Unusable Story Husk

        Things were far from smooth sailing in Flim’s “car”. Considering that not a single one of the vehicle’s occupants have ever even been inside one, driving it was another story.

        It’s not that Rainbow’s steering was terrible. It’s that it wasn’t perfect while she drove through Ponyville.

        “Sweet Celestia, Rainbow! What in tarnation are you thinking?!” Applejack yelled. “Why didn’t you just go around? At this speed, you’re going to seriously hurt somepony!”

        Rainbow couldn’t hear a word Applejack said - nopony could. The loud noise the engine made was far too strong.

        “How on earth did Flim make something that can go so fast seem so weak? It looked more like a lumbering train beforehand,” Twilight mentioned. Again, the words were on deaf ears.

        On a stroke of luck, the vehicle faced no damage and caused no injury or deaths to other ponies, reaching the beginning of the mysterious road. An ominous feeling crept up inside the 6 friends, as the road led on seemingly into nowhere. As Rainbow stopped the car for everypony to think, a curious, dark coloured sight came into the distance.

        “A batpony? This might be dangerous. Why is there even a road here, doesn’t it seem a little too suspicious to drive on it? Especially with, you know, batponies?” Applejack cautioned.

        “Oh, come on Applejack! Batponies aren’t all dangerous, and we won’t stop there anyway! It’s good just to go on an adventure we aren’t even sure about!” Rainbow said.

        It sounded convincing enough for the other ponies, who nodded in agreement with Rainbow. That is, every pony except Rarity and Pinkie, who were hiding underneath the back seat making curious sounds away from prying eyes.

        “Well, at least most of us are interested in doing something other than slobber on each other. Hey, Twilight, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Rainbow said.

        A devilish smile appeared on Twilight’s face as a symbol of agreement.

        “Then hold tight, everypony!”

        “What?” Rarity and Pinkie called out in unison, but it was too late. The vehicle was speeding down the road, buckling them everywhere under the seat. There wasn’t any metal or sharp edges, but they were bruised enough to want to return to their seats shamefully.

        Satisfied with the lack of crude noises, Twilight focused hard on the gas pedal. Enveloping it with an aura of brilliant raspberry, the pedal was forcefully loosened. Rainbow did not seem amused.

        “Rainbow, we’re just going to take a look at the provisions Flim provided us. We don’t need to teach Pinkie and Rarity a lesson anymore, even if you like going fast. Speaking of which... Rarity, switch with Fluttershy. It’d put me more at ease if one of you two went in the front,” Twilight explained.

        Growling for different reasons, Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity all nodded sullenly as Pinkie and Fluttershy switched places and Rainbow loosened pressure on the pedal. As the speed of the vehicle slowed down to a regular pace, Applejack reached underneath the front seats, dragging out a fairly large briefcase with her hoof.

        “Wait just a second... aren’t things like food not found in briefcases? I see a bag of food underneath your seat, Rainbow, if you’ll care to open it. I’m curious as to what’s in here... drat, it’s locked!” Applejack said, revealing a long black case.

        Rainbow agreed, reaching down herself to drag out a large paper bag of food. Inside, there wasn’t too much variety, but it’d do for a night’s journey.

        “Some bread, apples, a couple containers of cupcakes, a jug of water... not too bad,” Rainbow revealed.

        “Rainbow, why are you looking in the bag?! You should be driving!”

        Rainbow dropped the bag in a hurry, worried at what she’d see outside the vehicle. To her surprise, it wasn’t too far off the road, but everypony was still shocked and gasped at where they were.

        There were resting batponies waking up all around them.

        “We can’t stop here! This is batpony country!” Pinkie pointed out.

“No kidding, Pinkie?” Rainbow said sarcastically. “Don’t worry guys, I’ll just back out of here slowly...”

        Before she was able to drive 2 feet, the batponies were awake and aware of the intruders. Rainbow hoofed the gas pedal in an attempt to escape, but the batponies now in hot pursuit were just as fast as the vehicle.

        “Don’t look back, Rainbow! Just go! I can’t possibly deal with those monstrously horrid things!” Rarity complained. "Pinkie, come and shield me from these creatures!"

"Will you shut up, Rarity? This is no time to be using Pinkie Pie for your own selfish reasons!" Applejack scolded Rarity.

Despite the predicament they put themselves in, Rarity grunted in dissatisfaction to the scolding.

Several batponies were all lined up, chasing after the vehicle in frustration. It’s not a great thing to awaken and find a loud machine disturbing your sleep. But there was something more disturbing the ponies could use…

"…I know how to get them off our tail!" Twilight exclaimed.

With another focused attempt to cast magic, Pinkie was enveloped in Twilight's aura and levitated over to Rarity.

"Kiss, you two! Make it juicy, and position yourselves so the batponies see you!"

Ecstatic with Twilight's acceptance of their love, Rarity and Pinkie shamelessly embraced each other close, tying their tongues together. The line of batponies saw the disturbing event and slowed down, preparing to retreat from the horrid sight.

