Six Story Freefall

Chapter 3: 50ft

With Autumn having come and left Winter was hot on its heels, the pegasi had already started the construction of large storm clouds to give winter the snow it’s famed for. While their work had just begun, one farmer was settling down for the long haul. Applejack’s list of chores dwindled with the leaves and soon she only had to tend to the livestock in the morning, leaving her with a good chunk of the day where her only responsibility was the tending of her own relaxation. The Apple family sat around the fire, swapping stories and generally just enjoying the peace that winter promises. A high pitched whistle droned through the house.

“Ah reckon the kettle is boilin’, I’ll go check on it.” Applejack stood up leisurely, knowing she had all day to do nothing.

She walked into the kitchen, getting some mugs to fill with the hot cider that sat enticingly on the stove. However there was no steam, odd seeing as that meant the kettle wasn't boiling. Then what was that sound? And why was it getting louder? This could only mean one thing.

“BRACE FOR IMPACT!”

Granny Smith put on her trusty helmet and continued to sway back and forth on her rocking chair. Applebloom dove under Big Macintosh, who in preparation had only needed to stand up, using his impressive size and stature as a shield.

Applejack bolted for the front door, they had just replaced the door a month ago and this time Applejack did not want to interrupt her day clearing up shards of wood and building a new door. She threw open the front door and moments later her good friend Rainbow Dash came rolling in at breakneck speeds. A series of tumbles, flips, and one dent in the drywall later Rainbow Dash was sputtering things at an incomprehensible speeds.

“IwasflyingthismorningandthenIcrashedintoTwilight’streehouseandthenSwarly’sspacerockhitTwilight’shouseandthentherewasafireandthenTwilightusedherawesomemagictoputthemalloutbutthenitturnsouthespacerockwasabeastfromouterspaceandthenitusedTwilight’sbathroomandknockeditselfout!” Rainbow Dash was out of breath by the time she finished, breathing heavily to compensate.

“Woah, slow down RD. What happened?”

“There's an alien at Twilight’s house and we need to do something about it.”

“Applebloom, get my rope” said Applejack, her eyes narrowing.

I don’t know what’s stranger, that I dreamt of my self falling in slow-motion for the second time in a row, or that I had woken up surrounded by ponies, and an owl(what is it with that owl?). It seems an orange one had joined the fray, no wings or horn on this one.

Man, was my head throbbing. I don't think that anyplace like this exists on Earth, which also explains the space-time travel. They must have propped me up onto a chair when I had knoc- fallen asleep, how considerate of these ponies. I glanced in the ponies direction. We may not speak each other’s languages but at least they know hospitality. They seem to be chatting about something, incomprehensible as ever. The owl stood watch over the bunch, some sort of pony-owl hierarchical system maybe?

I watched them neigh for a bit, noting the missing lizard, when I decided that it would be rude of me to just sit and stare all day. I stood up; erm, I should rephrase; I sort of bent up as it’s hard to stand when you're tied to a chair. Also, as you can imagine it’s hard to balance bent over with a chair strapped to you. I leaned forward to balance but went too far, and before I knew it was running straight at the pony conglomeration, not of my own volition of course, but gravity beckons. A few feet from the ponies my face hit an invisible wall, a purple light pulsed from the area of contact briefly illuminating the hexagonal pattern the wall had before fading away. With the light my consciousness also faded, and yes it did make a thunk sound when I made contact. Different from thwack, but equally painful.

I’m having second thoughts about pony hospitality.

“Maybe if we feed it, it won’t be so jumpy?” Rainbow dash offered.

The beast had just awoken and was currently unmoving, but no telling how long that was going to last. Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash all stood in the library pondering what to do about the creature.

“I don’t know, it seems plausible,” Twilight said, turning to Applejack.

“W-what are y’all lookin’ at me for, I don't know the first thing ‘bout aliens,” Applejack stuttered

“Sure I tied it up, but fer everything else I don't have a clue.”

Rainbow Dash shifted nervously before saying “You’re a farmer and stuff, you must know about livestock, you're the element of honesty.”

