Young anon day 10

>Up and early, all of the usual.
>Today you started peeling. You’re still sore, but you don’t need the aloe, just the sunblock…or you can just stick to the shade.
>…yeah, let’s be safe, rather than sorry. SUNBLOCK ON!
>You, Applejack and Big Macintosh all take a bite out of the chores before noon, and the mares are mysteriously absent.
>Leaving Big Mac to handle the rest, you and AJ go back to see your newest friend, Pinkie Pie.
>It was strange, you thought a ball of energy would be annoying, but a sense of fun just seems to be the norm around her.
>”So you think there’s some kahnd of clue as to where all th’ stallions went in th’ library?”
“It’s mah best lead. Mr…”
>Not supposed to say his name.
“…Bond said knowing was half the battle.”
>”Mister who?”
“Bond…James Bond.”
>She looks at you, eyes narrowed.
>”Are you hidin’ somethin’ from me?”
“Yes. He uh…told me not ta tell.”
>This appears to calm her.
>”Ah don’t lahk lies or liars. But you said ya wouldn’t tell, so Ah’ll let it go.”
>Got it.
>You nod and the two of you travel to Sugarcube Corner without incident.
>With a knock to the door (usually it is open when the store is open) you call out.
”Pinkie, we’re here!”
>”Ooh! Just a minute!”
>You can hear her from the second floor.
>You and Applejack sit there for 50 seconds before you see Pinkie stick her head out the window.
>She leaps out and pulls a blanket out like a parachute, landing exactly at the 60 second mark.
>”See?”
>She giggles.
>”How did ya do that?”
>”Well I heard you say you didn’t like liars or lies, so I said a minute, and then I had to waste a minute so I showed up exactly after a minute! We’re friends, and I want you to like me, so I can’t lie if I can help it! I invented a new form of promise just for the occasion, you wanna hear it?”
>You and AJ look at each other. Didn’t Applejack just say that only a few minutes ago?
>You nod to Pinkie Pie.
>She goes through some awkward motions as she says in a singsong tone: “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” ending it with smacking her hoof right into her eye.
>Ooookayyyyy.
>”So now where do we go, huh?”
“Uh, ah had ta go check tha library first.”
>”OOH! Okay! Let’s go, go go!”
>You walk a few steps ahead as the girls talk about…stuff.
>You don’t really have the heart to listen. You caught “balloons” and “hot sauce” from their conversation and immediately lost interest.
>You reach the library within a few minutes and begin by circling the building looking for other spies…mares who would see you entering the building.
>After the all clear, you sneak in and close the door behind the three of you quietly.
>”So are we sneaking again today?”
“Yeah, Ah’m lookin fer clues raght now is all. And if Ah fahnd one, Ah intend to get it ta Big Mac without alertin’ all the mares in town.”
>”Clues liiike…this one?”
>Pinkie Pie pulls a paper from two pages of a book on paleontology.
>>Preparing for the Storm of Mares
>”It was under P~!”
“But how did? Ah mean, the library’s a raght mess!”
>Pinkie puts a hoof to her chin, then shrugs.
>”I don’t know. It sort of works better the less I know.”
>”What works better, if ya don’ mahnd me askin’ Pinkie?”
>”Oh, my Pinkie sense. Sometimes I just can do things and find things and other times I get a tail twitch and then something falls, and other stuff happens too!”
>You and AJ exchange looks of incredulity.
“Is she lyin’?”
>”Not as far As ah can tell, and that’s the weirdest thing!”
>Pinkie Pie just grins.
“Well lemme see here…”
>You continue to read the little note Pinkie found.
>>Preparing for the Storm of Mares. If at this point you are wondering, we, the stallions, have already left to make base somewhere else-like. Our invincible fortress…
>Man, you are jealous for a fortress about now. Last time you had one was a pillow fort…
>>…fortress is safely located by the next clue…
>GRRRR…
>>…safely tucked away in the one place nop0ny would ever look or dare to look.
>You become aware that Pinkie and Applejack are reading it too.
>You cover it up and put it in your pocket.
“Uh, hye let’s jus’ play fer now an Ah’ll get this to Big Mac later, ok?”
>”Sure! So what are we playing?”
>”I was thinking some hide and seek, then some tag and maybe DFA!”
“What’s…DFA?”
>…
>You were NEVER going to play DFA again.
(”What’s…DFA?”)
>(”Oh nothing, sillies. I’ll fall and you have to not get hit!”)
>Your back hurts from just remembering it.
