CHAPTER 3 : PICNIC MAYHEM

"Tank, its 'hearts and hooves' up you lazyhead, time to go a flyin' and a picnickin' with the rest of the ponies"
Rainbow Dash give a gentle nudge at the sleeping tortoise by her bedside.
Twice ... trice ...and Rainbow could still hear the deep snoring that her pet tortoise emit from inside his shell.
" Tank, come on... wake up!"
"..." no response from the little tortoise.
She then decided on a second tactic.
"FOOD!" she yelled, and waited for a response from her pet.
"..." still not response. Rainbow turned for a split second to collect her picnic basket , and when she turned back... her friend was not in the same place.
Instead, the tortoise was at the door, now fully awake, waiting for mouth stained with the remnants of a chocolate cookie he had stolen from the jar in the basket!
"How did you..?" the puzzled blue pegasi looked at him, wondering how in the universe her friend get his hooves , or rather, paws, on the cookie from the picnic basket.
"never mind, let's..."
The tortoise was already on his way to the picnic area.
"...go" she finished her sentence and went after him, never been in a better mood to start off a new day.

"Everything is so cute and perfect! I cant wait, I can't wait!" a very hyperactive Pinkie Pie jumped around the place the ponies prepared for their picnic.
"Not again, Pinkie Pie, you sure you didn't have too much punch yesterday night?" an all knowing Twilight asked her friend with a 'I-know-what-you-did' look.
"aaa... nope" the pink pony just kept jumping around as though she possessed all the energy in the universe, and to the gang's UTTER disdain... started singing.

**Cuz I love to make you smile, smile, smile!
Yes I do!
It fills my heart with sunshine all the while!
Yes it does!
'Cuz all I really need's a smile, smile, smile!
From these happy friends of mine!**

"Please make her shut up!"
The usually calm, kind and gentle Fluttershy hid her head under a pillow; she was in such a bad mood because she drank too much last night. The headache she possessed did wonders with her current mood.
However, her statement came out as a mere whisper...and she was easily ignored and overshadowed by Pinkie Pie's constant singing and dancing.
Last night, Twilight warned her about the future consequences of excess of alcohol in blood, especially in the morning after, when the effects of hangover are at its worst.
But Fluttershy, been so naive and meek, had not encountered such a "fine" drink before. She was so happy that her friends had made up, she ignored Twilight's advice and took a sip of vodka, a sip turned to a bottle, and soon, she was drinking as if there was no tomorrow.
The problem was, that Fluttershy has a low tolerance for alcohol, and her friends had to drag her back to her room.
The last thing she remembered was Rainbow Dash and Applejack carrying her back to the inn. What she did not remember was that she was settled on the bed, "talking" to her fallen parents, arguing that she was an "assertive" Pegasus and "Celestia-knows-what-else". In the end, she was so drunk that no pony could understand what she was babbling about.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy, you said something darling?" Rarity, surprisingly tolerant to Pinkie Pie's antics, noticed something was bothering the meek yellow pegasi and asked her out of concern. Fluttershy's head was still buried under the pillow as she let out a muffled moan. Rarity shook her head in dismay and was forced to ignore her with MORE irritating matters at hand to attend to.

