Chapter 9: Trusting Applejack.

Chapter 9: Trusting Applejack.

~Farmer Bonsai and the girls travelled at least 20 miles from the farm, but the farmer easily knew the way back. They constantly crouched behind rocks so no one would see them. Finally, looking into the distance, they see a massive group of cattle munching on the grassy fields all alone, no rustlers insight, strangely.~

"That's my herd, alright." The farmer stated.

"But...I don't see any rustlers…" Lightning whispered.

"They're out there. Somewhere." Applejack said with a stern look on her face.

~Applejack and the farmer started skulking closer to more rocks up ahead while the others looked at each other before lurking on. Once everyone was close enough to the herd while remaining hidden, the Farmer came up with a plan while feeling stoked.~

"Y'all, I got a job for you to do."

"...Ok?"

Bonsai stared at the herd. "Do you think one of you can hoot and holla over on that rock to cause attention to make sure the rustlers are out there?"

Lightning looked skeptical. "Huh?"

"He wants one o' us to get on top o' that large rock and scream."

~Applejack points to the spiked rock wedged in the middle of the herd.~

"...So! Which one of us is going to hoot and holla over there!?" Pinkie asked, rubbing her hands together.

"Depends, which one of us is the bravest?" Twilight asked.

"...I want to say you, Lightning." Rarity gestured over to Lightning.

"Wha-why me?" Lightning asked, acting surprised.

"Remember when we were swallowed by that iguana? Every one of us was terrified, except you." Sunset reminded her.

She scoffed. "Still doesn't prove anything!"

Rainbow shrugged. "I can do it. No problem!"

~Rainbow starts to make her way over to the rock and through the herd. But suddenly one of the cows' snorts and charges. This startles Rainbow and she yelps and jumps back behind the rock.~

"Heh. Are ya sure 'bout that, Rainbow Dash?" Applejack chuckled.

Rainbow stands up properly and fixes herself. "It...It was sudden! Lightning, you do it."

"I really don't want to! Plus, I'm not the kind of girl that...screams. I mean, I can yell and shout, but-"

"That's 'll ya have to do." Applejack interrupted. "Stitch will go with ya too."

"Ih!"

"...What if there are more than four rustlers?" Lightning frightfully whispered.

"Don't overthink it. Just go. Make a signal so we 'll know when to help ya out."

~Stitch ascends on Lightning's shoulders again and Applejack lightly thrusts Lightning over the rock that they're hiding behind and gestures that she should get moving. She takes a few steps forward but looks back for another option.~

"You sure you don't want Fluttershy or Rarity to do it?" She smiled uneasily.

"Go!" Applejack glared.

"Fine."

~Lightning rolls her eyes and makes her way to the rock. She skulks through the grass, trying hard not to touch and startle any of the herd so they will go running in fear. Stitch was also trying to not touch anything as he tried to stay on Lightning's back. Once Lightning made it to the top of the rock, she puts her hand over her eyebrows to shade her eyes from the sun and to look upon the herd. Stitch sat beside Lightning on the rock and waits for Lightning to yell. Lightning takes a deep breath and opens her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a soft whiny shriek on low volume that nobody could hear from a mile away.~

"What was that, Lightning?" Stitch asked, while glaring disappointingly.

"I told you: I'm not the kind of girl that screams bloody murder over here. No matter what the situation is."

~Lightning attempts to yell again but the same soft whiny sound comes out again. Stitch looks with disapproval and decides to help Lightning.~

"Okay, let's speed this along…" Stitch grabs Lightning's leg.

"Wait, what are you doing-"

~Stitch pulled up a part of Lightning's jeans to show her right leg. Then, Stitch opened his mouth, showing his sharp canines, and bit into the leg.~

Lightning shrieked. "AHHHHHHOWWWWWW!"

~Stitch backs away as Lightning collapses to the ground, clutching her leg. She looks at the wound, getting a little bit of blood on her hands.~

"Ah! Stitch!" Lightning glared at the puppy.

"It's ok. I didn't bite that hard."

"STILL hurt! Ah-OH, that hurts like a-Mmph!" She groaned and gasped.

~Before Lightning could yell at Stitch some more, she hears and sees a rustle in the grass. Stitch springs on Lightning's shoulders in fear and Lightning springs up on her feet. They both stare at the rustle in confusion until they hear more of them hurtling towards them. Lightning and Stitch kept darting their eyes back and forth until Lightning turns to see one of the rustlers right in her face.~

"Howdy."

"Ah-Whoa!"

~The rustler looked at Lightning straight in the eyes as he said that. He had purple eyes, just like Twilight's, and he had a ten-gallon hat with a purple stripe around it. He had an intense mouth, that was smiling at Stitch and around it was a shaven ginger moustache to go with his ginger hair. His gang were four more men and one countrywoman, and they all had the same angry expression as he did.~

"What do ya think ya doing, girly?" The rustler asked pretty aggressively.

"Uh...well…" Lightning clenched her fists and stood her ground.

"What does it look like she's doing, boys?"

"Looks like she's trespassing…" The female rustler answered him.

"And what do we do with trespassers?"

"We dispose of them!"

"Well, actually, I'm here to take back this herd you stole from Farmer Bonsai!" Lightning jabbed.

"Hm...that's an even better excuse to kill you!"

~The rustler pounces on Lightning and hits her off the rock but she tosses him off of her using her feet. She gets up by pressing her hands down on the floor and pushing them back up again and lands on her feet. She needed the others to come out of hiding now and help, so she calls for them.~

"Uh-Uh…they never said what the signal is...uh...Ca-caw! Ca-caw!" Lightning yelled while waving her arms in the air.

