//------------------------------// // 1 - Indubitably Indebted // Story: Through the Skin of my Teeth // by Etherdrone //------------------------------// This is so painful. ...What happened to me? It is excruciating. I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my breathing anymore. I can't move, either. I can't open my eyes at all, no matter how hard I force them to. Trying only makes it worsen, like someone is shoving a sharp, hot needle through my eyes...! What happened to me? Why does this hurt as much as it does? I can feel my blood going to my head and escaping my body. “Sillabus! Sillabus! ...Where are you, brother? Sillabus!!” Is that someone calling in the distance...? I can't tell who that is. Just how long have I been in here? It feels like an eternity since I've been feeling nothing else but a massive, crunching weight over me, making it impossible for me to move. ...I can feel the pain escape my limbs. I can feel my body relax. I can't smell anything other than the thick stench of iron, filling my nostrils and mouth with its taste. Drowning me. Choking me. N-No. I don't want this, this is scary! I don't want to die! Help, anybody, please! Anybody... I don't want to die! I don't... “Hm? It came from over here, didn't it?” Wait. What's that noise...? The rustling sound of leaves being crushed under someone's weight broke the silence completely as he tried his best to listen to it, but he couldn't. His ears didn't work as well as he would hope as that sound got closer and closer. “Ah! Wha-- What the...? Oh, sweet Celestia, what happened here?” He couldn't understand it at all. His mind was a massive disarray of different noises and a sharp buzz that wouldn't stop banging on his ears like war drums. “Urgh! This' gonna take forever to clean up. What they hay were those things doin' here last night? W-Whoa, Nelly! What the hay?!” He could feel something was there. Something warm was touching his face. His bloodied fur. “It's a wolf! And it's still alive?” Don't touch me. Don't hurt me anymore...! I don't want to die! He felt it prod him harder as his thoughts returned to him shrouded in a panicked haze. He tried to move, but he couldn't. He tried to open his mouth to launch a barrage of insults and venom at whoever that was, but it was impossible. “It's dyin'. ...What do ah do? Oh Nelly! Ah can't leave a poor fella like this! Ah just can't!” And then, the unexpected happened. WHAM! The weight was literally kicked away from the wolf's back with indescribable impact. He opened his eyes with the shock in what felt like an eternity allowing the sunlight to burn through them, forcing them shut again in pain. His ribcage readjusted itself violently with a snap to the fact the massive weight wasn't crushing him anymore, and he fell on the grass with a solid, agonizing thud. He was free. He gasped furiously as the hysteria finally caught up to him. He tried to scream, but his voice wouldn't come out. He tried to cry, but he wasn't sure if he already was. Only thoughts of the massive agony ripped through his skull as he breathed in as hard as he could, swallowing blood and dirt in the process, panic taking over him even more than it already had. His body was now shivering in the grass uncontrollably. "*Cough*! *Cough*!" “Hang in there, partner! Ah'm gonna save ya! Come on, up you go!” He felt something fierce grasp him. Raise and carry him. In the blank haze of his mind, he pressed his jaw on the warmth's back as hard as he possibly could, tasting even more blood as he felt the last few straws of his consciousness fading and dying. “Ugh! Hey! Don't bite me, ah'm tryin' to save you! Don't stress yerself no more, you're safe now!” ...He couldn't listen anymore. “Hey! Hey, come on! Stay with me! Hey! HEY!” “Well. ...I dare say that this was a miracle, no less...” Nurse Redheart claimed with an audible tone of disbelief as her face distorted into one of pure confusion at the orange-maned Earth Pony in front of her, who simply replied with a rather silly grin of her own. “A rather confusing and unbelievable miracle, as unbelievable as they can be, even.” “Ah'm sorry, Miss Redheart. Ah caused you trouble again...” “Why are you apologizing? You did something good, Applejack,” she said before pausing for a brief moment, as if she remembered to add more to her sentence for the sake of doing so. “...As good as rescuing a carnivorous wild beast from the clutches of death itself can be, that is. I wonder if that can be considered a miracle. Or if it's a self-destructive suicidal act. I'm still trying to guess which it is.” “Oh, so you claim that saving a life isn't something entirely good in on itself? For shame! That, coming from a doctor!” And their banter was soon cut off by the rasp male voice from the nearby table, his call muffled from the apple pie he was still trying to properly swallow without choking on it. “That would be somewhat alarming, except for the fact I'm still alive! So