Author Topic: Takes Two To T̶i̶n̶g̶l̶e̶ T̶a̶n̶g̶l̶e̶ Tango  (Read 136 times)

Offline Darrus

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"Ouch!" Tingle hissed as Applejack tugged him out from his hiding spot, him then batting at her hoof while repeating "No no no no" over and over again. His pleading fell silent when he was dragged out into the open, the pony who had already fired off a pair of arrows aiming in their direction at the whistle but managing to keep himself from attacking a third time for fear of a second smack. With the appearance of two more ponies, two of the other armed ponies turned their attention behind them and at the rest of the surrounding foliage while the fourth replied.

"Monster hunters?" the blue earth pony echoed, Darrus hovering his way closer to AJ while Tingle was keeping his back to the rest of the ponies, "... Guess you could say that." He narrowed his eyes at Applejack for a couple seconds as if trying to place something, him rubbing his chin before continuing, "there definitely are some beasties around here we're trying to track down."

"They thought I was a monster," Darrus chimed in from above the mare, him nodding over towards the arrow still embedded in the tree, "that or they recognized me and got jealous."

The blue pony gave his bow wielding companion a side look and gesture of his hoof to stop actively pointing his weapon in the other's direction.

"Forgive him. The aforementioned beasties have put us all a bit on edge. Anyway, who are you all? You look familiar... And was this your camp site?"

"Nope!" Tingle answered for Applejack, still not even facing the others, "I'm just gonna..." he then mumbled, glancing upwards then attempting to limp his way back into the trees, Darrus raising an eyebrow but keeping his attention on the ones with the sharp pointy things.As far as he was concerned, his and AJ's job was done, so Tingle could get lost for all he cared.

Offline Applejack

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Applejack quirked her mouth to the side a bit when the earth pony responded. There was something about what he said that didn't sound right to her, but she also got the impression it was something she didn't want to press too hard. They were outnumbered here, and in the middle of the Everfree, so getting into a mess wasn't a very good idea... Darrus mentioning a moment later that they thought he was a monster--meaning they'd probably shot at him--made Applejack narrow her eyes at the ponies in question, only to relax a bit when they said the beasts had put them on edge, which Applejack could understand for a moment, despite that she knew their compulsion to fire before thinking could've ended a life if Darrus hadn't been so quick.

Confusion crossed her face a moment later when Tingle denied that this was his campsite when it was asked, looking at the stallion in question first then to the others they'd come across. "It'd been his. All Ah wanted ta do was get him back here an' ferget about him so we kin get back home. An' now that we've done that... Ah think we're just gonna... leave. There's somethin' weird goin' on here, an' Ah dunno if Ah wanna get involved. Let's go, sugarcube," she said to Darrus, glancing to him briefly before turning to leave, cautiously.

Offline Darrus

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""It'd"?" one of the armed ponies echoed back to Applejack while Tingle seemed to flinch from it, "Ah... so it had been then. Good. We we're hoping you'd still be a round so we could talk to you about them... "monsters" hanging around the forest. So good that you made it back in one piece." The pony leaned his head back towards another to share some secretive and short conversation while the one who had been doing most of the work kept trying to place where he'd seen Applejack from.

Darrus in the mean time cut off his hover so as to land right next to the mare, him soon declaring that her desire to finally go home was a "sweet idea" then reveling in his own lame - what some would call - joke now that the prospect of leaving the forest behind was becoming more and more of a reality and was doing wonders for his current mood.

"Whoa, hold on a minute!" the, Darrus assumed, leader of the group called out just as Tingle clung to Darrus' leg like a foal, Darrus' mood being ruined a touch soon after when his small kicky motions did little to break the other stallion's grip.

"I think I got it now! I knew I saw you from somewhere before. You're one of them special ponies, ain't ya? Part of that little group or club or whatever that does stuff for the throne, right? What was your name... Don't tell me, I know I can remember if you give me a sec... Appledjam?"

"Applejack," one of the others corrected, him soon being given a small shove of his shoulder in response.

"I said not to tell me! But, yeah, that. What's a pony like you doing wandering around out here before finding and helping the likes of him?" he further questioned with a nod towards the stallion that just. Wouldn't. Get! OFF!

"Get off'a me!" Darrus demanded with frustration, flapping his wings in an attempt to escape Tingle's grasp and finally managing to shake him loose once he happened to agitate Tingle's wounds, eliciting a gasp and groan.

"Seems kind of dangerous. Something going on? Either way, it seems to me like you could probably use an escort back out with all the wildlife running around here, don't you agree? Don't you guys think so?" this time he directed his question towards the rest of his group, nodding all the while until the rest eventually mimicked the gesture and agreed.

"Oh yeah, you don't want to get caught out here this time of year," one spoke up.

"Seriously, somepony like you? Would be a real shame if something happened what with all your connections and responsibilities and junk," another contributed.

"Right, right, real nasty out here these last couple weeks. I'm surprised you got here without a scratch what with him bleeding like that and all," the ringleader took over once again, "so, how about you let us escort you out? We can leave somepony here to watch our mutual friend then do our duty of returning just a little bit of the favor owed to you by us all?"

Offline Applejack

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Applejack frowned a little bit when one of the ponies from the group hailed her as she tried to leave with Darrus, reluctantly slowing to glance back to him as he caught onto who she was, and started talking about how she should let them escort her back out of the forest what with all the dangerous monsters. She narrowed her eyes a bit when the stallion asked why she was helping 'the likes of Tingle', catching onto the implications of that sentence. That to describe somepony like that, they'd have to already have some kind of knowledge or impression from them.

She didn't like what was going on here. These ponies, and the way they were talking, were throwing up major red flags in her mind. She didn't feel safe here, nor did she feel they were telling the entire truth. She didn't want to associate with these ponies, nor did she want to find out where they planned on going with all this, but... She knew that if they really were doing something less than savory and she left without at least attempting to do something about it, that it would eat at her. She was already too far in now, especially since she knew that if she ran, she'd just be leaving Tingle to whatever the stallions had in store for him, despite how much she disliked him. "Darrus," she said quietly as she looked over to him. "Ah don't think these ponies are who they say they are, an' Ah don't think Ah could sit comfortably with mahself if Ah left now. You kin get back to the farm if ya want. Ah know ya don't wanna stick around and just wanna get back home, so Ah don't blame ya if ya do."

She then looked to the ponies in front of her, quirking her mouth to the side. "A'ight, how 'bout you stop jerkin' mah leg? Ah didn't wanna get involved, but you guys're actin' reeeeaaal suspicious. So what's really goin' on here? What're ya huntin', why're ya here, how d'you know... 'Tingle'?" she asked, gesturing to the stallion they'd arrived with.

 


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