In Defense of the Acre

    Tail whipping about, an orange Earth pony surveyed the land between the trees and hills that made up Sweet Apple Acres. Blonde mane blowing wildly in the wind as it passed by, emerald green eyes narrowed at the slightest agitation from the undergrowth. Bringing the bridge of her hat down further, Applejack sneaked behind a large tree and looked beyond it, trying to catch sight of her prey. Somewhere in the orchard, her orchard, a beast from the Everfree had been set loose. At first she found it odd that such a foreign being would even be set to come all the way out here, but in her head she realized why it had chosen her farm to come.

    She had what it wanted. What it needed. And it was going to try and get it with everything it had, and Applejack knew it. Neither had an advantage over the other, as far as the mare could figure. Whipping her tail forward, Applejack's eye caught the flash of blue in the distance, her eyes tracking the silhouette as it passed over the hill. "Consarn it, they're already in my acre!"

    Taking off after the figure, the drumming of hooves beating in her ears as she tried to catch the beast before it could throw her off the trail. The advantage Applejack had was that she knew her orchard inside and out. No creature could ever doubt that. However, the rolling hills and trees would give her target ample time to hide.

    Sure enough, as Applejack claimed the top of the hill, all she could see were trees and budding apples. Stomping her hoof, the mare shot towards her home, betting anything that the Everfree beast would be heading there first. However, she was the fastest in Ponyville - a shared title, but one she owned all the same. Breaking towards the farm in the distance, the mare was rewarded in seeing another streak of blue darting from tree to tree. "Ah gotcha now!" Applejack shouted, shocking the figure from cover as it shot out into the orchard again. "Oh hooo no, Ah don't think so, not this time!" Applejack's bucking legs shot her forwards and pushed against the soft earth as she cleared the crest of a hill, catching up to her quarry.

    However, the figure proved to be an admirable adversary, whipping about trees as Applejack gave chase, her eyes ever present on the strip of blue. It was fast, but Applejack knew that she was just that much faster, years of applebucking had strengthened her legs something fierce, and no creature from the middle of some forest would pull a fast one on her. She had something that needed protecting. Ponies counted on her to protect it, and she wouldn't let them down. Most dependable pony in all of Ponyville, the orange mare thought as she cut around a tree, shaving a few feet from her competition. "Y'all best stop right there if you wanna do this with any dignity!" The mare cried, but despite her best efforts to deter the stranger, the strip of blue before her eyes kept on as fast as it's legs would carry her. Applejack redoubled her efforts, hoofbeats becoming like thunderclaps as the two figures shot through the whole of Sweet Apple Acres.

    Off in the distance, Applejack could see her brother holding firm against a couple of her enemy's cohorts, spinning about, simply daring any of them to get close. It was a great tactic, and Applejack simply wished she could run the same idea, but they had sent their runner, and Applejack had to respond in kind. Thank Celestia none of them could fly, or teleport. There would be no stopping a group like that, even if Rainbow Dash and Twilight were with her.

    Which, Applejack mused, they were, albeit out in Ponyville, defending their own zones. She had to trust in their abilities, as well in the abilities of the other three, for the group to come out on top. Up ahead, near a small plateau that opened up into a flat landscape, her adversary dove out from sea of trees into the open, Applejack hot on her heels. She could hear the ragged breathing, some indecipherable language pouring out from its mouth as the gap between the two thinned, the orange mare wearing a victorious smile.

    However, not to be out done by a mere pony, the Everfree creature wheeled on it's legs, spinning about in a feral arc, Applejack forcing her hooves into the dirt to keep from colliding with the beast's forefront. Stopping mere inches from the breathing quadreped, both took a cautionary step back, swishing their respective tails as they sized the other up. Applejack took detailed note of the toned muscles that adorned her adversary's body, making mental note that under different circumstances, she'd have likely partnered with it for some fun and games rather than be in a standoff.

    Again the beast breathed heavily, catching it's breath in tandem with Applejack. It's black tipped legs stretched out as the orange mare slowly started to circle her opponent. Swearing under it's breath, the white streaked animal started to move as well, each giving the other no distinct advantage as they paced along, each eying different streaks of color on their persons. A strip of blue here, a dash of red on Applejack.

    Enemy colors.

    With a startling shout, the beast turned, charging against the farm pony. Regaining her composure, Applejack faced the incoming force and moved ahead, clashing against the beast's chest as their heads passed each other, emerald eyes burning into azure spheres. There was a moment where the mare could see its teeth, clenched tight as it pushed against her, it's eyes trained beyond her freckled features. Summoning up years of hard work, the farmfilly resisted against the beast and soon wrapped her neck around part of her opponent, pushing the unfortunate creature to the ground as Applejack fought to keep her own balance as she could hear the snapping of teeth as the beast aimed itself toward her unguarded flank.

    Deftly pushing her hooved off the ground, the mare's tail swished dangerously past the snapping maw of her attacker. Yet, Applejack hit the ground hard in her evasion, rolling slightly as her hat rolled off her head and landed twixt her and the Everfree creature. Shaking her head to regain her composure, Applejack's eyes narrowed as she saw the black-striped beast nip at her hat, mockingly placing it upon her own as she stared down at the pony before her.