"Uhh...Was that supposed to be the signal?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

Pinkie smiled and yelled. "Yeah! Ca-caw! Ca-caw! Charge!"

~Pinkie was the first to athletically jump over the rocks and run into battle with her left arm raised up high, screaming along the way. The rest also immediately jump in too, leaving Farmer Bonsai to only watch them take care of it, hoping they will survive. They arrive at Lightning's side only to realise, they don't know what to do next.~

"Maybe we should have thought this through." Sunset stated.

Fluttershy nodded. "Hm...We're not ready for a fight…"

Applejack suddenly groaned. "We got powers, y'all. 'Bout time we used 'em!"

~Applejack punches her fists together and glows orange. Her super strength was being activated and she was ready to take on anybody. So, when one of the rustlers charged at the girls, Applejack ferociously flung him far off into the sky. He landed with a thud, but not on the ground. Instead, he landed on the back of a cow, and it went insane! It grunted, it snorted and started to sprint, causing even more cattle around it to sprint and follow it. No doubt about it, The Rainbooms caused a stampede and it was heading straight for them!~

"Oh, boy…!" Lightning panicked.

"The herd!" Applejack exclaimed.

"My herd!" Bonsai yelled.

"My herd!" The head rustler yelled.

"We gotta stop them!" Rainbow declared.

~The herd ran through the girls and they tried to run with them, trying to find a way to stop them. Stitch and Spike begin barking and Lightning activates her power. She grows her raccoon ears, tail and mask and tries to use her tail as a whip to direct the cattle to turn around.~

"Yah! Giddy up! Come on now! Yah!" Applejack yelled, directing the cattle.

"Let's go!" Rainbow shouted at the cattle.

Sunset's eyes widen. "Rainbow Dash, watch out!"

~Rainbow turned to see a rustler pounce on her. They both rolled around in the grass until he forced Rainbow on the ground. It took two of the rustlers to pinion her arms, she was fighting so hard.~

"How dare you take what doesn't belong to you!" Rainbow glared.

"Finders keepers, girl!" The rustler laughed evilly.

~Sunset saw that Rainbow was in trouble so she turned back to help her. She shoved one of the rustlers off Rainbow and Rainbow got an arm free to knock the other one off. But the rustler got up without a sweat and his eyes went were crazy and he began to chase Rainbow and Sunset.~

"Yee-haw!"

Lightning was stuck in the middle of the stampede. "Ow! Ow!"

"Lightning! Hide behind that rock!"

~Stitch points to another rock and Lightning swoops down and ducks behind it. The rest do too when they turn to see Lightning. They kneel down and cover themselves from the rustlers while also avoiding being trampled over by the herd. Suddenly, the leader of the rustlers bounds on top of the rock the girls were hiding by and a guy accompanying him does the same and he begins resembling.~

"Come on now...I know you're there…" The rustler whispered creepily and smoothly.

~Stitch and Spike growl at the rustlers and Lightning tries her best to lower their voices and protect them so they won't be seen or heard. Suddenly, the two rustlers spot Applejack directing the herd in Farmer Bonsai's direction. So, they raced over to her to stop her. The leader gets the jump on her and pins her to the ground, also knocking her hat off her head. It blows over to Lightning and she picks it up in confusion until she sees Applejack in danger. The other rustler appears over Applejack and threatens to hurt her with a knife if she and her friends didn't stay out of their way.~

"Hey, get off of me!" Applejack struggled.

The rustlers laugh and Lightning growls.

~Lightning quickly comes out of hiding and charges at the rustlers harassing Applejack. She tail swings the rustler with the knife and he rolls away from them. He cracks his finger on a small rock and shouts in pain, dropping the knife too. The leader goes to attack Lightning but she counter-attacks by giving him a good punch to the face and tail swinging him over to his henchman.~

"Aw, shoot! My good finger's gone crooked!" The rustler screamed.

"OH, I am sure gonna love ending you!"

~The rustlers' leader throws his hat down in anger and him and his mate go to charge at Lightning, but suddenly a cow runs them both down as they were running to her and they were both catapulted into the distance, never to be seen again. Lightning watched that happen right in front of her and she silently blinks three times in confusion until she shrugs it off and goes to help Applejack. She helps her up to her feet and puts her hat back on her head. AJ adjusts the hat before placing her hand on her hip, smiling at Lightning.~

"Thank ya, Lightnin'." Applejack sighed.

"Hm." Lightning smiles and shrugs her shoulders. "No sweat."

Twilight runs over to the two girls. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, Twilight. Lightnin' sure showed those rustlers what for!" Applejack answered, winking and nudging Lightning's arm.

"Well-the cow...also did...show them." Lightning laughed nervously.

"Are we sure those ruffians won't be coming back any time soon?" Rarity asked.

"Nope!" Everyone turns to see Rainbow and Sunset approach them.

"When they saw their leader go flying, they ran after him, cowering in fear." Sunset chuckled.

"Shoulda saw their faces. Priceless!" Rainbow smiled.

"Well, I'm just glad we rescued the herd." Applejack stated.

"So am I." Farmer Bonsai began to pet one of his cows.. "Girls, I can't thank you enough for gettin' my herd back. It means a lot."

"Hm. N-No problem, Farmer Bonsai. Glad we could help." Sunset smiled modestly.

"This calls for a celebration! Campfires and s'mores!" Pinkie cheered.

"It is getting dark. We should head back to your farm and we might as well camp out there." Twilight suggested.

"My pleasure, girls. My pleasure." The farmer nodded.