The Kings of Clopton

“So Applejack, who we goin’ to meet next?” Asked Shock, obviously bored out of his mind.

“Well, iffin’ ya must know, we’re goin’ to see mah friend Fluttersha.” Applejack said, again, resisting the urge to buck Shock in the teeth.

“Don’t mind him Applejack, he never was one to try and keep on a leash, you’ll get used to it after a while… Although, getting a leash for him might not be a bad idea…” Said Ulfric, grinning madly at the opportunity to embarrass his rude friend.

“Cmon guys, can we please just stop fighting for maybe MORE than 5 minutes at a time? I mean, seriously, for Celestia’s sake!” Said Traz, fed up with the arguments.

“Oh no! Look out! That badass from earlier is back! Run!” Said Shock, laughing full-heartedly at this point, embarrassing Traz and making him turn a bright red.

“Don’t listen to him sugarcube, he’s just foolin’…. I hope.” To which Applejack shot Shock another one of her trademark glares, yet again.

“Well if he isn’t fooling around, I think it’d be a perfect opportunity to see how much stronger I am after that hike on the way here from Clopton, don’t you think Shock?” Ulfric said, cackling, as Shock turned a shade of pale and immediately began to shake his head as if to say no.

“Wait a minute…. Is that… The Everfree Forest!” (Insert dramatic music here.) Traz said, turning as pale as Shock was only a few moments ago.

“Eeyup, that’s it alright. But don’t worry, Fluttersha only lives on the outer edge of thaEverfree, we won’t be goin’ inside anytime soon if I got anything to say bout it.” Said Applejack, more or less saying that to assure herself if no pony else.

“An here we are! Fluttersha’s cabin. She’s pretty shy, so lemme go talk to her before ya’llcome say hi.” Applejack spoke, trotting up to Fluttershy’s cabin.

“Oh, no, Applejack, we thought Fluttershy was brave, as if her name didn’t imply that she was shy.” Ulfric said, chuckling slightly to himself, or at least he was, until he got hoof-smacked across the face, courtesy of Applejack.

“Oh great, we gotta shy one, I’m probably gonna have to convince her not to be afraid of these big ol’ guns over here.” Shock began to flex his almost non-existent muscles, getting a sigh of disapproval from his other two companions.

“Shock, if you were muscular, why did you run away from that bear we found on the way here, when it hadn’t even NOTICED us?” Questioned Traz, annoyed once more by Shock’s behavior.

“Well… Um… You see….” But he was cut short as a carrot seemingly came out of nowhere, hitting him between the eyes, which caused him to let out a yelp in pain.

“Oww…. What in the buck was that?” Said Shock, looking over his two companions, but after seeing they had no access to carrots, he looked over to where the carrot had originally come from, seeing a white bunny with several carrots and looked as if he was ready to fight the stallions with them.

“Oh you little…” Shock trailed off, approaching the bunny with a murderous look in his eyes. The bunny didn’t waver though, and when Shock got close enough the bunny jumped up, kicked him in the face, and proceeded to stab at him with the carrots. After about 5 minutes of this, (Which involved Ulfric and Traz laughing until they had no breath left.) the door to Fluttershy’s cabin opened, and out came Applejack shadowed by an adorable pastel pegasus. Even Shock stopped his wailing to look at her, the sense to hug the life out of her becoming hard to resist.

“Well, Fluttershy, how about ya introduce yerself to our new friends’ ova here?” Applejack said, nudging the pegasus out from behind her and closer to the stallions.

“Oh.. Hello… I’m Fluttershy….” Said Fluttershy, in a voice so light you could barely hear it, but before any of them could respond, she noticed Angel’s stabs at Shock with the carrot.

“Oh nonono Angel bunny, you shouldn’t hurt strangers!” Fluttershy said, rushing over to Traz and scooping up Angel in her arms, taking him back to her house and letting him inside. All of the stallions simply stood, jaws dropped, as she walked back over, albeit, much more timidly.

“Fluttershy… I know this is going to sound weird, but…. Could I hug you?”Traz said, noticeably restraining himself from already doing so.