"Yes! It's working! Keep it up, you two!"

Just when they were about to quit, Pinkie broke out of the passionate kissing.

"I'm sick of this, Rarity. I know you just use me for your own selfish needs!" Pinkie called out angrily.

"What? Me? There's no way I'd do such a thing! Now shield me from those beasts, will you?" Rarity replied.

Twilight sighed as she noticed the swooping noises coming from the line. They had seen that the two lovers had stopped and the batponies resumed their chase.

That is, until a gaping hole shot through the one in the middle scared them all off with a loud bang.

"Holy Celestia! Where did that come from?" Twilight called out.

Looking to the front, Applejack wielded a curious device smoking from the end. It had two long tunnels attached to a handle Applejack had fastened to her shoulder, hoof close to a push lever near the center of the object. Her expression was just as shocked as anypony else's.

"What… what is that, Applejack?" Fluttershy asked, a slight bit scared.

"Well, that briefcase I had needed a key to open it, which turned out to be taped at the bottom. I unlocked the case and discovered this peculiar thing, so I read this sheet while we were amongst the batponies over back there. It seems to be written instructions by Flim, I'll read them out to you."

Hey Darius,

Hopefully you got this gun if I forgot to hand it to you. It's my newest creation, featuring two barrels where I load in shells I've supplied in the case. Once they're loaded, all you have to do is aim through the circle I attached to the front, and push the lever. It'll shoot the shells at a quick speed, going through most things in it's path. I call it the "shellgun". It works, I assure you. I "tested" it on my brother a while back, and it was a success! Just remember to pay me the next time you go through Fillydelphia or Ponyville.

Thanks,

Flim

Silence.

"…Well, I guess he's a little more sinister than we thought."

"You said it, Applejack," Rarity agreed.

"Yeah, what a jerk!" Pinkie joined in.

"Uh… you want to go back and fight him? He probably has his own stuff to attack ponies with. We might as well wait until tomorrow when he'll be gone," Fluttershy suggested.

"Nah, he said it's new. I bet he can't make them that quickly. I'm all for going, this trip is looking pretty dull so far anyway, as long as- oh wait, let's stop here for a second!" Rainbow said, pointing her hoof at a small building on the side of the road.

It wasn't anything fancy. The windows were cracked, the door was loose, and the gray colt sitting on the porch had a bitter look to his face.

"Hey, stranger! Do you need a ride out of this place?" Twilight called out to the colt.

Whispering, Rainbow pulled Twilight's head down and took her hoof off the pedal.

"What are you thinking? He must be some sort of criminal, preying on helpless travellers that may come this way! How else could he survive out here? I see nothing but empty fields of dead grass out here!"

"We need to let him come with us, he might know something about this curious road and can provide some info for mapping or building purposes! Think, Dash!" Twilight replied.

Rainbow grumbled obnoxiously, but didn't stop Twilight from appraoching the colt.

The others soon followed, taking cautious steps. The owner of the house didn't seem like the friendly kind that would be happy with a disturbance. Applejack had similar suspicions with Rainbow to the colt's purpose here, putting the shellgun inside the food bag and bringing it over with her.

"Who goes there? Are you ponies friends with Fl-"

"Hello, stranger. We noticed you seemed stuck out here, and we wanted to offer you a ride back to Ponyville to help you on your way!" Twilight explained.

The colt was not amused, having been interrupted by a mare he had never met before. Despite this, he worked out a few things in his mind before speaking again.

"Alright. This place is a dump, and that jerk Flim dropped me off here when I had witnessed him murdering his brother," the colt explained.

Everypony but Twilight was suspicious of the situation, considering Flim hasn't killed him yet.

"It's probably so he doesn't waste those 'shell' things, guys," Twilight whispered to her friends.

"Here, me an' Rainbow Dash here will get your bags for you if ya'll want. They're inside, right?" Applejack inquired.

"Yeah. Not sure why you folks are helping me out, but it's a kind favour you're doing for me. I'll hop in the front if you ponies want," the colt said.

Twilight nodded in agreement, allowing him to take her spot while she hopped in the back, pressed against Rarity and Fluttershy. Pinkie hopped in the front, leaving Rainbow's spot as driver open and Applejack's spot in the back.

"While Rainbow and Applejack are off getting whatevr possessions you have, I would like to ask you a few questions about Flim. First-" Twilight started.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't care," the colt responded.

He shoved Pinkie against the door to the vehicle, starting the car himself and pressing hard against the gas pedal.

Applejack and Rainbow stood outside the house with a few bags, mouths gaping wide at the retreating vehicle. The other 4 in the vehicle were just as shocked, going too fast to safely hop out of the car.

"So long, losers! I'll keep these 4 ponies for now, Flim might want them. Name's Darius, by the way!" Darius called out, driving away down the road.

Rainbow and Applejack dropped the bags in shock, a little too exhausted from being awake all day to chase after the vehicle.

There was only one word somepony could think about in a situation like this.

Buck.