Applejack cantered through the dense woods, skipping over the rocks and fallen trees that littered her path. Tiny pieces of dead leaves clung to her damp hooves as she made her way across the forest floor. "You see anything yet, R.D?" She said, glancing upwards for a moment to make sure her partner was still hovering above her.
Rainbow Dash grunted in frustration. "Ugh, nothing but trees!". She flapped her wings at a slower pace, letting herself descend to the ground below. The sea of dead leaves crunched under her weight as soon as she touched the ground. "Hold up, A.J." she said, galloping for a brief moment to catch up.
Applejack turned around and redirected her trot towards Rainbow Dash. The two met in the middle. "What's the map say?" Rainbow Dash said.
Applejack opened her saddlebag and stuck her head in. It was absolutely filled with supplies, so much so that Applejack had a difficult time keeping it closed. Dash, on the other hoof, carried with her a bag that contained only a few essentials. She had made the argument that, since she would need to fly, Applejack would have to bear the majority of the burden. Applejack didn't mind that much, though. Earth ponies were naturally strong, after all.
Finally, after rummaging around for a while, Applejack managed to pull out the map from her overstuffed saddlebag. She laid the paper flat on a large tree stump and ran her hooves over it to flatten out the creases.
The map itself was incredibly detailed, depicting every single road, village, and city in Equestria's central province. They both stared at the the map's complexity for a while before either of them spoke up. "To be honest with you, I don't rightly know the first thing 'bout readin' these things." Applejack said, scratching her chin.
"Okay, well..." Rainbow began, tracing her hoof across the paper. "Uh, here's Ponyville...right?"
"Looks like it." Applejack replied, looking at the small shape on the map that defined the borders of her home town. She smiled at first when she saw her family's farm, but furrowed her brow upon further examination. "Rainbow, how old is this thing?" She asked, pointing to the location of Sweet Apple Acres. "This must've been drawn before Granny Smith purchased the west fields."
Rainbow scratched the top of her head with a wing. "Oh...how long ago was that?" she asked sheepishly.
"I reckon it wasn't fifteen years ago!" Applejack groaned, putting a hoof to her forehead.
"Oh. Is that bad?"
"'Course it's bad, Rainbow! This map's outdated! Where'd you get this thing anyway?"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Dash said defensively. "It was half-off."
"You can't be serious." Applejack scolded, staring daggers at her partner.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever. I doubt that this stupid forest has changed much."
"You'd better hope so." Applejack said with a huff. "Hoof over the compass, will you?" She held out her hoof without looking away from the map.
"One sec." Rainbow Dash replied, opening her lightweight saddlebag. Inspecting its contents, she couldn't help but notice how it seemed to have a lot less inside of it than when they had departed earlier that day. Did I really eat that many granola bars? she thought.
Investigating the issue further, she stuck her head in and looked around, only to gasp sharply upon the discovery of a giant, gaping hole in the bottom of the bag. The compass was nowhere to be found. Holding her breath, she checked the other bag, only to find it equally lacking in a certain navigational instrument.
Applejack looked at Rainbow. "What's the holdup, R.D.?"
"Um..." Rainbow Dash slowly turned to return the gaze. "Um...I might have...uh..." She hesitated.
YOU ARE READING
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FanfictionPinkie Pie has a wonderful life. Always surrounded by loving friends and family, she has everything she could ever want, and never stops smiling. One Hearth's Warming Eve, however, that all changes when Pinkie Pie is abducted and subject to extreme...