Applejack wanted to hang out with Pinkie Pie some more, so you excused yourself after the first hour to go relay the message to Big Mac.
>You unroll it and read it.
>>..or dare to look. The haunted cottage at the end of Everfree Forest.
>A chill runs down your spine.
“H-haunted?”
>That’s…that’s…
“Awesome!”
>Smells like adventure! And this time you can go with Big Mac and Pinkie won’t interrupt!
>You race back to the farm and look for Big Mac quietly.
>After a few minutes you found him, and gave him the note.
>”Well alraght! Let’s finish up here an get a move on! How was yer date with Pinkie?”
“It wasn’t a date!”
>He laughs.
>”Ahm jus’ teasin Anon. still, how’d it go?”
“Well she helped me find the note, and then she wanted to play some games lahk DFA…”
>…
>Big Macintosh takes the lead this time as you walk towards the Everfree Forest and the cottage that lays beside it.
>”Alraght, Anon. Let’s be brave, ok?”
“Yeah, Ahm brave. Let’s do this!”
>”Well great! Let’s go!”
>Neither of you move.
“Let’s go at the same time, yeah?”
>”Sure.”
>With a gulp you both step slowly towards the creepy cold cottage.
>The door creaks open at your first knock, dust coming from the hinges.
>”Okay looks lahk nop0ny has been here fer years…no sense goin inside if the door’s dusty, raght?”
“Y-yeah.”
>Turns out neither of you are the bravest in the current atmosphere.
>As you neared the forest, a cloying fog had rolled in, and the sun was obscured by dark clouds, owls and other night sounding animals were quite loud, besides the fact that it was less than four in the afternoon.
>You instead check around the building, considering the evidence against anything being inside.
>Under an old chicken coop, Big Macintosh finds half of a note, and you find a half in the roof over a well. You place the note together and read it.
>>Good job on recovering this half | but what about the other half?
>>It seems that where you need to |go, the storm of mare might follow.
>>To keep it secret and aloof | we’ve torn the code between our hoof
>>Go to the inner Southern | Apple field
>…what.
>”What?”
“What?”
>Not only were the rhymes bad and a little forced, the clue led you back home!
“But weren’t we workin on the Southern field this mornin?”
>”Eeyup. That’s where Applejack’s clubhouse is. Ah’ve got a baaad feelin about this.”
>…
>After a quick dash home, you and Big Macintosh split up to cover the whole inner Southern field.
>You are peeking around some closely placed trees that definitely are not apple trees and bits of foliage.
>How come you never noticed this before?
>Pushing past some ornery leaves and the like, you can see a small pink treehouse.
“Hello? Anyp0ny there?”
>”Anon? Is that you?”
>Applejack’s head pops out from a window.
“What are you doin here?”
>”Ah should ask you tha same thing! This is mah secret clubhouse!”
>Jealousy burns within…
>”So whah ARE you here, Anon?”
“The uh…note led us around to here. Ahm s’possed ta fahnd another clue Ah guess.”
>Applejack pops back inside the treehouse, then comes out the front door with another note in her mouth.
>”If’n you two had maybe come here first Ah could have gave ya this then and saved ya a lotta hastle. What’s all this fer anyway?”
>You take a big breath.
“WellitallstartedafewdaysagowhenBigMacwaswalkingmethroughtownandthenitwasestrusandsoweranfromcolgateandthenahwasdumbanwemadeupbutitwastoolatesoah’vebeenrunninaroundtowneversincejusttogethimintotheplaceallthestallionsarehiding…”
>You cough and have to breathe a few times.
>”Slow down there, part’. So this is fer Big Mac?”
>You nod.
>She flings the letter at you and it hits the ground next to your feet like a shuriken.
>”Well, enjoy!”
>She steps back into the clubhouse and closes the door.
>”An stay off mah clubhouse!”
>By the time you find Big Macintosh, it’s already starting to get late.
>Hopefully tomorrow will bring Big Macintosh to the hideout.
>You do evening chores and a bit of your remaining homework before getting to bed and reading the note with Big Mac.
“So what’s it say?”
>”It says something about the Carrots.”
“The carrots? What do vegetables have to do with the hideout?”
>”No, the Carrot family. They’re our neighbors, after all. You sure you ain’t run into any of em yet? Lahk Golden Harvest?”
“Don’t think so.”
>”Hmm. Well you’re free to come join me if you want, tmorrow. Fer now, Ahm gonna get some rest. Gnight Anon.”
“Gnight Mac.”
>Even in sleep you want a fortress…
>You know what tomorrow’s gonna hold.