Mammoth Journey

Mammoth Journey
By: Strelet9

Dawn began creeping up on the sleepy little town of Ponyville. The sun's rays barely shown over the mountains. But, it gave off a pink-purple hue as the morning twilight slowly gave way to the brightness of the morning sun. This alpine glow could be seen for miles around. Truly, it's a sight to behold - granted, that every pony was awake enough to see it. But, nowhere was this view more spectacular, then in the rolling hills of Sweet Apple Acres.

At least, that's what Applejack thinks.

The country mare stood at the crest of the hill and gazed at the immense orchard that stretched across her family's farm. She can see the long rows of apple trees; all sporting very ripe apples of every size and color. To the young mare, it was as if the trees were begging to be bucked!

Applejack took a deep breath of the cool, dry air, let out a resounding "Eeeyah!" and charged down the hill towards the apple orchard. Galloping at full speed, she was able to pick the first tree she wanted to buck. Then, turning sharply to the left, Applejack came to a screeching halt at the nearest tree and gave it a good kick. That, alone, is enough to shake the apples off the tree and into the baskets that she and her brother, Big Mac, had set up the day before. Satisfied with the first batch, she quickly went to another tree and gave that a really good kick.
She repeated the same routine with several more trees; before breaking out into a sweat. Applejack checked the skies above her and noticed it is slowly getting brighter.

"Sun must be comin' up fast", she thought. It would be a matter of time before Granny Smith and the rest of the family wakes up and gets breakfast ready. Her stomach growled at the mere thought of food.
"Whew! Looks like Ah worked mahself up an appetite!" Applejack said, patting her belly.
The orange mare looked around the orchard for a bit. There were so many trees that needed to harvested. But, she knew didn't have enough time to buck all of them (her stomach wouldn't allow her to continue). But, then again, the sun itself was beginning to show, as it rose over the mountains. That meant she still have some time to finish the job.

"Ah! What the hay!" Applejack exclaimed. "Ah'll buck one more tree!"

Even though she's tired from all of the running, Applejack still had enough energy to walk up to the nearest tree and give it the bucking of a lifetime. She raised her hind legs, building up some tension in her muscles as she did so, and then released that energy in one mighty kick. After that, the country mare felt very proud of herself. But...something didn't feel right.

Instead of feeling the hard wood of the apple tree, her hoofs touched something soft. And, instead of hearing the hard knock that one usually hears when hitting wood, it felt as if she was pulverizing a flour bag.
"What in tarnation.." Applejack pondered as she slowly turned to see the "tree" she just smacked. It wasn't long before her suspicions were proved correct. Because, just then, the "tree" roared with a sound so defining, that it scared the poor mare out her skin!

"WAH!!!!"

She spun around quick and saw the largest beast she had ever seen! It stood at about three and a half meters tall and is covered from head to foot in brown fur. Its two massive tusks gleamed in the morning sun and it had a long, snakelike, snout in front of its face. And, most frightening of all, was that the roars and trumpeting made the creature sound more like a....

"E-e-e-elephant?!"

Applejack couldn't believe what she was seeing! She had seen an elephant only once; when she saw the circus for the first time as a filly. But, the ones she saw were hairless and well trained. This one's really...furry and had a very bad temper! For a brief second, she regretted giving its leg a good, hard kick. But, she didn't have time to think much about it. For, at that moment, the hairy beast flew into a rage! It wrapped its trunk around an nearby apple tree, pulled it out of the ground, and threw it at Applejack!

Luckily, the quick thinking mare was able to dodge the falling tree, as it landed on the ground with a mighty crash. Normally, she would face anything that threatened her head-on. But, after what she just saw, the only plan she could think of was to run! So, with that in mind, Applejack ran as fast as her legs can carry her.
She didn't stop for a second look. It was a wise choice, because the enraged, furry elephant was in the process of hurling another tree at the fleeing pony. But, this tree fell short of its target and, once again, Applejack is lucky to be alive. But, this was no time to celebrate. She had to find her family; And quick!

"Gotta...warn...everypony!"

Applejack panted heavily as she neared the farmhouse, where her family was, at that very moment, coming out to see what the commotion was about. The tired country pony didn't stop running until she reached the porch; only collapsing as she came within inches of the porch steps. Seeing this, the Apple family quickly rushed to help her.
Big Mac is the first to come to her aid. The large, red stallion reached out and gently helped his sister back onto her hooves. Then, Granny Smith came and, after taking a quick look at her granddaughter, called out to the red-maned filly, her youngest granddaughter, who's standing next to her.

"Applebloom! Go inside an' geet some water!"

The little filly responded quickly and rushed into the house. Then, the old green pony put her hoof around Applejack, who was wheezing and sweating from every pore in her body. She can see the terrified look on her face and realized that she must have been through a lot. Never has she seen her granddaughter look so scared and exhausted since the the day she watched her parents pass away.

"Alright, hon.." Granny Smith said softly. "Just take deep breaths."

Applejack followed her grandmother's instructions and started to slow down her breathing. Already, she began to feel her pulse slowing down significantly. And, just when she felt her throat starting to dry, Applebloom had arrived with a cup of cold water. Immediately, she grabbed the cup with her hooves and drank its contents greedily.
After Applejack sipped the last drops, Granny Smith asked: "What in Celestia's name is goin' on?" Before she could respond, Applejack took a big gulp. Still out of breath, she tired to tell them what she saw.

"Big...*gasp*..hairy elephant...*cough*..in the..*gulp*...orchard."

The rest of the Apple family looked at each other. They were having hard time taking in what Applejack just said. They didn't doubt her honesty. But, this seems too fantastic to be true. An elephant? In Equestria?! True, they are some in the city zoos and circuses. But, there weren't any that roamed around here (especially, not a hairy one!)
But, before any of them could ask Applejack for more details, they heard the distinct trumpeting of an elephant from the orchard beyond. Now, they knew that Applejack is telling the truth. The entire family was shocked, except for Applebloom, who is particularly excited. "Holy cow!" She exclaimed. "There really is an elephant in our orchard!" The little filly knew she was going to have a lot of fun telling her friends and classmates about the big, hairy elephant that's on their farm.
But, the feeling of excitement was short lived. From a distance, the Apple family were horrified to see one of their prized apple trees fly high into air and come crashing back down to earth. As it did so, a resounding wail echoed across the valley. From what they can tell, the creature was mighty mad! At this rate, it could destroy their entire farm; no! Their entire livelihood! This is more than Granny Smith can take.

"BIG MAC!" She yelled as hard she could.

"Eeyep?"

"Go to th' barn an' geet as much rope as ya can!"

"Eeyep!" Big Mac acknowledged and galloped towards the barn.

Applejack was horrified!

"But Granny!" She protested. "Ya'll don't know what we're dealin' with here!"

Granny Smith glanced at her eldest granddaughter and sighed.

"Ah know, darlin'. But, we ain't got no choice: that critter has got to go!"

As the elderly pony walked towards barn, Applejack couldn't help but gazed at Ponyville, which was only a mile away from the farm. She thought about going into town and asking her friends for help. But, she knew that most of them weren't exactly morning ponies and trying to wake them up would be like trying to wrestle with a hog. Plus, she didn't want her friends to get hurt by that...thing. But, there's a bit of her stubborn pride at work here. As far as Applejack was concerned, this was a family affair and they will handle this, like any other problem they faced.
Still, Applejack was worried about the trouble this incident would cause, if it wasn't taken care of soon. The country pony could only look at the peaked roofs of the houses, which were still shrouded in the morning twilight, and sighed.

"Ah sure hope this doesn't wake up the rest o' the town."