I think I can deal with that.” “And you have to be the most tenacious creature I've ever seen in my entire life, Mr...?” Redheart politely asked while looking at him at a reasonably safe distance. He let go a small chuckle as he finally swallowed the pie, and smiled back at the nurse with a sufficiently toothy grin. “Sillabus. And yes, I'd like to think that I've been extremely lucky. Really, unnaturally lucky.” “No kiddin'! Jus' by lookin' at the way Applejack brought you here I thought you were in the last straws of yer life, Wolfling!” a gangly old voice, still filled with energy despite its owner's old age, bounced off the kitchen with enthusiasm as Granny Smith could be seen straddling through towards the Wolf with yet another apple pie on her back, placing it on the table with a swift move from her backside that quite frankly she shouldn't be able to do anymore. “And now you've waken up with such a ferocious appetite to boot! It's been a while since ah've treated a visit like this!” “Eeyup.” And with that, a hearty and yet rather emotionally confused and worried laughter could be heard coming from the Sweet Apple Acres, at least a dozen hours later after Applejack brought back a bleeding, half-dead creature from the Everfree Forest on her back, panting and sweating as a bite wound on her back throbbed and bled through the exercise and effort she put herself through. She had no idea why she did it. Before her, sitting by the table, was a wolf. A wolf that was barely as big as a pony was, but still a wolf. Covering his whole body was a completely gray stream of bright fur except for his paws - who were as black as charcoal - and the visibly white collar of fur that stretched from the back of his neck all the way to his chest, sitting on the chair in a way that made it seem like he was enjoying the fact he was capable of doing so way more than the usual. When she found him, he was a mess. A rather massive tree and the debris of a small wooden building that Applejack did not recognize were both collapsed on top of his frame, a gashing wound on his torso and face were both bleeding at an exceptionally fast rate. Somehow, he was still alive and for some reason, Applejack kicked the tree out the way and pulled him out of that wreck, bringing him back to the farm so they could nurse him back to health. So that's exactly what Nurse Redheart did as soon as Apple Bloom stormed through the hospital, shouting and begging for help at short but increasingly rapid bursts, nearly dragging the closest pony she could find that looked like a doctor out to the farmstead. “You were lucky, ah'll give you that much,” Applejack said with an interested look as he took yet another large bite out of the pie that was by now, half-devoured. “Very few would survive havin' their back crushed by a tree. And a house. And a few bits of broken rock.” “I don't think that luck alone saves a life,” he said with his mouth still half-stuffed with food. It took a few seconds of silence for him to properly swallow that what he was trying to. “Though I like to believe it's the kindness of others that saves them, when they find themselves in the need of such. Even if they do not deserve it. Not from the one that actually saved them.” And with that, Sillabus finally stopped eating. He took a long, drawn-out breath as he launched a gaze at the Earth Pony, and his eyes fell upon the gauze Applejack had strapped onto her back, close to the base of her neck. Right where he bit her. ...It didn't look like a big wound, but it was possible to see it through the gauze and bandages... And looking at it made the wolf more nervous than he should be. He lowered his head to face the ground, taking a few seconds of complete and utter silence before muttering another word to her. Almost as if he was ashamed to do it. “That wound. Does it hurt?” “What, this lil' thing?” she said with a joking and strong tone as she moved her front hooves around slightly, almost as if stretching. “You were passin' out from pain, and you were bitin' anythin' that came two steps too close to yer teeth! Ah had worse by jus' doin' my job, y'know.” “So it does hurt.” “A little, yeah. Doesn't surprise me that it does, right? It's a wound, so it hurts. It's obvious, ain't it?” “Still,” he quickly interrupted her without even moving, completely static. “That doesn't change the fact that I hurt the one who saved my life. ...You knew exactly what I was when you chose to do it. You saved a wolf's life, got wounded for that... And you say you don't care?” “Like ah said, ah had way worse than a bite wound from a near-dead wolf already! Uuuh... Ah'm not gonna turn into a monster for that, am I? Just askin'!” “No you won't,” Nurse Redheart answered with a small cough, still not looking away from Sillabus, who was now facing them directly. “Mr. Sillabus is surprisingly healthy and rid of diseases for a wolf. You won't get sick from that wound, if that's what you asked.” “That's