//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: A Quick Visit // Story: The Mortal Sin // by Humanarian //------------------------------// The beautiful little filly had opened her eyes, and was immediately lost in mine. That... experience, however, was mutual. We must had layed there staring in each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, before I had finally broken the silence. "Good morning, Bloomy." Her cheeks had turned red at the cute nickname I had given her. "Good morning, Darky..." - she replied meekly, returning her snout into my chest fur. It looked like she didn't want to get up. Neither I wanted to leave our cozy "predicament". My hoof reached to stroke her mane tenderly as I smiled at her. She was content, and so was I. I heard there was a place people refered to as Paradise. And being there with Apple Bloom, laying on that soft and warm bed, snuggling against each other... it fit the description I heard perfectly. Neither of us wanted that experience to end, but... "Rise an' shine, sugarcubes!" - somepony just had to ruin it for us. Not that I could blame her, of course. After all... - "Ya two better get ready, or ya'll be late for school!" It was after those words that Applejack had taken a closer look at us. "Awwww, that's cute," - she said, suddenly pressing her forehooves against her cheeks. Yet another gesture I haven't seen before. "Alright, alright... we're up!" - Apple Bloom said, reluctantly letting go of our tight embrace and getting off of the bed. Needless to say, as soon as we headed downstairs, Apple Bloom and I had been greeted by a luxury of a breakfast. I should have been used to that by that moment, however... Even the experience of living in a rich Bradley family and being served the finest of the meals there were was nothing compared to the food I tasted in that simple yet... stylish farm house. I really shouldn't underestimate that "down to eath" type. "Mmmm... smells delicious!" - I commented with honesty. "Aw, shucks, sugarcube," - Applejack replied. She has started to call me that... is that also a nickname? No. She called Apple Bloom the same word. Must be something else... "Ah jus' can't wait to introduce Darky to my friends in school!" - Apple Bloom exclaimed, and only then realised what she had just spilled. "Darky...?" - her big sister raised an eyebrow at her in a way I felt only she could do. The little filly had blushed heavily and looked away, obviously embarrassed. "That's alright," - I had broken the silence, a sly smile was present on my face, - "I can't wait for that too... Bloomie." I don't think I had ever seen Apple Bloom getting that crimson before. The sweet revenge had been claimed. Our path to the School lied through the town of Ponyville. We still had plenty of time before the lesson would start, so Apple Bloom and I were in no hurrny at all, taking our time and enjoying walking together. I didn't even notice how she had got even closer, her coat practically brushing against mine. "I am excited about my first day at Ponyville school," - I had offered something for us to talk about, - "But even more so, I am excited to be spending an entire day with you." "Shucks..." - she meekly replied. Obviously, she was blushing again, - "Ya'll gonna make me change mah coat color at this rate." "No," - I commented, chuckling at her phrase, - "I wouldn't want anything about you to ever change." My sweet comment had only made her blush even harder than before, very much to my amusement. "Say, Bloomie..." - I said, having noticed a rather... impressive building standing out among the other ones - "Is that Princess Twilight's castle?" "Yeah, that sure is! Why?" - she replied, rising an eyebrow at my question, - "Do ya wanna pay her a quick visit?" "Yeah," - I admitted. I wonder what she's up to now... - "I wonder if she has found out anything about me yet." "Okay," - the little filly replied. She knew we had more than enough time left for that. Princess Twilight was really tired as the morning came. She was up all night... again. Reading through the library was one task, but trying to figure something out while having next to no information to base her research on... Needless to say, she was beyond exhausted. But giving up without having figured out yet another "the fate of Equestria depends on it" kind of mystery was just not her style. At least, not until the all too familiar voice shook her out of her thoughts. "It appears, the rumors about you were true, after all..." She felt the cold shiver running down her spine. Taking a breath to calm herself down, the lavender alicorn had turned around. "Greetings to you, Pride. I didn't expect you to pay a visit," - her attempt to look calm and collected had been completely ruined by the sheer exhaustion, not to mention the bizarre state of her mane. The sleepless nights were written all over her face. "Greetings to you as well, Twilight. I believe, it is my turn to ask you to drop the act now... You're in a terrible state," - the First Homunculus said, causing the Princess of Friendship to lower her head in defeat. "It's that obvious, isn't it?" - she admitted. "Indeed. And, I believe, I am the reason behind that," - Pride had voiced his guess. "Yes..." - Twilight admitted reluctantly. She was beginning to feel nervous, - "I wanted to figure out what Homunculus is, but I had too little information to begin with." "Allow me to guess... you were afraid to ask, were you not?" - said the being centuries older than the Princess. A weak nod from her was the only answer he had received, - "Homunculus is an artificially created being. In your world, that would be an artificially made pony." The crazy scientist inside Twilight simply had to jump at that opportunity. "Something that complex being made... artificially? But, but... that's