Jean and Max had ridden in the back of the mail cart for about an hour undetected when the cart came to a stop. Max looked up and around their surroundings, they were at the outskirts of a village.
"this is good a place as any to get off" He whispered to Jean
The two hopped off and snuck into a ditch on the side of the road. From their they crept into rows of apple trees where finally they could rest after their ordeal. Max sat down on a log but Jean remained standing.
"You and me need to talk…" Jean said with crossed arms
"About what?" Max inquired
"I told you not to touch that glowing orb of light, and now look where we are!" Jean exclaimed
"Sorry man I had no idea-" Max said but Jean wouldn't let him finish
"Use your brain next time and don't touch something if you don't know what it is!" Jean's face was red with anger.
"OK! I get it! You were right, but arguing won't help us here! We need to remain cool and think of a plan" Max said trying to calm his friend
"What did you have in mind?"
Meanwhile in the village, a certain purple unicorn was hard at work studying her notes in her library when her dragon assistant came through the door with a rolled up paper.
"Hey Twilight! I have a letter from the princess for you!" The young dragon chimed
Twilight looked up "Very good! Thank you Spike" She said dismissing her assistant
Her horn lit up and using her powers of levitation, she unrolled the paper.
"My dearest Twilight," She read aloud. "I have a task of the utmost importance for you, earlier today two foreign creatures entered Equestria. These creatures are called 'humans'. It is suspected they are currently near Ponyville. I need you to find them and bring them to me. They don't seem dangerous, but remain cautious when approaching them. They are very effective when working in pairs, they even used teamwork to evade castle security and even outsmart your brother. They can be described as vastly intelligent creatures and are able to communicate with ponies. In terms of appearance, they walk upright on only two legs and have a set of arms similar to a monkey's. I advise you to gather your friends and use them to help you. Lastly I need you to bring them in unharmed, try to avoid using excessive force. I look forward to your success,
Princess Celestia"
Twilight realized the severity of the letter and immediately left to gather her friends.
Meanwhile, Jean and Max remained hidden in the rows of apple trees. They were busy racking their brains for a plan but were coming up blank. Max was sitting somewhat relaxed against a tree while Jean continuously paced back and forth. Max looked at his friend and said;
"would you please sit down and try to chill? You're making me nervous…"
Jean stopped for a minute and stared at Max then said "Good, you should be nervous. In case you haven't noticed, we're in a world of talking animals."
Max was surprised by Jean's sudden snappish attitude, back on Earth Jean was much more docile.
"Listen, I want to go home too, we need to work together to make that happen." Max said
As the two talked of possible plans, they didn't seem to notice they were being watched. In a nearby patch of bushes, three small fillies observed the humans.
"What in the hay are those things?" A young filly with a red mane and bow whispered to her friends
"Quite Applebloom, they'll hear us!" A small Pegasus sharply whispered.
Both Max and Jean simultaneously turned their heads towards the bushes the fillies were hiding in.
"Did you hear that?" asked Jean
"Yeah I think I heard voices , we best get moving." Max answered
The two humans quietly moved deeper into the rows of apple trees, the three fillies kept watching. When the humans were out of earshot, a small unicorn turned to the Pegasus and said;
"Nice going Scootaloo, you scared them off!"
Scootaloo snorted and said "Oh please it was Applebloom making all the noise!"
"Girls! Quit arguing! Come on, let's go get my sister, she'll know what those things are" Applebloom said, and with that they left.
At the village square, Twilight waited for her friends. When three ponies arrived she explained their task.
"I'm glad you all could make it" She said. "Princess Celestia has given us an assignment of great importance. We need to find two so-called 'humans' who are on the loose."
"Quick question" a Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane said
"Yes Rainbow Dash?" Twilight said
"What's a 'human'?" Rainbow Dash asked
"I was just getting to that, humans are apparently very smart, highly evolved, two-legged creatures, never before seen in Equestria… until now. Earlier today, humans appeared in near Canterlot and Princess Celestia has asked that we find them and bring them to her." Twilight explained.
"Never before seen creatures?" A yellow Pegasus chimed "I can't wait to meet them!"
Twilight turned to the yellow one "That's why you're here Fluttershy, we'll need you're animal expertise if we want to bring them in without problems"
Fluttershy smiled, anticipating the meeting of a new animal friend.
"And if there is a problem?" An orange Earth pony with a southern accent asked
"That's why you're here Applejack, you and Dash are the fastest ponies in all of Ponyville. I'm confident we can talk them into coming with us, but If not we'll need you get them for us. Any questions?" Twilight then announced
"I got one." AJ said "That's all fine and dandy, but where do we start looking?"
"Well…" Twilight scratched her head.