“Umm… I… okay…” Fluttershy said, he face going beet red in a matter of seconds. Traz let out a shriek that sounded demonic in every way, and took no time in rushing over, and scooping up Fluttershy in the biggest bear hug Equestria had ever seen. Everyone besides Fluttershy, who was currently caught up in being hugged, gaped at Traz, as he hugged the life out of the shell that once held a Fluttershy. After about 5 minutes of this, Traz let go of Fluttershy and had the biggest smile anyone had ever seen on him before, but after realizing what he had just done, his face immediately went red and he reverted to his shy persona.

“Oh… I… I’m sorry, but Fluttershy, you are probably the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my entire life. If you don’t mind me saying that is…” Fluttershy, while visibly calmed by this, still retained a beet red face and shaky hooves.

"Well uh... that was different.." Said Ulfric, still stunned by Traz's random act of affection.

"Woooo! Get some Traz! Yeah buddy!" Said Shock, now hoof-pumping the air, but he was cut short when Ulfric's hoof found his way to Shock's face, sending him colliding into yet another tree.

"Anyways.... I'm Ulfric, the colt who just hugged the crap out of you was Traz, and over there under that tree is Shock, sent there expense free from my hoof." Ulfric said, finally regaining his composure.

"Oh... Um... It's nice to meet you all... Would you like to come inside for a cup of tea?" Fluttershy said, finally starting to accept what had happened. Ulfric smiled, seeing that his friend had not caused too much damage... Hopefully.

"That sounds wonderful Fluttershy, would you kindly lead the way?" Asked Ulfric, giving a small wink to Traz as Fluttershy turned, exposing her flank for Traz to take in.

Applejack finally snapped out of it, and decided it would be better to just forget what had happened, following Ulfric into the cabin. Shock groggily got up from his temporary resting place, waddling over to the cabin, still recovering. By the time they were all seated, Fluttershy had already set the table and began drinking her tea.

"Thank you for the tea Fluttershy, it looks lovely." Ulfric said, and he wasn't lying, this was probably the best drink he had in months, seeing as in Clopton they had to purify their own water over a fire or a stove.

"Oh... Um... It's really nothing... just some herbal tea I learned how to make from Zecora..." Fluttershy said, still not accustomed to having vistors in her home. They again had an awkward silence, when Shock broke it by saying,

"Well Fluttershy, this was lovely, but I do believe it's time we hit the old dusty trail." This earned him a glare from Traz, who had obviously taken a liking to Fluttershy.

"Oh! But we couldn't leave so soon after just meeting you Fluttershy, I'd like to get a tour of your lovely abode." Traz retorted, earning a similar glare from Shock, that simply said, "Buck you".

"Sure... That is... if you don't mind walking around a little bit I could show you to my animals." Traz nodded furiously, and they went off, leaving Applejack, Shock, and Ulfric by their lonesome. Applejack was the first to talk up.

"You're gonna make sure he doesn't do anythang drastic right? We all see how he's lookin' at Fluttersha." Applejack said, making sure to add emphasis to her point.

"You have nothing to worry about Applejack, we'll keep him in line. Plus, I doubt Fluttershy will accept his advances anyway." Ulfric said, waving a hoof dismissively in her direction. Applejack was about to retort when the front door opened, and the two walked in talking about animals and whatnot, which forced her to stay her tongue.

"Alright, I'm ready, lets head out Applejack." Spoke Traz, seemingly pleased with his visit. Without saying much, the quartet exited the cabin, and headed off into the distance where Sweet Apple Acres was located. When they were approaching the front entrance, Shock said something loud enough for them all to hear.

"Traz, my stallion, I respect you now. You are totally going after Fluttershy! You get that tail colt! Woohoo!" The last thing Shock noticed was a certain orange hoof slamming into his face and pain racking through him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm SOOO sorry for this chapter being so late. With finals and all recently, along with some birthdays, I haven't had much time to write. GOOD NEWS THOUGH, Finals are over, and Rainbow Dash is going to be writing a horror story soon! Woohoo! Thanks readers, hope you liked the chapter! :D