next to impossible. You don't look any different from a regular pony," - she began, but instantly corrected herself, remembering who she was talking about, - "At least on the outside..." In response, Pride had simply frowned. "Don't get over yourself, Twilight," - he warned her, knowing the answers to her questions all too well, - "Sometimes... there are things better left unknown. Because if you dig deeper into them... you might not like what you would find out." A cold wind ran down the Princess's spine for the second time that day. "Anyway, it was nice to see you again. I need to get going though, wouldn't want Apple Bloom to be late for school because of me," - he said, turning to leave the library - "Perhaps, getting some sleep would be a better course of action for you right now. You are looking terrible, after all." "And then, I had jumped in with my ferocious fire storm and saved those ponies from their inevitable doom!" - Spike had finished his story dramatically, taking a heroic pose. The little filly clapped her hooves and exclaimed: "Hooray!" "Thank you, thank you! it was my pleasure to save the day again," - the little dragon was really proud of himself. "And thank you!" - the sudden voice from behind him had made Spike's bravery evaporate in a blink of an eye, nearly causing him to jump. "Sorry for startling you. You must be Spike, the Princess of Friendship's number one assistant," - Dark Side had offered, trying to calm the scared baby dragon. "The one and only!" - Spike replied, his confidence returning to him. "I just wanted to thank you, Spike, for keeping Apple Bloom here a company. I wouldn't want her to get bored because of me." "No problem, little buddy. Spike is always there when needed," - the little dragon winked to him. "But, I'm afraid, we have to go now. We don't have much time left before the school starts." "Yup!" - the little filly joined her hero on that thought, - "We really oughta get going!" They were just about to leave the castle when Spike put his claws on Dark Side's shoulder. "You go ahead, Apple Bloom. I just wanted to discuss something with Dark Side real quick. He'll catch up on you in a minute," - he said to the filly and winked, - "You know, it's the "guys only" sort of thing." - she looked confused at first, but then just shrugged it off. "Okay!" - she said, walking out of the main entrance. The sudden request had caught me by surprise. But even more so did the first thing he said as soon as we were all alone. "So... Hello, Pride. It's, ehm... nice to meet you." So... that's how it is. "I see, somepony doesn't know how to keep secrets," - at least, there was no reason to keep up the act around him anymore, - "Nevertheless, no reason for me to be impolite. Greetings to you too, Spike the Dragon. I believe, the pony I mentioned had already introduced you to me in my stead." "Please, don't be mad at her," - he told me in a rather calm and convincing tone. So... he's not trembling? Impressive. After all, scaring him was not something I wished to do, - "She had... an emotional breakdown after seeing you for who you really are. She really needed someone to talk to... Please, understand." He's showing quite a level of intelligence and... wisdom? Yet another surprise, I suppose. "I admit, you do seem to be more wise and intelligent than you look, Spike," - I stated the obvious, making the little dragon smile, - "I don't know much about you and Twilight, but adding this fact to what I heard about you before, I believe, you're the voice of reason in this castle." He seemed to be taken aback by my comment. His cheeks lit up with a deep purple colour, which, given his colour scheme, I assumed to be a blush. "Oh, shucks..." - he replied, suddenly finding his foot claws really interesting for some reason, - "I just do my best for Twilight. I am her number one assistant, after all. However, I wanted to... ehm..." - he was really nervous about something. But I couldn't figure it out yet, so I simply did not interfere with his inner struggle, - "...to ask you to show me your true form." How... curious. "Why are you asking for that?" - I asked plainly. "Well, you see... Twilight was really scared by it," - So, she was scared... she had put on a better mask than I thought she could then. - "But, personally, I found her description of you being really cool." Cool? That was... an interesting choice of words, to say the least. But I couldn't allow myself to dwell on it as my time was rather limited at the moment. Better give him what he wants. And just like that, the entire room went black. "Dark Side, what's taking ya'll so long?" - Apple Bloom shouted, turning back to the castle, - "We're gonna be late for school if we wait for another minute!" The castle door had opened at the exact moment she had finished her phrase. Both Dark Side and Spike had stepped out. "No way, Apple Bloom! I won't let that happen!" - the colt said, trotting down the stairs, then turned his head to address the dragon, who looked a little... shaky for some reason, - "See you later, Spike! I wish you and Princess Twilight have a nice day." "Y-yeah... S-see you later, guys...!" The two foals were off to school, Apple Bloom wouldn't allow them as much as another second of waiting. Spike went back to the castle and closed the door behind him. Tightly. His legs were shaking like the leaves on the wind at that point, his heartbeat was racing. Being back to the same room where he faced a pure terror just a minute ago didn't help his state at all. As he looked around, the pictures of Pride's true form came back, he could see them all too clearly in his mind's eye. The darkness, the numerous... bizarre... red eyes... and those giant... scary... sharp teeth... An unconscious body of the Brave and Glorious dragon hit the floor.