A Vinyl Scratch Story, Pt. 14

Applejack rushed out of the house immediately, slipping by her Aunt and Uncle without their notice and grabbing her hat off of the rack on her way out. This would be the second time she had left her Aunt and Uncle Oranges' house without telling them, but she had no choice this time. She had to get back to her friends and tell them about who she just found asleep on her old bed. All of those symbols in Filthy Rich's house and in her Aunt and Uncles' house matched the stallion's cutie mark exactly. It had to be Greyson. Applejack could not believe it. She and her friends had been searching for the cause of the attacks since Vinyl and Rainbow had burst into Zecora's hut that day, and now the source was sleeping at her Aunt and Uncles' house, completely vulnerable.

Applejack galloped towards the hotel down the road from her Aunt and Uncles' home. Her friends had gotten rooms there to stay while they were in Manehattan to watch the Oranges' house from a distance. Twilight had planned out what to do whenever the Oranges left the house in virtually any direction, even as far as what to do in the event that they flew away despite the fact that they were Earth Ponies.

Applejack knocked on the door to Rainbow and Vinyl's room furiously. "Guys, answer the door! Ah got something really important to tell ya!"

An irritated-looking Rainbow Dash opened the door. "It better be important, AJ. You're kind of interrupting something." Behind her, Vinyl was lying on the bed with a wide grin on her reddened face.

Applejack smiled sheepishly. "Sorry to interrupt your... uh... quality time, but it's big. Lemme in, Ah don't wanna say it out here."

Rainbow stepped from the doorway and motioned the orange pony inside.

Applejack took a seat. "Guys, Ah think Ah found Greyson."

Vinyl and Rainbow immediately sat up, looks of shock on their faces. "What!?" they exclaimed simultaneously.

"Ah found Greyson. Remember the symbols at Filthy Rich's house, with the gender symbols crossed? Well, there's a strange pony stayin' at my Aunt and Uncle Orange's house, and he has that same symbol as his cutie mark!"

"That definitely sounds like something Greyson would have." said Vinyl.

"Yeah, but how did you get out of there without him noticing you?" asked Rainbow.

"Ah kinda peeped in on him while he was asleep. My Aunt and Uncle told me somepony else was stayin' with them, too, and my curiosity got the better of me, but Ah'm glad it did."

"We need to tell Twilight and Rarity. NOW." said Rainbow.

The five ponies were gathered in Twilight and Rarity's room. The two Unicorns had been filled in on Applejack's discovery, and now they were going over a plan to capture him. "We need to figure out a way to get him out of the house and into the open so we can ambush him." explained Twilight.

"I have an idea, but it might be a little risky." said Rainbow.

"What is it?" asked Twilight. "And just wat do you mean by 'risky'?"

"Well..." began the Pegasus. "I was thinking we set the place on fire. It would force them out of the house without us having to even show our faces."

"Rainbow! That's terrible!" exclaimed Rarity. "We could get them killed! This is Applejack's family we're dealing with, not just some stupid fundamentalist ponies!"

"But they ARE stupid fundamentalist ponies." said Applejack. "And, personally, Ah got a sneakin' suspicion that they wanted me to come so they could be the ones to hand me to Greyson personally. So Ah don't really care one way or another what happens to them, as long as we get Greyson. Ah also think Rainbow's idea is the best way to do it. A fire would force them from the building, and we could have teams waiting at the front and back doors. The smoke could also keep us covered while we wait for Greyson to come out. Ah'm gonna need to be in the house, though. Ah can turn on the oven or somethin' and make it look like an accident."

"Well, in that case, a fire it is!" declared Twilight. "But what do we do with Greyson once we have him? Where can we take him? It's not like we can just slip him bound and gagged by the hotel clerk up front."

"We'll just take him into the woods outside town." suggested Vinyl. Rainbow can fly him above the clouds where they won't be spotted after we get him tied up out cold."

"That works. Okay, Rainbow and Vinyl, you be outside the front door, and me and Rarity will be around back. We need to be in position before AJ starts the fire."