At that moment, the fillies from before came flying down the street in a wagon being pulled by scooter which was driven by Scootaloo. After nearly crashing into Applejack, all three fillies spilled out.
"Applejack! You need to come with us, quick!" Applebloom shrilled.
"Is it an emergency?" Applejack asked
"Well… not really" Applebloom admitted
"Sorry little sis, but I have some grown-up matters that need tending to. I'll come see whatever it is later." Applejack told her younger sister
"But sis! There's some weird lookin' critters in the apple orchard!" the young one said desperately
That caught the attention of all four mares, specifically Twilight, who rushed over to Applebloom.
"What did they look like?" She asked
"There was two of em', they walked around on two legs and were really tall…" Applebloom described
That was all Twilight needed to hear, all four took off for Sweet Apple Acres.
"Remember what I said: We talk to them first, I'm sure Fluttershy can talk them into coming with us."
"And if they don't we MAKE them come with us, hehe" Dash said cynically
"Cool it Rainbow, the Princess wants us to bring them in UNHARMED." Twilight reminded
"Yeah whatever…" Dash said unenthused
When they reached the apple farm, Twilight looked over the countless acres of apple trees and sighed.
"Great… Where do we begin?" Twilight said
"I got an idea, I'll fly over the orchard and try to spot them from the air!" Rainbow announced
"Ok, but if you see them, immediately come get us, DO NOT go after them yourself" Twilight instructed, but Dash had already taken off into the air and began circling the orchard.
Dash had made four passes over the orchard when she spotted them in a clearance in-between the rows. "There you are!" She said to herself. Dash observed them from the air for a short while longer, then thought "If I bring these two in, I'll be a hero!" She then slowly descended
The two humans where still discussing a plan.
"Maybe we should talk to them" Jean suggested
"After they abducted us and chased us out of that castle? I don't think so" Max said stubbornly
"I couldn't hurt, we don't even know where we are" Jean reminded
"That might be true but-" Max's sentence was cut short as Dash landed in front of them
There was a moment of silence as both parties took in each other.
"Oh great… they have wings now" Max said pessimistically, breaking the silence
"You two, come with me, NOW" Dash demanded
"Should we run?" Jean whispered
"No, I'm tired of running." Max said and made a stance towards Dash.
"If you don't back off, me and my boy here are gonna have something to say about it!" Max bellowed
Dash took a step back; at six feet and two inches tall, Max had an intimidating stature. Jean closely rivaled Max's height at five feet and eleven inches. The two humans towered over Dash who started to feel like she had bitten off more than she could chew.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" Jean whispered to Max
"Trust me" Max said confidently
Jean then took a stance alongside Max
"You should run…" Jean said to Dash
Dash took the humans warnings as a challenge and stepped closer.
"Oh yeah, or what?" She said self-assured.
"You're about to find out" Max said
"Bring it!" Dash declared and took off in a charge at the humans.
Max also took off and then leapt at Dash, tackling her and forcing her to the ground.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" Max called to his friend.
Jean joined in but with the help of her athlete strength, Dash was able to throw them off.
"Damn, this thing is strong!" Max said
Jean looked at Dash and noticed a small expression of panic on her face. "You can still run!" Jean yelled to Dash who, in turn sneered and put her head down for another charge.
This time both humans simultaneously slammed into Dash, and after a brief scuffle Dash was pinned by the humans.
"Quick! Toss me your jacket!" Max called to Jean.
Jean threw him his jacket. Max in turn warped it around Dash, and zipped it up. The jacket was like straightjacket, restricting the use of her forelegs and wings. Without the use of them, Dash flopped around like a fish-out-of-water. Jean then got an idea, he tied the sleeves of the jacket together restricting Dash's movement even more.
"Ha! That's what you get for messing with a human!" Max said victoriously
Jean crouched down and looked at the pony, who's face was quickly becoming red with anger.
"Dude, look at those eyes, this thing is furious!" Jean chuckled
Dash snapped her jaws at Jean, in attempts to bite him.
"Someone should put a muzzle on you" He said and got back up
Max looked over at Jean and said; "job well done!"
"Yeah, but I fear we might have just pissed them off even more" Jean said
"That's for sure! Just wait until my friends find me! You two freaks will get it!" Dash said, looking up at them.
"Yeah your voice carries…" Jean said mockingly
"That brawl really took it out of me, I'm starving!" Max said, Jean pointed up to the fresh apples on the trees.
"Don't even think about it! Those apples belong to Applejack!" Dash snarled
"Well, Applejack won't mind if we borrow a few, will she?" Max said sarcastically
Before Dash had time to answer, Max shoved an apple in her mouth so she couldn't respond.
"Didn't think so…"
After eating their fill, the two humans left, leaving only apple cores and a tied-up Rainbow Dash behind.