“Well I can HONESTLY say that I don’t have a clue,” Applejack said, narrowing her eyes.

“Girls! Calm down. We can’t really do anything until I bring this Princess Celestia’s attention,” Twilight said stepping between the two. “Until then we have two problems: one, we need to put the extra terrestrial somewhere, and two, I need a place to stay,” Twilight said sadly, her voice quivering at near the end of her sentence.

Applejack for a first time took a good look of the library. Black charred wood and ash littered the floor, all the windows had shattered and shards of glass covered the ground, and all but four books were incinerated leaving what shelves that remained empty. The top floor was in a worse condition, the creature had torn through the center of Twilight's room before landing in the main foyer, Whatever part of the telescope that remained standing had melted itself to the floor. To top it all off a large portion of the ceiling was missing. It also didn't help that the town weather council had planned a snowstorm for later tonight

“Until we can bring this to Princess Celestia’s attention there aren't many things we can do. I sent Spike out to get some paper and a quill, he should be back any-” She was cut off.

At that moment, Spike opened the door, or rather he pushed it over as the hinges had burnt off. Spike looked at the door and then looked to the group of ponies staring at him. “They were closed,” he shrugged.

“What! How am I supposed to write a letter if I don’t have any paper!” Twilight cried out in frustration.

Tapping her hoof on her chin, Rainbow Dash finally spoke up. “We need a place to put that thing right?”

Two nods.

“Okay, and you clearly need a place to stay, Twilight.”

Two more nods.

“Well, Sweet Apple Acres is far out enough from town that the beast would be well hidden, and Twilight can stay there to keep watch and write that letter. I’m sure Applejack has some paper somewhere,” Rainbow Dash stated, even adding a hoof stomp to affirm her position.

“As long as Applejack is okay with this,” Rainbow added as an afterthought.

“Aww shucks, I was just about to ask her myself,” Applejack said.

“Wow, that’s actually a pretty good idea, Rainbow,” Twilight said surprised.

“Hey!” Rainbow pouted.

“But how are we going to get that thing from here all the way to Sweet Apple Acres, and more importantly how to we get it to co-operate?” Twilight said, completely ignoring Rainbow Dash.

A loud THUNK echoed through the library. While they had been distracted the creature had stood up and somehow managed to knock itself out again. The group of mares stood silently as its face slid down the spell shield.

“Ah reckon that solves one problem”

After much deliberation the group had decided to call over Big mac and fill him on the situation. A stallion of few words took a few moments to ponder their task and replied with an “Eeeeyup”. The plan was to throw a sheet over the beast and transfer him by cart to the farm, passing it off as just another ordinary apple transfer. They even had a few bushels of apples lined up on the sides for added effect, and an apple pie was thrown into the back because those are delicious. The group would cut through the market as it was the most direct route to the farm, though that was not a decision made with a consensus.

“It’s noon on a weekend, everypony will be there!” Twilight said.

“The faster we can get this thing to the farm, the quicker we can get a letter to Celestia,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“An’ I reckon because it’s so busy nopony will even be paying attention to the cart,” Applejack assured Twilight.

With that settled the group set off, the wagon clacking against the stone road. From the library to the market square was a short walk, and if they could get to the bridge on the other side of it they would be home free. The wagon hit a pothole in the road and did an obligatory jump.

“Careful Big mac, you don’t want to wake the... uh, apples,” Applejack said. Almost immediately

after, the sounds of Rainbow’s hoof colliding with her forehead could be heard.

Okay I’m never going to move again without at least a hard hat covered in Kevlar wrapped in foam. I’ve always been prone to tripping but this was getting ridiculous. My head hasn't seen such abuse since the last time I fell down the fire escape stairs. I did a physical inventory, making sure to check everything before I attempt to move. lying down? Check. Ropes binding arms? Check. Legs bound? Check. Gagged? Nope (thank goodness). Alright, time for a look around...oh great, someone turned the lights off. Well, I’d rather say a blindfold... erm, more of a sheet than a gag, I guess, and why did it smell like apples?

