.
As she began to load up more buckets, she heard the leaves slowly beginning to rustle. Turning her head, she saw nothing but the wind pushing the air around. Humming annoyedly to herself, she went back to her work. Only stopping when a loud thump was heard behind her. Then another, and another, and another. Her hoof to her neck, where a whistle should have been dangling from her neck, only to find that no such object was there.
She briefly contemplated turning and seeing if it was just Rainbow Dash and some rotten apples, but she would have said something by now. When snarls filled the air, she let out a loud shriek and began sprinting away, hearing the thunderous pounding of the earth as whatever was behind her gave chase. She looked over her shoulder as she passed into a small clearing, daring not to stop. Her eyes turned to dinnerplates as she saw a pack of adolescent Manticores, probably no bigger than Big Mac, tearing the earth apart and gaining on her.
She bobbed and weaved through the trees, trying to lose or at least disorient the beasts. She minorly succeeded until she felt her hoove tuck itself underneath a aboveground root, a loud and sickening pop filling the air. The world seemingly stopped as pain flooded her senses and she was roughly flung forward. As she hit the ground, she screamed in pain, her hoof swelling with agony and limply dangling. She whimpered and yelped with every feeble movement.
Tears poured from her eyes as she heard the deafening footsteps of her hunters. She cowered away, finding her back against a tree trunk and the monsters closing in on her. The lumbering Manticores began to circle her, each one licking their chops menacingly as they looked over her. She’d barely be a meal to them, but the Hunt was all that really mattered. Applebloom didn’t bother shrieking any more, her voice was too raw, and with her leg busted she couldn’t get away fast enough.
She didn’t take her eyes off of the Manticores until they stopped, gathering in front of her while the closest one sauntered over to her. She whimpered and whined, pushing back against the tree trunk as the beast came closer.
The mighty beast opened its jaws, the triple layered rows of teeth gleaming in the sunlight. And at that moment, she knew she was done for, giving one last loud shriek as the monster loomed over her.
Then, with a large splatter of blood and gore, the beast fell to his haunches, a deathly gasp entering the air. A second later, the beast fell, a rusty arrow planted firmly in its eye, gushing blood across the grass. The other Manticores snarled and whimpered at the sight of their pack leader defeated, frantically looking around for its killer. Applebloom herself had been covered in a small spray of blood, changing her butter yellow coat to a sickly red. Tremendous amounts of emotions filled her heart at the sight, but the only one that stuck was relief.
Then a loud clanking filled the air, followed by another chorus of clanking and another, joining together in unison to create a symphony of power. The sound grew louder and louder until three figures appeared to the left, each clad shimmering steel. Despite them clearly being alive, no flesh or meat was seen upon their withered bones, only luminescent eye sockets giving them the appearance of life.
The one in the middle hefted out a large silver sword, letting out a raspy snarl towards the beasts, as if challenging them. It was clad in the hide of a fallen Timberwolf and steel, the golden circlet upon its head showing it as the leader. The other two were only grunts by comparison, the one of the right carrying a bow and bound in leather, the other hefting a massive axe and layered in steel plates.
One of the Manticores snarled savagely and charged towards the leader, intent of dismembering the being, only to have the silver sword impale its throat and be pinned to the ground in one swift motion. The writhed on the ground, gurgling on its own blood. The Leader ripped the blade away before stabbing the beast again, then again, and again, continuing in such a manner until the monster stopped moving.
The final Manticore, now terrified with its tail lowered to the ground, turned and galloped away, only for the leader to point towards it and give a spectral scream. The other two skeletons nodded to their leader and charged forward, intent on slaying the final beast. As they ran off, the sounds of pain following them soon after, the leader walked over to Applebloom, the filly cowering away as best she could.
The towering figure stopped in front of her, sheathing its stained blade onto its hip before kneeling down to her side. Looking over her, it shook its head, its eyes flickering softly at her. Reaching out a skeletal hand, it pulled Applebloom closer, gently picking her up despite her squirming. She quickly settled down when its other hand tenderly grabbed her dislocated hoof. She whimpered and writhed slightly, trying to get away. She ultimately stopped as she released that she was still helpless as the day she was born.
It shook its head, briefly turning to snarl at the corpse in front of her. It set her back down, grabbing a nearby branch and holding it out to her. She only looked at it questioningly until the Skeleton lifted it up and bit into it, then pointed to her and held it out again. She hesitantly did as it showed, biting down onto the wood before she felt its hands go back to her hoof.
One took hold of her hoof and the other took hold of her foreleg, her eyes widening as she realised its intent. A quick and agonizing tug, a loud pop, and Applebloom screamed. Her wails were muffled by the branch she was clenching her teeth onto, the wood nearly snapping in her beartrap like bite. When it was over, she sobbed quietly while she felt the being wrap her hoof up in something.