Pinkie Pie's singing continued for a long long while, until Applejack and Rainbow Dash arrived at the scene.
"Hi guys, what's new?" Applejack tried to mask her depression by flashing the group a cheshire grin. She arrived with a bunch of her family's delicious secret apple pies.
Both Winona, Applejack's trusty collie, and Tank, Rainbow's pet tortoise, were not far behind, They were already having fun with each other before their mistress did with their friends. The duo were playing tag, with Tank surprisingly having a head-start.
Rainbow had strapped a special flying thingamajig on her pet tortoise, allowing him to take to the sky just as she does. The tortoise teased the collie, hovering just above and out of her reach. Both tortoise and collie were soon carried away by their little game of tag and disappeared into the thickets nearby.
"Don't go too far , Tank" Rainbow warned her little friend.
"You too Winona" Applejack called out to her collie.
"Hey , where is Scotaloo and Sweety Belle, Applejack? I thought they suppose to join us here." Rarity asked as she left her sister under Applejack's care earlier in the morning.
"Oh, them both? stuck in the hotel doing some board game, a tryin' something different to gain their cutie mark, as usual, but this time in honor of Applebloom"
Applejack look to the sky, as if cursing herself for leaving her family when the bloodthirsty murderer happened.
"Don't worry, I will request Owloysous to take care of them. My owl is extremely good in board games they will gain their cutie marks in no time.I'm sure Applebloom is watching them from above and never been prouder of them." Twilight Sparkle said in full confidence and gave Applejack a comforting pat on her shoulders.
" Hey Owloysous" Twilight called out to her owl , who was perched on top of a nearby branch. The little owl responded , and soon, she swooped down and landed on Twlight's shoulder.
"I need you to babysit the Cutie Mark Crusaders, think you can help them out with their board games?"
Owloysous hooted as a sign of approval and was soon on her way to meet up with the fillies.
"Oh good, now we can finally begin our picnic !" Rarity expressed. She barely finished that sentence and Pinkie Pie started her hyperactive streak again.
"OH Goody goody goody" Pinkie Pie jumped in excitement while reciting her new mantra. Meanwhile, Fluttershy couldn't take it any longer, and "screamed" right under her pillow.

"Shut UP! and stop jumping all arround! Each step you take feels like an earthshake!"
Despite all her efforts to state her point, Pinkie and the rest of the ponies continued to ignore Fluttershy, and it was easy to see why .

"Guys, comeon, let Fluttershy speak! " However Spike, who was sitting in the middle of the group with a mouth full of pie, was the second to notice something was bothering the pegasi.

"Yeah Fluttershy, you got to learn to be MORE assertive" Rainbow had enough of her meek-natured friend and snatched away the pillow covering her head. The pegasi replaced the pillow by covering her face with her hooves instead. Shaking her head in dismay. Rainbow pried open her hooves that was covering her face. The whole group turned their attention towards Fluttershy under Spike's request, (all except Pinkie who was still bouncing around ), and she knew it was no use hiding and being shy any longer.
She breathed deep, puffed out her chest, and tried to voice out what had been bugging her since the beginning of the picnic.

"Please Pinkie Pie , Shut UP! and stop doing that! Each step you take feels like an earthshake!"

"I'm sorry, please, LOUDER Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash requested. Applejack couldn't take Pinkie Pie's bouncing any longer and pinned down her hyperactive friend (despite being there later then the rest of the group alongside Rainbow Dash). She turned and directed Pinkie's attention towards Fluttershy, who was still straining herself to speak out.

"Please Pinkie Pie , Shut UP! and stop doing THAT! Each step YOU take FEELS like an earthshake!"
Second time, despite all distraction from Pinkie Pie been cleared, the group still did not catch Fluttershy's could only sense that she was mad at Pinkie Pie at the furious glare she shot the pink earth pony (who was buried underneath Apple jack's hooves)

"LOUDER", Rainbow demanded once more, and Fluttershy hung her head low in shame.

"I'm sorry, is she mad because she didn't have enough milkshake? It's easy... let's make her some." PInkie Pie flashed a grin at her yellow colored friend .

Then, it happened, thanks to her extra sensitized hearing, and years of been attuned to the sounds of the forest, Fluttershy was the first to sense something wrong was going on before the rest of the ponies.

Third time was always the charm, and Fluttershy managed to convey her message to her friends (though not quite what was initially intended). She struggled to fly away while screaming on top of her lungs, urging the rest of the group to follow her and flee from the impending danger.

"EARRRRRRRTH SHAKE!DECEPTICONS! RUN!"
Unable to control her flying in her current state of hangover, Fluttershy soon crashed and hit her head on a nearby tree. She dropped to the grasses below in an undignified heap.

