The day was still cold... Celestia's panic attack was still fresh in Luna's mind, after all, it was only just an hour ago... … … But this isn't her story... no, not yet... right now, more important things were happening... way off in the distance, on the outermost Edges of Ponyville. Deep in the heart of Sweet Apple Acres...
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"Well... Ah guess we wont have'ta water the trees today huh Big Mac?" Applejack was nervous... VERY nervous... things weren't going well for the farm, these unexpected rainstorms were too much for her nerves to handle, what with the idea of a bad harvest ingrained so deeply into the back of her mind, growing more imposing every day for the last week of sunless skies.
"Hmmmm... Nope..." Big Mac was restless... in his mind he had gone TOO long without bucking something... He watched his sister stand there, her thin but strong hands fidgeting with her long ponytail, occasionally stamping her boot on the floor in exasperation. He REALLY wished that they had SOMETHING to do... maybe even- "NOPE nope nope!"
"Hm? What's wrong Brother? Did'ja see a spider er somethin?"
"Uhhhhh... Yup." He knew that was technically lieing, but just cause AJ was the element of honesty, AND his sister, didn't mean he ALWAYS had to tell the truth... 'Good Celestia,' he thought to himself, 'Ah cant believe mah mind almost wandered inta one of them poorly written FICcest plots... not that Ah know what the hell that even means... anyway, don't wanna go reinforcin them redneck stereotypes er nuthin.. but DAYUM...'
"Yer brains wanderin off into those redneck stereotypes again, ain't it?" AJ looked over her shoulder, her face plastered with a look of passive annoyance.
"Ah-uhh-?! … Eeyup..."
"Damnit Mac, you need yerself a girlfriend er somethin..."
"Eeyup."
"Ah should duck an cover now huh?"
"EeeeeeYUP!" AJ flung herself off to the side as Big Mac lunged forward, BARELY catching a light blue meteor as it blasted its way through the barn door for the third time today. Rainbowdash was in a sorry state, mangled hair and tail, wind burned all over, and cold-Soaked to the bone.
"WHEW!" Applejack exclaimed, "Y'all need to take a break now, ya'hear? Get any colder an ah wont be able to thaw yer wings out!" She brought a hot towel over to Rainbow, which she accepted begrudgingly, "Yer grounded till ah say yer good ta go, alright?"
"UUUUGGGGHHH, Fiiiine... Look, I'm TRYing Ok? Its not easy-" She froze up as Big Mac quickly popped her wing back into place while she wasn't paying attention. "... Hey Big Mac?"
"Eeyup?"
"Could you come a little closer for a second?" She whispered, almost as if she had lost her voice. Big Mac naturally wanting to see what was wrong, leaned down close in case she really HAD lost her voice. She grabbed him by the ear and let it all go: "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!" She let go of his ear and he stood up, his head almost visibly ringing as he stumbled back and forth, till he tripped on a bucket and fell into the hay that was poorly stacked against the wall.
"N-nnn-nope!" Was all he could get out, he couldn't even hear himself say it! 'Ah SO did not deserve that!' he thought, although, his thoughts were ringing too.
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Out farther into the Orchard, not all was well... Deep beneath the soil and mud and roots, a fight was on, something so vicious and mindless, most people would assume that it would have to be dogs... and their assumption wouldn't bee all too far off...
"Auger?! Frontload?!" A man with a very prominent overbite ran through a series of tunnels that weren't supposed to exist, him and his two partners were sent down here to kill off another of their pack, for hoarding gems, a deathly punishable crime. You see, in Diamond-Dog Society, Gems are more than just currency. Gems are part of life: Clothing, tools, weaponry, armor, you name it, there's a gem in it somewhere... "GUYS! This isn't FUNNY!"
"It's not supposed to be." A voice from the shadows followed by a foot to the shins, the Diamond-Dog flew off his feet, and into the dirt. "It's not supposed to be funny, it's supposed to be FINAL." He Spoke smoothly and calmly, though don't mistake him for being cool or level headed, He simply doesn't give a shit about expressing himself. Quite the apathetic miner in almost every regard.
"D-d-dozer! H-how ya doin' buddy! Man, its been-!"
"Can it Dredge. I know why you're down here. Its over. Your buddy squealed." His face said nothing of emotion, aside from a slight annoyance at someone trying to kill him.
"W-what? Who-?" Dredge Backed against the wall, fearing what was soon to come, KNOWING that this was a bad place to be at this very moment.
"Dunno. This one." He tosses another Dog man to the floor, the blood pooling on the floor from a thin hole in the frond of his head, the look of fear from the moment he died still written across his face.