Looking down, her hoof was in a makeshift splint, made from old cloth and plenty of other branches. It was primitive and sloppy, but it’d do until she found a real doctor. Nodding to itself, the Skeleton sat her up against the trunk and looked around, as if guarding her. It stood up quickly, and drew its sword as noise came from the trees in front of her. But when the heavily armored skeleton from before stepped out, holding something in its hands, it relaxed. The leader glanced over its soldier before looking down at what it had, a folded tattered leather garb with bow and quiver resting atop. The leader’s shoulder slumped slightly and a somber hiss filled the air. As the seen played out before her, she began to feel herself getting feel drowsy, the stress and shock of the event weighing heavily down upon her.
The last thing she heard was the faint call of her brother in the distance and a ear piercing screech from the skeletons.
Applebloom snorted awake as she opened her eyes, hissing quietly as she felt her tenderhoof protest. Opening her eyes, she saw her hoof in a cast and propped up on a set of pillows. Taking a glance around, she found herself in her own room, laying in her own bed. She let out a small yawn, lifting her other hoof to rub her eyes. As she did, she found it restricted, worrying her slightly. Turning her head swiftly, she saw Applejack’s tear stained face laying atop it, her hat tossed to the side.
The movement of her hoof drew the farmer awake, her eyes blinking open to reveal their bloodshot state. One look at Applebloom was all it took for her to launch from her spot and gather the filly up in a big, and crushing, hug.
“Oh Applebloom, ah’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!!” She wailed, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks. Applebloom, wheezed slightly, tapping Applejack’s arm for fresh air. When the apple mare eased up, but didn’t let go, she gave a small gasp and looked up at her.
“Applejack, what happened?” She asked, the memories of what happened flooding her mind. She remembered the chase, her hoof getting hurt, the skeleton things saving her, then nothing.
“Well, all I know is that Big Mac found ya out in the middle of the trees, covered in blood with a bunch of dead manticores surrounding ya!” Applejack sniffled out, rubbing her eyes briefly before looking back at her. “He didn’t said he didn’t see much other than that, just picked ya up and rushed you to the hospital. We brought you back here only a few hours ago.”
“But what about the-” She stopped herself. No one would ever believe that. ‘And even if they did, it would just cause a whole ‘nother mess of trouble.’ She thought. Shaking her head, she put a hoof to her temple. “N-Nevermind. I think I am just a bit shaken up.”
“A bit Shaken up!? Filly, you were attacked by three manticores and got away with a few stitches and dislocated hoof!! If you are just a bit shaken up, you are twice, no, ten times the mare I am!” Applejack boasted, making the filly smile and chuckle in response. In return, a smile worked onto her lips as well. She leaned her head down and carefully cradled her sister in her hooves. “I’m so sorry, Applebloom...”
The filly only returned to affection, nuzzling into her sister’s chest. “Nothin’ to be sorry about, you couldn’t a’known...”
The next few days Applebloom healed up, even got to walking around so she wasn’t cooped up in her room all the time. Applejack had been with her the entire time, making sure she was getting better and making sure that nothing went wrong. Her friends had come over when they had heard what happened, constantly hounding her for the story and how the monsters got taken down. Even Applejack’s friends had come by, wishing her to get better and leaving a few ‘get well’ gifts.
She had taken a seat out on the porch when everything had settled down and everyone had gone home. A cupcake was in her good hoof, a gift from Pinkie Pie of course, and she had to say that it was spectacular. She watched the sun set over the hills when Big Mac had come out and sat next to her, nuzzling her head quietly. She giggled slightly at the feeling and looked up at him. A tender smile was on his face as he sighed and hugged her with a hoof.
“You are a brave little filly you know that?” he said, making her grin a bit wider. He looked over his shoulder, seeing that Applejack had occupied herself with cleaning up and making sure to get everything ready for when she had to get back inside. Nodding his head, he reached under his yoke and pulled out a small silver ring hung on a black cord. “Your, uh... saver, gave this to you before I took ya to the hospital...”
Applebloom tilted her head curiously, before she gasped and whisper-yelled. “You saw them to-”
She was shushed by a hoof on her lips and a nod from Big Mac. “Eeyup.” She looked down at the ring and took it with her good hoof. It was just a simple silver band, nothing intricate, but whom it came from made it special.
“I guess we can’t tell no one about this or we’ll get thrown in the crazy house, huh?” She asked, getting a light chuckle from Big Mac.
“Nnope.” Applebloom gave a small snort before she started laughing, her brother soon joining in with her, happy everything was safe and sound.
In this distance, if one were to look closely, they could see the luminescent eyes of a towering figure hidden in the trees, a new set of trophies composed of stingers and teeth hanging from its belt. It gave a quiet hum of approval and slinked off into the night, its loud clunking steps followed only by one other set.
Author's Note
So yeah, hope you enjoyed my "Sequel". I really don't know what I am doing any more.
I BLAME PONIES AND SHADOW OF MORDOR!!