"What...?" Asked Rarity, utterly startled at her friend's extreme reaction. Just a few seconds after that simple word, She and the rest of the ponies noticed their picnic glasses started to rattle. Turning their attention to the once peaceful horizon of the forest, the gang's eye widen with horror at the attackers who was barreling towards them menacingly.

"Applejack, help me take Fluttershy!, quick! hurry!" Twilight was terrified, but still managed to keep herself under control.

Panic rose, foods and glasses were crushed under the stampede that the ponies caused. The friends were split up as they tried to flee from the group of attacking Decepticons. Twilight and Applejack both straining themselves with an extra cargo behind their backs.

Rainbow Dash was speeding above the skies, distracting some of the changelings from targeting Twilight and Applejack as they carried Fluttershy to safety. Once she was sure and they were safe, she zipped and zoomed between the clouds in an attempt to lose them. Flying at top speed ,she was glad to shake those morons off in no time at all. Suddenly, a distant howl reminded her that she had missed something important (and it was not the picnic food, picnic basket or the picnic matte).

"WInona!... Tank!" her eyes widen in horror as she looked down and saw her tortoise helplessly stuck to a tree (thanks to the flying thingamajig getting entangled with a tree bunch). His furry friend barking and whimpering desperately under the tall tree, even resorting to a futile attempt of trying to climb up a tree to rescue him.

"I'm coming! please, hang on!"

Rainbow Dash dove down as fast as she could, reaching her tortoise and unhooking his flying gadget from the tree-branches, but that split second was all that took a painful, blinding flash of magic to paralyze her wing.
No longer able to fly, she hung onto the tree trunk. She looked down the treetops , and to her horror, she saw Winona distracting and battling a black and white changeling , who was clearly the source of crippling her wing.

"Winona, Tank, you are no match for this bastard, RUN! GET HELP!"
Tank ,who stubbornly stuck by her the whole time , protested with a sad look on his face , before he followed her order and went after Winona , who was running away from the changeling.

The Changeling's attention was then directed to his real prize. He did not even bother as two tiny shadows disappeared to seek help for the beautiful, athletic blue pegasi.
Rainbow Dash screamed as she hung on for her dear life, desperately hugging the tree trunk and triying to keep herself as far as possible from the attacking changeling . As fearless as she was, she was downright afraid been held captive, or killed by that monster.
It was unfortunate that the changeling resumed a pegasi form and flew high up into the tree , With a vicious kick to her head , Rainbow Dash found her world slowly went dark as she lost her grip on the tree trunk...

The whole inn and surrounding forest area were in chaos. Ponies were running, flying and stampeding. Most of them were not even trying to save their own belongings and were escaping for their dear lives.

Rarity was one of the few ponies who tried to extinguish the burning fire that was consuming the inn, although it was more out of self interest rather than helping the innkeeper saving his inn. She returned after she made sure Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo followed Owloysous to safety. She tolerated the burning heat and the smoke that ruined her beautiful mane. She kept repeating that she must save all her precious clothings and were her future and her life.

Rarity ended up with more than she could bargain for. With a heavy sack of luggage behind her back, she was considerably slowed down when she tried to escape. When she noticed a decepticon charging towards her, she was careless and tripped on a rock. Her belongings scattered on the ground. She tried to get on her hoofs once more, but tried as she may, she discovered she had dislocated one of her hind pain was excruciating, and the decepticon was getting closer, and closer to her as each moment passed by.

Then, a familiar white figure who was also running for his dear life bumped into her..
It was as if an angel appeared before her very eyes and was going to rescue her.

" Pppprince! What are you...!" she stammered.

She couldn't believe he was there, seeking refuge at the same secluded inn as she did. She could forgive him for all the ill treatment she suffered at the grand galloping gala incident as he was about to...

"There's no time, run! What are you waiting for bitch? GET UP!" his shouting shook her to her senses.
The decepticon was inches from both of them, and Prince Henry Blueblood the 8th did the unthinkable...

He ran as fast as he could, leaving Rarity behind with a dislocated leg and surrounded by her scattered belongings.

