Chapter Six – Applejack

Sleep had eluded Applejack for the past few hours. She tossed and turned in her bed, with little to do but think. Not enough on the farm had been that day, so she and Big Mac would have to clear the entire southern field tomorrow. Not a pleasant thought.

The farmer rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. It was rare that she was kept awake at night. It seemed the impending deadline was enough to give her insomnia, but she doubted it. It was more of a weird feeling that something was wrong.

Her blankets felt hot, so she kicked them off, and then rolled on her side, facing her open window. There wasn't any wind tonight, so noise wasn't keeping her up. AJ felt cold again and covered herself with the blankets.

Then Applejack noticed movement in between the trees. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Nothing. About to dismiss it, she noticed the movement again. "Couldn't be the wind." She whispered. "It's just about as still as it can be."

The movement happened again, this time Applejack could see it was a figure moving between the apple trees. "Trespassers." She growled. "And probably apple thieves too." Standing, Applejack grabbed the hat she set on her night stand and put it on.

Moving fast, she ran right by Big Mac's room, the noise rousing him from sleep. Mac decided to see what his little sister was up too, and got out of bed as well. Applebloom and Granny Smith were spared an awakening.

As for AJ, she was downstairs, ready to burst out the door when she remembered her lasso. Stopping to grab it allowed Big Mac to catch up to her. He didn't need to say anything; he just gave the orange pony an inquisitive look.

"Trespassers." Applejack said, tightening her lasso. "You gonna help me?" she asked him, no clarification needed.

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh said eyes narrowed as he began stretching out for a fight. The two siblings made their way out of the farmhouse and into the orchard. Applejack started galloping to the spot she last saw the figure. Big Mac followed close behind.

Scanning for even the slightest movement among the trees, Applejack saw the figure running up ahead.

"There he is!" Applejack told Big Mac. The figure turned its head, then sprinted off. Big Mac ran right after it. "Chase him around back." Applejack yelled, keeping pace. "We'll corner 'im in the south field!" Her brother nodded, then turned to outflank the intruder.

It didn't take long to chase the figure into the south fields. Now how to stop him became the real challenge.

Mac maneuvered to the left side of the figure, now obviously a pony, and slammed his body into him. The trespassing pony fell back, but smoothly stood up again to face Big Mac. The red stallion turned, and used his hind legs for a powerful buck aimed at the intruder's head. The pony was too fast and ducked.

The force from the buck pulled Big Mac over, slamming his legs into a nearby tree. The entire trunk shook, and apples fell down, pelting both ponies. Recovering quickly, the strange figure raised a hoof, ready to attack Big Mac.

Applejack twirled her lasso and threw. It sailed through the air and hooked onto the intruder's front hoof. AJ pulled, bringing the pony down. Big Mac prepared another buck, aimed at the head. Again the trespasser dodged it, using Applejack's pull with his own leap to practically fly over and slam into the orange mare.

When she recovered, Applejack got her first good look at the intruder. Wings marked him as a pegasus, and the blue coat made Applejack assume it was Rainbow Dash trying to stir up trouble. The red tips of the wing, and similarly colored mane disproved her theory.

Acting on impulse, Applejack slammed the pegasus into a tree and held him with her hoof. "Alright you, Ah'm gonna make ya wish you'd never been born."

Moonlight broke through the trees, lighting up the pegasus' face. His teeth were clenched, and his bronze-tinted eyes looked pretty scared. But that wasn't all. This stallion looked like he had a way out, but he didn't want to use it.

Applejack wasn't sure what that really meant.

"Just let me go now, I don't want to have to hurt you." He said, sounding sincere, yet not threatening.

Applejack didn't care either way. "I'd like to see you try." She dared him. "It doesn't seem like you'll be hurting anypony at the moment, seeing how Ah have the upper hoof." To prove her point, AJ pressed the stallion into the tree harder, eliciting a grunt of pain.

The pegasus pinned to the tree looked around. Big Mac was coming back, ready to assist Applejack. The pegasus weighed his options. But Applejack was pretty sure he'd surrender given the odds. She raised her hoof ready to finish the fight.

That's when the pegasus whispered, "Celestia forgive me."

Above the fight, Rainbow Dash had been flying frantically fast over Sweet Apple Acres. Looking down, she watched as three ponies fought. One was clearly Big Mac due to his size alone. Another one suddenly threw a lasso. It had to be Applejack.

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Rainbow was also pretty sure about the third one too, but it wasn't until Applejack pushed him against a tree, and moonlight revealed his face that his identity was confirmed. Frostburn. Applejack raised her hoof ready to strike the red-maned stallion.

Without even thinking, she cried out. "AJ, stop!"

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"Celestia forgive me." Had Applejack heard right? That wasn't at all what crooks said when they got caught. They made threats, or begged to be let go. Praying for forgiveness made no sense to the simple farmer.

The pegasus she held gave a face of regret. Faintly Applejack heard someone screaming for her to stop. Wait just an apple bucking minute. She thought. Is that…

Just then, the pegasus snapped his wings out…

And the world exploded. Next Chapter: Through the Fire and Flames Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 2 Minutes