The creaks of a wagon indicated that I was being moved and it was not just my head throbbing tricking me. Speaking of sounds there were a LOT more neighs and whinnies happening than three ponies could possibly make. Great, there were more of these things, and I’m still not sure if they’re friendly or not. The ropes were loose enough for me to sit up, but I decided against it, fearing another concussion.

Why were there suddenly so many ponies and where were they taking me? Alright, let’s see, I must have seen and read enough Sherlock Holmes to deduce something. They clearly don't want me getting away and this sheet meant that I would probably be unveiled as a surprise or something. Maybe there would be an event of some sort, like a zoo? Nah, then there wouldn't be apples. Maybe a ceremony? Yeah that’s it, perhaps even sacrificial. SACRIFICIAL oh manohmanohmanohman they were going to sacrifice me to their great owl god Quwhootle.

Okay, calm down and stop making up names for non-existent gods. There is a time for panic and terror and this was not the time for either. I tried my bindings again. Nope, not gonna get progress there, whatever did these knots knew what they were doing. Well I guess there wasn't anything to do but lie in wait for whatever it is that would come.

Actually, on second thought, that apple smell was delicious and I would not be denied my last supper. Concussion or no concussion, I was going to find the source of that smell. I sincerely hoped the apple smell was coming from apples.

So far so good, a few ponies passed by with nothing more than a hello. Although they all agreed to act normal as it would draw less suspicion, Twilight had opted for a more stealthy approach and had worn her all black night suit she used to sneak into the Canterlot archives. All the ponies in the market were either too busy to notice or had grown far too accustomed to Twilight's crazy antics to care. All but one.

Lyra was currently stomping across the market square furious; her whole day had been ruined. Not only had she involuntarily dyed her coat black, but they had run out of carrots at the stall (she was really looking forward to making some carrot stew). She was on her way to Carrot Top’s farm to see if she could procure some there when she saw Twilight and her “gang”. She decided that she was not going to go quietly into the night, she was going to give them a piece of her mind. Well maybe not that harsh, but she still wanted an apology! Okay, maybe she just wanted them to acknowledge what happened.

“H-HEY!’ Lyra shouted, stepping in front of Big Macintosh and turned to face the group. One does not simply get into Big Mac’s way without a good reason.

Rainbow Dash raised one eyebrow said “Excuse me, do we know you?”

Lyra was taken aback. How could they not recognize her iconic mint gre- oh.

“It’s Lyra!” she shouted.

“Oh, hey Lyra, good to see you, love what you've done with your coat. If you would excuse us, we’re in a hurry,” said Twilight, as the group attempted to maneuver around Lyra.

“Not so fast! You did this to me! And erm..” Lyra said unsure of what to say, having already stated why she stopped them in the first place.

The pieces fell into place and Twilight blurted out “Ohmygosh, I’m so sorry, the library was on fire and I didn't check to see if there were any ponies near the windows.”

Rainbow Dash fluttered over. “Here, let me get that for you.” With a powerful stroke of her wings all the ash coating Lyra was whisked away in the wind, she might even be cleaner than before the accident.

“O-oh, thanks. Just be more car-” Before she could finish, Applejack ran over with a pie.

“Take this as our way of saying sorry,” Applejack said quickly.

“Now we’ve got to go! Sorry again!” With that, the entire group galloped off, a few loose apples streaming off the end of the cart. As soon as they crossed the bridge, the entire group gave a collective sigh of relief and trotted all the way to the barn.

Lyra stood stunned. She had gotten what she hoped for and more! Carrot stew was good but an Apple family pie was incomparably better. However as they were running away Lyra had caught a glimpse of some sheeted figure lying in the cart, clearly it was no apple. The whole thing had left some questions unanswered. Why was Twilight in an all-black uniform?, what really was that thing in the cart?, and most importantly-

-who took a bite out of her pie?

Authors Note: Thanks for reading, and a HUGE thanks to f0xhole for proof reading and editing my story. Seriously editing is no small feat and f0xhole really helped me out. Anyways i guess I'll write a little on how updates work, I lead the busy life of a full time student but i write as much as i can on my off days, so i can't set and definite schedule. What i can promise is that I will do my best to update regularly.