Suddenly, the red decepticon who was closing on Rarity screamed as he was engulfed in green flames.
"Come on Rarity!, we are leaving! He will not stay that way for long!" A familiar figure of green and pink came in the knick of time. The young dragon carefully burned the ropes that bond Rarity to her massive luggage bag and supported her to safety.

"Spike!, thank you so much" Rarity cried with relief. She was grateful Spike came for her when she had such a close shave.

The beautiful unicorn and young dragon made a slow and painful escape through the forests, with Spike supporting her the whole way. Unfortunately, Spike was right. The distraction from his flame didn't last long. The red changeling was back hunting and chasing the duo. Although he had a few circuits fried and spare parts melted, he was still functioning, and very, very upset.

His prey hurt him bad, and he wanted REVENGE.
He fired a powerful blast of magic , and Spike saw it was made for Rarity, he jumped to shield her from the hit, and took it fully in his own heart instead.

Spike crashed into Rarity, and both tumbled and fell into a deep, lush thicket, thankfully away from the eyes of the persistent and bloodthirsty unicorn.
"SPIKE! N_!" Rarity was about to screech in horror, when a pair of hand gently cupped her mouth. Tears streamed down her eyes as she saw the dragon laying in a pool of his own blood. No... he could not be...

"R..Rar..it..tty... rrr..un" he barely whispered, blood gushing out from his mouth and the wound of his heart. Despite so, he was strong enough to cover Rarity's mouth from letting out a scream that would alert the red decepticon, who was neighing and pounding the ground with his hooves, irritated that his lost target was so close, yet so far .

"kkkk..keep up.. thhhat... path.. don't... don't ever.. tttturn bbbback" he signaled to a path that was all too familiar to Rarity.

On their journey to Canterlot, Twilight had briefed the group about the few magical escape routes that only the resident ponies are able see, and follow when every hopes are lost. The ponies would be protected from the Decepticons and the warring tribes . The magical path would rid the burning hatred of the ponies had for each other as they stepped into it . It so happen the both of them had stumbled upon one of the magical pathway.

"...leave me... rrrunn.." the wounded young dragon insisted, but Rarity stubbornly held onto him, her hoofs desperately trying to cover up the bleeding wound of the Dragon's heart. Her white fur matted with his red blood, but it was the least of her worries.

"No I will not... I'm a unicorn! I know how to get us out of here... stay strong Spike... I will... I will..." she started but was again interrupted.

"Hushhh... he .. illl... hear ya..." He stopped her screaming, tears formed in his eyes, and he noticed her crying too.

The red changeling twitched his ears and smelled the ground once more, before he gave a loud whinny of disappointment and carried on looking for his lost victim.

The coast was finally clear, and Spike let go of Rarity. Rarity couldn't take her welled up emotions any longer. She desperately unleashed everything she knew about magic to heal the young dragon, but to no avail.

"Rarity.. It's no use... " Spike barely has the strength to mutter a whisper, seeing how hard Rarity was trying to help him stay alive. "I love you, I always did" a smile formed across his blood stained mouth, even though he was in so much pain. "live life to the fullest ... if you... if you ever find someone... I wish you... happiness..." and with those last words, the young dragon breathed his last.

"SPIKE!... SPIKE!... TALK TO ME!... I love you too..."

The white unicorn beauty screamed as she could feel the young dragon went limp in her hooves. She wondered if she had confessed her feelings too late , or had he heard her last words. Fat tears were leaving her eyes as she kissed the fallen dragon on his lips.

He felt cold... so cold . She gave a loud whinny of distress and sadness , realizing that she had lost the chance to love, and someone that always loved her.

An odd wind came... a special kind of wind, it gave Rarity her inner strength. It was comforting to hear Spike's voice urging her to carry on.

"Hurry up my beautiful Rarity, there's no time...''

Rarity used her magic to clean her blood soaked body, taking care that she couldn't leave any trails for the 'cons to follow, before she reluctantly moved on, limping, but nonetheless alive. She followed the young dragon's advice and made painful steps towards the magic path...