"A-a-a-Auger?! What did he do to ya?!" Dredge checked in vain for a pulse.
"Um... I killed him? I mean, Duuuh. Well anyways, its been fun, but I'm bored as hell and you're just making it worse, so, die." Dozer lifted his arm, Dredge barely managed to see the long needle like drill retract into his mechanical claws before the fingers formed into something that might have been more common in 'Gurren Lagann'.
"N-n-n-n-no! WAIT! I GOT A WIFE AND PUPS MAN!"
"You know... I might actually believe that if I didn't know her. She dumped your thug ass months ago. Guess who she's been venting to?"
"W-what? WAIT NO-!" A large figure Bolted between the two of them, followed swiftly by the loud sound of tearing flesh, Dredge had to wipe blood out of his eyes before he could see again. "F-FRONTLOAD! DAMNIT! Dozer you fucking monster! I'll-"
"R-" Frontload, with his massive girth, barely managed to spit out the word as blood ran from his chin and torso. "R-..."
"I'll get him man, don't worry-"
"RUUUUUUUUUUN!" Frontload practically THREW dredge down the tunnel, more than 30 feet, and not wanting to waste the opportunity, Dredge ran. If you've ever seen a truly terrified dog running, he could have passed it like it was standing still.
"Aw maaaan... Now I've gotta go chase him down AGAIN-"
"YER still dealin with ME! I'M GONNA- GHUAAA-!... … … gonna..." it was getting hard to speak through the blood he was coughing up.
"Look, Frontload... You didn't have to bite that bullet for scum like him... I wasn't after you. Just the leader. Go home... if you start now, you can live, albeit with with one lung." He tore his Oversized Drill out of Frontload's chest, kicking dirt into the wound immediately. "That will stem the bleeding. I'm not gonna let you go next time. Just remember this: Blind loyalty WILL get you killed."
Dozer started walking away, giving his drill a hard Rev to schlick the blood off the drill. "I'm getting REEEEAL TIRED of your SHIT Dredge! If you give up now, I'll make it qui-" An overlarge hand wrapped around his ankle, stopping him dead.
"I... won't... let you..." Frontload's massive weight and strength meant that until he let go, Dozer was stuck, "He's just... doing his job... can you really say you'd have done any diff-errrrr..." I high pitched electric whirr, a quick needle like object darting out then back into his glove... A thud like a bull hitting the floor...
A long sigh... "What did I JUST finish saying? … you know what, don't bother answering that, you're dead anyways. What a waste of potential."
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Applejack couldn't hold her nerves anymore, It was too much to ask her to stand still for so long. "I'm gonna go check on the saplin's, make sure they aint washin out on us."
"AWESOME! I'll go too!" Rainbowdash nearly bolted off of the hay.
"NOPE." Mac grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back down to sitting.
"Did... did you SERIOUSLY just-?!" She looked daggers at Bag mac, but stopped quickly.
"AH. SAID. NOPE." His voice booming to the point of shaking the windows, Rising to his full 7 Foot 4 Inch stature. (And he's pretty tall too! LOOOOOLZ! ... Sorry. Ok but seriously, back to the story) "YER. STAYIN."
"O-... okay..." Dash was almost as pink in the cheeks as her bouncy hyperactive friend. She wasn't used to being told what to do, let alone put in her place. ESPECIALLY not by some big, tall... masculine... chiseled... 'WOAH there Dashie, woah... THAT escalated quickly... Jeeze, that's your BEST FRIENDS brother! I mean, come on! That's gotta be off limits right? … … … Right? … Wait... Do I have some sort of submissive fetish? … SHIT.'
"Uuuhuh... Alright, I'll see you two in a few. Keep warm, and don't test yer wing out till I get back now ya-hear?"
"UUUGGGHHhhhh... Fiiinneee..." Rainbow finally submitted, not wanting to go against the demands of the two strongest ponies she knew.
Applejack grabbed a big rain coat and walked out into the dim. The rain wasn't as strong as it had been earlier, it was little more than a drizzle now, but if it was to follow the pattern of the last few days, it wouldn't last for long.
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"No no no no no no no nooo nooooo NOOO! I gotta get OUTA here! FUCK IT!" Dredge was lost, and BAD. As a last ditch effort he dug strait up, wanting to get as MUCH distance as he could from the murderer hunting him. "Every MineCrafter in the WORLD is silently screaming at me right now, I KNOW it... AHAH! LIGHT! AIR! FREEEeeeeeee... dumb..." he hopped out of the hole into the dim dark of what felt like the Everfree... but... "This cant be... I was going the wrong way... and it smells... (Sniff Sniff) Sweet? Weird... oh wait! I know, this must be-!"