    "You remove that hat from yer head, or Ah swear Ah'll make you regret comin' anywhere near this farm," Applejack threatened, her hooves scrambling to find the ground beneath them. Her adversary merely grinned as she stood tall, a victorious smirk over the battered mare. "Ah'm given ya... 'till tha counta three!" she breathed loudly, her breath slowly catching up to her. The animal dug into the ground with a hoof, lowering it's covered head as it prepared for the orange pony's assault.

    "One," Applejack seethed, her eyes narrowing on the tanned brim.

    "Two!" A hoof slammed against the ground, white striped tail swishing dangerously with a dash of blue hanging off it.

    "Three!" The protector of Sweet Apple Acres charged forward at the waiting creature, the pony clashing again as they locked heads, each trying to gain quarter over the other. Both heads ducked to the right, shifting their momentum off of each other as they moved quickly to disable the other, however Applejack's attention was torn toward her hat more than her quarry, a distracting fact which her assailant attempted to take advantage of.

    However, as it went for her broadside, an unexpected jerking motion snapped it's neck to the side as the hat was forcibly removed from it's head, pulling back on the equine's head. Balance completely lost, the Everfree creature stumbled forward as Applejack flipped the hat up on her head, her a smirk appearing on her features as she snapped at the animal's flank, removing the offending blue stripe as the zebra stumbled into a heap.

    -----

    "Well Zecora, Ah hope this teaches you a lesson in personal property," Applejack cheered as she trotted happily alongside the downtrodden zebra, shooting a friendly look towards her friend. "And that ya can't expect to beat an Apple in a game of Capture the Flag on their own farm." Applejack's red team flag hung loosely on her tail, Zecora's blue team insignia hanging on her back as she was led to the 'jail' at the Mayor's office.

    "Compared to my team I was singled out, With their esteem a zebra's speed they couldn't doubt!" Zecora defended, a small smile on her face as the two mare's muscles burned with the physical exertion.

    AJ's laugh was hoarse, but she cleared her throat as a rainbow streak shot across the sky towards the office, a number of pegasi following the streak of color behind her. "Well, it looks like Dash has the weather team out in full force against the mail team," she remarked, turning towards the zebra. "Ah gotta say, Zecora, Ah thought you had me out there, Ah hadn't expected you ta' be so hard ta' catch."

    "Living in the Everfree is a trying life, I often find it best to flee than end up in strife," the zebra responded in her rhyming scheme, her trotting becoming stronger as her breath returned to her, keeping pace with Applejack slowed her recovery, but as the runner for her team, Zecora knew Applejack could likely take her time before returning to the farm before the game was over. "These Ponyville games are quite a delight. What persuades these mares from noon to night?"

    Applejack chuckled as the Town Hall came into sight, the zebra next to her glad her presence no longer drew stares from the ponies who hid in the shadows now not out of fear, but out of fun of the game, each eye trained on another pony's flank, eyes dancing for flashes of blue or red fabric. "Just tha' fun of the game, Zecora. It's why it's a festival for fun in the sun, a celebration."

    As the two approached the 'jail', Zecora took the lead as she found herself among the ranks of many dejected looking blue team members, over half of the pegasus force of blue team sitting on the deck under the watchful gaze of Mayor Mare. Applejack approached the aged Ponyville caretaker as she nodded toward her captive. "Caught 'er on tha' farm, ma'am. Went fer tha' hat."

    Embarrassed at her earlier folly, the zebra chuckled dryly. "Your protectiveness for headwear I will remember, I was in for a scare when in your eyes I could see ember."  

Applejack laughed off the remark, tipping her hat as she turned back towards her farm, her emerald eyes shooting up in surprise as she caught sight of her big brother with three dejected fillies behind him. Trotting up to the stallion, the orange mare looked over the young girls. "Well, Big Mac, Ah can't imagine what it took fer you to curtail these fillies," she complimented, shaking her head.

    Big Mac smiled as he chewed on a piece of grass. "Tried to trick me by wearin' them cloaks Sweetie made over their markers." The stallion's tail flicked upwards, red fabric still hanging from his fiery orange hair.

    "We aren't Cutie Mark Captors," Scootaloo spat sadly, her wings somehow covered in some sticky brown sap as she attempted to flutter the offending material off to no avail.

    Applejack raised her eye at the sight, looking on as she noticed the other two Crusaders were similarly covered in tree sap. "Nahw how'd you girls get covered in-"

    "They weren't when I tagged them. Don't rightly know how they did, doesn't really add up," Big Mac cut off as he passed by Applejack, the strange occurrence remaining unanswered as the three fillies made their way up unto the deck and joined the rest of Blue team. However, their frowns soon turned upside down as they made their way to Zecora, the idea of the zebra's mark giving the trio new fire.

    "Welp, Big Mac, guess we gotta double back to the farm and make sure nopony takes our flags. Only got Caramel and the rest of the work to count on back there!" Applejack teased, Big MacIntosh merely nodding in agreement as the siblings made their way back down the long, dusty road back to Sweet Apple Acres. They had a home to defend.