"You got it, Twilight!" exclaimed Rainbow. "Alright, everypony, we got this! This is our best chance to get the crooked scumbag who's been trying to kill us the past week! Let's pull together and make sure we end this today! Hooves in!"

Rainbow put a hoof into the center of the ponies, soon to be joined by Applejack, Rarity, Vinyl, and Twilight's hooves.

"On three, team!" she ordered.

"ONE! TWO! THREE!" they shouted simultaneously, throwing their hooved into the air on three.

Applejack returned to the Oranges' house, trotting through the doorway casually. Aunt Orange seemed surprised to see her. "Oh, Applejack! I thought you had laid down for a nap! Where did you go off to?"

"Ah had to go out and pick up somethin' from the marketplace, but when Ah got there, they were out of stock." she lied.

"Oh, okay. Well, whatever you needed, I'm sure you know how to grow." replied Aunt Orange, her tone of voice slowly souring. "From what I've heard, you're a great farmer."

Applejack could tell that Aunt Orange knew the real reason she had left. She was about to turn and run when she was tackled to the ground from behind.

"But you're a terrible liar." whispered a cold, dark voice from behind her.

"Greyson! You knew where I went! But how?"

"Easy. Your dear Aunt Orange was nice enough to plant a bug on your hat after you left it on the rack. By the way, nice work, Mrs. Orange. You and your husband will be very handsomely paid for your services to the Fundamentalist Society."

"It was no trouble at all, sir."

"Well, the other ponies I hired found it to be quite a bit of trouble. This one and her little friends have been giving me trouble for awhile now, but thanks to you, they're all taken care of, including that Pegasus and her stupid little girlfriend."

Applejack struggled to get free, but Greyson was stronger than he appeared. "There's no use trying to shake me," he laughed. "You'll just tire yourself out, then you won't be awake to see your friends die."

"Greyson, Ah swear on Granny Smith's grave, if you hurt any of them, it'll be the last thing you ever do!"

"Your petty threats no longer matter. My men have already captured your little band of renegades, and I will kill all of you myself tonight in this very house."

"You're wrong! My friends would never let themselves be captured by a bunch of thickheaded goons!"

As if on cue, a large stallion in a mask trotted into the room. "The other four are incapacitated. They put up a heck of a fight, but we managed to knock out the purple one first."

"Good work. Bring them in. I want Applejack to personally witness her friends be put to death."

Applejack looked up at her Aunt Orange. "Why, Aunt Orange? Why would you do this to your family?"

"Because you're a dirty fillyfooler, and that's just not acceptable. If you can't accept the natural order, you don't deserve to be alive."

"Is that really what you believe?" cried Applejack, her rage flaring. "You're as misguided as a blind cow lookin' at the map upside-down!"

"I'm afraid, dear Applejack, that you're the misguided one." retorted Greyson. "You think that you can sit there and breathe our air and eat our food and drink our water, yet you won't contribute to the survival of ponykind by being with a stallion and bearing a child? You make me sick!"

"And you think you have the right to take another pony's life just because they don't swing with the opposite sex? You make ME sick!"

"Cute, Applejack. But there is a natural way of things. Stallions are supposed to be with mares, and mares are supposed to be with stallions so that they can reproduce. If you do not follow the natural way of things, then you must die."

The masked pony returned , dragging Rainbow, Vinyl, Twilight, and Rarity behind him. All four of them were unconscious and hogtied. The magic-blocking devices adorned the horns of the Unicorns, while Rainbow had her wings clamped to her sides.

"Guys!" cried Applejack. "Greyson, I swear, if you hurt them, Ah'll kill ya!"

"I already told you, Applejack, your little threats do not amuse me. Now if you will be so kind as to SHUT UP!" Greyson continued to hold her down as the masked pony hit her in the head with his hoof, putting her out cold like her friends. The last thing the thought of before unconsciousness claimed her was how close they had come to accomplishing their goal, and now some sick-minded fundamentalist was going to prevail.