The Lord of the Ponies: The Friendship of Equestria

Ch.12 The Cutie Mark Crusaders... And Spike

Apple Bloom and Spike paved through a corn grove. Six foot stalks decreased their visibility to almost nothing, and both travelers hoped they weren't going in the wrong direction. Apple Bloom pushed through, with Spike falling behind... again. The Earth filly found a dirt path, and followed it, ignorant of her companion's delay.

Spike eventually found the path, but Apple Bloom was nowhere in sight. He looked behind him, and seeing no sign of Apple Bloom still, he sprinted up the dirt path. Spike's heart beat wildly; his breathing became erratic, but it wasn't the physical strain on his body that caused these signs. No, it was the fear. Spike feared to lose track of Apple Bloom, and therefore break his promise to Twilight Sparkle.

"Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom!" called the dragon, hoping the young filly was in earshot. He heard rustling up ahead, and stopped. Apple Bloom trotted into his line-of-sight.

"I thought I'd lost you." Spike recovered his breath, relieved that Apple Bloom was still safe.

"What are you talking about?" asked Apple Bloom. She was curious as to why Spike thought she would leave him behind.

"It's just something Twilight said," Spike answered, remembering his promise to the lavender Unicorn.

"What did she say?" Apple Bloom was still curious. What had Twilight said that shook up Spike so much?

"Don't you lose her, Spike. And I don't mean to." Spike walked up to his friend, ready to continue the quest.

"Spike, we're not that far from Ponyville. What could happen?" That's when the universe delivered its answer.

Spike was suddenly tackled by something taller than him, and he saw the same thing happen to Apple Bloom. His senses recovered, and he noticed the two antagonists were none other than Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. It seems the Cutie Mark Crusaders were back together.

Scootaloo got up, dusting herself off from her recent contact. She noticed a filly on the ground in front of her. But this wasn't no ordinary filly: it was Apple Bloom.

"Apple Bloom? Hey Sweetie Belle, it's Apple Bloom," Scootaloo called to Sweetie Belle; the ivory filly was herself recovering from smashing into Spike.

"Hey, Apple Bloom!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, excited to see a familiar face. Their moment of friendship was ruined by Spike, who bucked the filly Unicorn off of him.

"Get off me," ordered the dragon. He then went over to Apple Bloom, and pushed Scootaloo away.

"Get off her." Spike only wished to protect Apple Bloom, and he knew that both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were trouble. Spike took a step, and heard a crunch. He looked down to discern the noise maker, to find...

"Carrots? Where did you get these?" Spike asked Scootaloo, who was in the process of retrieving her vegetable loot from the dirt floor.

Spike looked around, realizing the answer to such a useless question. They were in a corn field, which probably meant they were on somepony's farm.

"You stole these, didn't you?" accused Spike, pointing a menacing claw at Scootaloo. Scootaloo didn't have to answer, as the party heard barking not too far behind them, and saw a pitchfork raised over the corn. It was quite obvious at the moment that the farmer was quite perturbed at the theft that had recently taken place.

Sweetie Belle, recovered from the buck Spike gave her, grabbed Apple Bloom and pushed the Earth filly into the corn grove. Scootaloo followed, forgetting to bring Spike along. Spike stood there, petrified with fear at the idea of what punishment awaited him by the pitchfork-wielding farmer. Gruesome imaginings flowed through his consciousness, which further stiffened his frame.

"Come on you silly dragon," said Scootaloo, who returned and pulled Spike into the thick corn stalks.

"I don't know why he's so upset. It was only a couple of carrots," defended Scootaloo, twisting the crime as to make it seem less criminal.

"And some cabbages. And those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week. And then the mushrooms the week before," added Sweetie Belle, completely demolishing the pair's defense.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle. My point is he's clearly overreacting." The four friends continued running, hoping to lose the angry farmer behind them. Sadly, the only thing they lost was their footing, as they failed to see the cliff which bordered the field of corn.

The three ponies and the dragon tumbled down the cliffside, miraculously not smashing into any trees or big rocks. They eventually met the conclusion of their fall at the base of the hill in a pony pile

"Oh, that was close," remarked Sweetie Belle, who stared at a pile of dung not five inches from her face.

Scootaloo groaned, and raised her upper body, as her legs were trapped under the mass collection of her friends. Pain wrinkled her face, and she reached behind her back.

"I think I've broken something," reported the filly Pegasus. She found the source of discomfort and pulled it out, finding a carrot that was snapped in half.

"Trust a Pegasus and a Unicorn! Ha!" laughed Spike, who rolled himself off of the pile, and dusted himself off.

"What? That was just a detour. A short cut," confirmed Sweetie Belle, her coat shining white, despite falling down a dirt cliff. Must've been the lessons from Rarity.

"A shortcut to what?" Spike was not amused by the fact that the two troublesome fillies have already caused him so much trouble, after only meeting them five minutes ago.

"Mushrooms!" called out Scootaloo.

Scootaloo's realization excited everyone but Apple Bloom, as the other three members of the Earth filly's party rushed to collect the small, brown mushrooms which grew underneath the loamy undergrowth of the nearby trees. Instead of joining her friends, Apple Bloom glanced down the road which they rested on. The filly realized their intrepid group resided on wooded road, something Twilight Sparkle had warned the filly against.

"I think we should get off the road." Apple Bloom's warning fell on deaf ears. Her companions were preoccupied with the mushrooms that Scootaloo found.

Apple Bloom returned her gaze to the road. The filly was now tense and watchful, as she finally discerned the sound of horse hooves which resounded down the beaten lane.

"We should get off the road," repeated Apple Bloom, addressing her otherwise preoccupied companions once again.

Suddenly, a long drawn wail echoed down the cut path from an otherworldly source; like a cry from an evil and lovely creature. The three mushroom collectors paid no heed, but Apple Bloom became frightened. The roads were very dangerous indeed.

"Get off the road!" yelled Apple Bloom. Her friends took notice to the Earth filly's verbal urgency, and raced to the ditch on the other side of the compact path. The four friends found a shaded area under a tree root, and positioned themselves there, ready for whatever was to come.

Silence prevailed throughout the forest, for what short time it lasted. Clopping penetrated the unnatural quiet, and heavy breathing could be heard above the hiding ponies and the dragon. The black rider: hooded and faceless, approached the tree which the party hid under. The Nazgul sniffed the air, and moved towards their hiding place, as if it were trying to catch an elusive scent. Apple Bloom glanced up, and noticed the armored hooves of the creature: cruel blades which raked the ground with each step.

The creatures of the forest departed the area: spiders scurried forth, and centipedes crawled away from the demonic presence of the unholy creature. Apple Bloom felt an ecstasy befall her; her eyes closed to the mental orgasm which The Ring engineered. Apple Bloom took The Ring into her hoof, and slowly inched the other hoof towards it. She too, like the being above her, desired for The Ring to be found.

Spike grabbed the Earth filly's leg, pulling the Apple's hoof away from her other hoof. This woke Apple Bloom up, and she quickly hid The Ring. Spike then grabbed the broken carrot which Scootalo gripped, and threw it off down the road. The carrot made a sizeable disturbance, and the Ringwraith retreated at a frightening speed to investigate the noise, screeching as it left.

The four friends ran off through the forest, where they hoped the foul creature would not follow.

"What was that?" gasped Sweetie Belle, through the heavy breaths from her recent exertion. Apple Bloom did not answer, she only stared down at The Ring which she clutched in her hoof.

The Dark Lord's minion had found her, and Twilight Sparkle was nowhere near to help her.