The Farm Girl and the Drake

Within a few minutes, two guards in a barred wagon arrived at the farm. Miss Harshwhinny told them about Spike and they went to the cellar and rushed him into the wagon.

“And if you want my advice, you’ll destroy that animal at once!” Miss Harshwhinny told them.

“Don’t worry, Ma’am,” the senior officer said. “We’ve been after this one for months. We’ll take care of him.”

For the first time in his life, Spike had been caught and was taken off to be executed.

Suddenly, Applejack heard familiar voices outside.

“Ma, Pa, Granny, look!”

“What do you suppose...?”

“Mom! Pa! Big Macintosh! They’ve come home!” AJ thought. “At last!”

“What’s going on here?” Bright Mac asked one of the guards.

“Just picking up an intruder, sir,” the senior officer replied. “Caught him attacking the baby. Come on, giddup!” he told the horse as he cracked his whip.

“Good heavens!” Bright Mac exclaimed.

“Apple Bloom!” Pear Butter gasped.

“Applejack!” they all called out.

At the same time, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy watched from behind the bushes as Spike was taken away.

“Well, there he goes,” Rainbow Dash said. “I knew he was no good the moment I laid eyes on him!”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy replied in agreement as they walked up to the house. “But I never thought he would do a thing like that.”

Miss Harshwhinny told Applejack’s parents her side of the story as soon as they came in.

“Thank goodness I got there in time,” she explained. “There they were, in the baby’s room, and she was right beside him--”

“I’m sure there’s some mistake,” Bright Mac said. “I know Applejack wouldn’t do anything like that.”

“Where is Applejack?” Big Macintosh asked.

Applejack threw herself against the closet door, trying to get out, and within a few seconds, Big Macintosh opened the door and AJ jumped right into his arms.

“AJ, what’s going on?” he asked. “What happened?”

Big Macintosh knew that she had the answer and Applejack knew that she had to act fast. She knew that she couldn’t just explain what had happened. She would have to show them the dead Timberwolf.

“They will understand if they see it,” she thought.

She jumped past everyone and ran up the stairs, hoping they would follow her.

“Watch out!” Harshwhinny shouted. “Stop her! She’ll hurt the baby!”

“Nonsense! She’s trying to tell us something!” Big Macintosh replied. “What is it, sis?”

They followed Applejack down the hall, her brother at her heels, and she led them straight to the dead Timberwolf that lay half-hidden under the chair in Apple Bloom’s room. Big Macintosh lifted the curtain.

“Ma! Pa! Granny! Come quick!” he shouted.

“What is it?” Bright Mac asked.

“A Timberwolf!” Pear Butter cried.

Miss Harshwhinny nearly fainted.

Meanwhile, downstairs and outside the house, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the Dazzlings heard Pear Butter scream. And they realized they all had been wrong about Spike.

“A Timberwolf!” Fluttershy shrieked. “We should have known.”

Rainbow Dash felt ashamed.

“I misjudged him,” she admitted. “Badly.”

Even the Dazzlings felt terrible.

“What’re we going to do?” Adagio asked.

“There must be something we can do to help,” Sonata said.

Fluttershy had a plan.

“Come on!” she exclaimed as she grabbed Winona’s leash. “We’ve got to stop that wagon!”

“But we don’t know which way they went,” Aria said.

“Winona will track ‘em down!” Fluttershy told them.

“And then what?” Rainbow Dash asked, almost flustered.

“We hold them. Hold them at bay,” Fluttershy said, almost darkly. “We have to help him. He may be a Dragon, but he is a good one!”

With Rainbow Dash and the Dazzlings by their side, Fluttershy and Winona took off, down the lane and through town, on the wagon’s trail.

They stopped at a four-way intersection.

“Now what?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“The scent, Winona,” Fluttershy said. “Follow the scent, girl.”

Winona started sniffing the ground and Rainbow Dash shrugged in exasperation.

“Let’s face it, girl,” she said. “We all know you’ve lost your touch.”

Fluttershy looked her best friend right in the eye and glared at her. And suddenly, Rainbow Dash was filled with fear.

The Stare was back!

A few more seconds of sniffing and Winona let out a bone-chilling howl.

She had caught Spike’s scent!

“Don’t you see?” Bright Mac shouted. “That boy wasn’t attacking Apple Bloom. He was helping Applejack protect her! Which is a lot more than I can say for you!”

“I thought they were after the baby!” Miss Harshwhinny said.

“Well, where is he?” Pear Butter asked.

“Oh, no!” Harshwhinny exclaimed. “They already took him away! I just sent him to be—!”

Granny Smith looked at Harshwhinny with an icy stare and spoke in a calm, low and patient tone, enunciating every word clearly and precisely, as if she were speaking to an idiot.

“I am going to save that boy. And when I come back I trust that you will be ready to leave. Am I clear?”

Miss Harshwhinny swallowed hard, blinked, and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

Granny Smith hurried outside. Applejack helped her into the wagon while Big Macintosh hitched up the horses and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“You’re coming with us!” he told Applejack. “We’ll find your friend. He saved our sister’s life. It’s the very least we can do,” he said as they left the farm.

They sped off, on the trail of the paddy wagon.

In the wagon, Applejack began to worry that they might be too late. From the back seat, Granny Smith placed a hand on her granddaughter’s shoulder and said, “You did your job well, just as I knew you would.”

“I just hope I can do it again,” Applejack said softly. “Faster! Please hurry!” she called to her brother.

At last, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the Dazzlings sighted the paddy wagon ahead, with Spike watching them through the bars.

“I’ll head them off,” Fluttershy told Rainbow Dash as she ran straight in front of the horses.

Barking and leaping about, Winona spooked the horses, causing them to rear up. Then, the armored carriage swayed, tipped over and crashed—right onto Fluttershy!

Applejack, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh finally caught up with the paddy wagon. Big Macintosh explained to the guards that Spike didn’t belong in jail and Applejack ran around the back.

“It’s all been a terrible mistake,” Big Macintosh said.

“Spike! Are you hurt?” Applejack asked.

“I’m fine,” he answered.

Then Applejack heard Winona whimpering. She ran around the carriage and saw Fluttershy pinned, motionless, underneath the wagon wheel.

Rainbow Dash fell to her knees and wept and Winona let out a howl.