"WHAT in the SWEET apple ACRES do ya thing yer doin on my property?!" Applejack stood in defensive readiness, pitchfork raised and ready, "And just WHO the hell do ya think ya are tearin up the soil under mah-! Trees?" She didn't know much about Diamond Dogs or their culture, but she knew that they usually respond to everything with aggression, not panicking and DEFINATELY not hiding behind a PONY of all things! And why was he hiding from his own hole?
"P-p-please! You gotta save me! He's gonna kill me! I'll give you anything! Gems?! Bits?! Hard labor?!"
"Now hold on just a minute, I don't GOTTA do nuthin! I-"
"D'you mind moving? I'm trying to finish a chore here." A calm voice came from a thin man with large... hands? Claws? "You're kinda shielding my hunt, and I'd like to get this over with."
"Wh-... Now y'all wait just a minute! I'm not movin' 'till I get some answers!" she hears a metallic shing, something akin to a noise ofter heard after Shining Armor shouts something like "PHELANX!" a series of blades moving into position "Wh-hooold there partner, I ain't lookin' fer a fight-"
"Then move. I don't ask with words twice." He walks towards her, quickly, leaving deep footprints in the muddy ground.
"N-now y'all stay back, ya hear? Ya hear?!" he gets within five feet, and she panics! Her leg FLIES up! From the floor, STRAIGHT into his ribs! In less time than it takes to blink after that, he had grabbed hold of her ankle, and cocked his fist up so quickly that the rain parted around it, clearly aimed at her knee! In that moment Applejack was afraid: 'If he can move that bulky fist'a his that fast, there wont be a doc in all the world who'll be able to put my leg back together...'
"... I give everyone ONE chance to run. This is yours-" He coughs blood in one big spurt, but never breaks focus or eye contact with her. "... He dies, here and now. Or you both do. Whats your choice?"
"I... I don't..." at her hesitation his eyes narrow.
"CHOOSE NOW DAMNIT!" Applejack could see he was clearly in pain and loosing patience. He took one of HER kicks to the ribs, like a champ she might add, but no one she knew could shirk it off entirely, not even Big-Macintosh.
"D-...! DON'T GET BLOOD ON THE ROOTS!" Applejack practically screams, for once afraid for her life, or at the very least her ability to work. She was tossed to the side, barely catching herself on the slick muddy floor as he THREW his glove forward, a chain extending and latching onto the ankle of the fleeing diamond dog, Dredge.
Dozer pulled his target back, Dredge clawing and screaming for help the whole way, but to no avail. The rain was picking up, and Dredge's cries fell on deaf ears as Applejack wanted NO part of whatever this was. After a short time of dragging his target towards him, he picks him up by the collar. "D(ack)-Dozer! Come on man, you know the rules! I was just sent after you for hoarding(ack)-gems! I-! I-?!" Dredge couldn't breath, Dozer had tightened his collar to the smallest size.
"You're going to die slowly. In agony. I'm in pain because of you, now you suffer the conse-"
"Oh fer the sake o' Celestia! At least make it quick darnit! If not fer HIS sake than fer mine!"
"... … …" CRACK! Dozers claw closes fully. The obvious sound of crunching bone is heard for only a moment... then silence... and dredge goes limp.
"J-... just like that? No last words? No sorry nuthin personal? No-"
"It was personal. WAS. Now as for YOU." He turns towards her, dropping the lifeless body of the fallen dog. Dozer looks right at her, momentarily stunned in fear, unable to run... but...
"W-wh-... I-... I'm not lookin fer and troub-" She barely manages to get out before...
"Do you know where a guy could get a hot meal and a towel anywhere nearby?"
"... … … Come again?" Applejack is caught completely off guard by his change of demeanor! Suddenly there's no tension in the air, just the rain that was getting heavier as they stood there.
"Yyyyeaaah... I'm kinda cold, wet, and tired... and I don't hold that kick against you, believe me, I know a reflex when I see one. So on that note, PLEASE don't send me off in some random direction to get lost."
She could almost FEEL the relief in the air (entirely on her end, but that's another topic), and smiles. "you uhh... sure are a funny fella huh? How do ah know ah can trust ya not to just off me after ah give ya direction huh?"
"Well... that's a start." He points at the tree they're standing under for cover. The roots are still clean.
((Hey Guys! Crazy here, If you like the story, PLEEEASE leave a comment... its like my crack man... LOL... Good or bad, Comments keep the story going ok? So tell me what you think, I wont hoar out the story, but changes can be made to help people understand the story better. Thanks!))