Applejack for ya! Heh heh heh!” Granny Smith let go yet another gangly laugh as she was now sitting close to the door that lead deeper into the house. AJ simply chuckled in response. “Well, so that's that ah guess,” the Earth Pony claimed as she looked at the Wolf yet again. “Ah guess that wound ain't gonna stop you from goin' back home, is it?” “...I don't think so, no. But I won't.” Sillabus' claim made every pony in the room stop and look at him as if he said something extremely daring. He coughed slightly in an apologizing manner as he crawled out of the chair he was in, looking at Applejack straight in the eye as he did it. “I mean... What I mean is that... I don't feel that would be right. I mean, y-you saved my life. That's not something I've been taught to simply shrug off as a mere act of heroism. To turn my back at what you've done and not repay you, especially after I've bitten you in my delusional state? Even after I hurt you? I cannot think of something more offensive than that!” Applejack blinked. She didn't think that she heard him properly at all. “You... What you said? You want to repay me?” Applejack asked with a small cough, Sillabus raising his head almost immediately in reflex to the question at hand. “Y-Yes! In any way I can! ...Considering. I don't know what I can do, but...” Sillabus stopped talking as Applejack rose a hoof, portraying a massive scowl that she would normally shoot an enemy. “L-Look. Ah appreciate yer good-will, Sillabus. But ah can't accept it. Ah did it 'cuz I wanted to. There's no real, deep meanin' to jus' doin' what's right.” “And there is a real, deep meaning for me to repay you what you just did!” he replied almost in a pleading tone, making Applejack step back once in pure surprise from his reaction. “You saved my life! This is no small thing, at least not for me! I would never forgive myself if I didn't repay you for what you've done! 'Tis is the way of my clan - an eye for an eye!” “Uuh...” Applejack took a long, deep look into the wolf's eyes then, as she threw quick glances at the ponies present in the room with her, almost as if pleading for them to help. She had no idea what to do. A wolf, asking her to repay her for saving his life? Certainly, a reaction like that was somewhat expected, but it still took Applejack by surprise. She would never expect someone to actually say such a thing to her. A wolf, no less! Applejack's eyes fixed themselves on the Wolf as both Granny Smith and Big Macintosh traded looks of devoted confidence between themselves and the Earth Pony, leaving matters into her own hooves. Seeing as how the decision was hers to make, Applejack rose a hoof and patted the floor slightly, taking in a deep, drawn-out breath as she resumed her conversation with the gray wolf before her. “This is awkward. How you want to repay me, exactly?” “That... is a good question.” He took a small moment to consider. “I don't have any money, so... M-Maybe I can help around? What do you guys do?” “Apple Farm.” “...You run an Apple Farm by yourselves, then.” “Yup.” Sillabus pondered upon that fact for a few seconds before scratching his neck, returning Applejack's gaze with feeble determination. “Right then... I think I can manage, helping you with that. I mean--" “Hey, excuse me! You do realize you were mortally wounded until a few hours ago?” Nurse Redheart interrupted with a visible look of disbelief and censure on her eyes. “How exactly are you planning on picking apples like this, mister?” “Well, according to the report you gave me, I have only one broken bone and that's what the bandages around my torso are for!” Sillabus responded in protest at the Nurse, who rose an eyebrow in objection. “O-OK, I am still really hurt, I agree. But I really want to help! Is that really such a bad thing?” “Yes it is, especially when it gets my patient killed!” Redheart protested yet again, this time raising her voice slightly in an authoritative tone. “You were not even supposed to be standing up right now. The only reason I let you is because you wouldn't stop complaining about the fact I wasn't letting you!” “Some pony saved my life and you want me to not even say thanks to her when I so obviously should? Thanks for saving my life, by the way. That was very noble of you.” “Don't change the subject! You are wounded, and as the one responsible for your healing I--” “Eeeh, what a bunch o' doohickey, Redheart miss. He says he wants to help, so why stop him from showing his gratitude?” Granny Smith's voice interrupted them almost immediately. She leaned back on her rocking chair as Big Macintosh rushed over to help her, but it wasn't really needed. Her eyes fixated themselves on the ponies and the wolf, gazing at the scene before her with the wisdom someone her age would obviously have. Everyone stopped talking the same instant. “If he wants to help so bad, ah think it's a pretty big insult not to let him. Who are we to say he can't show us his appreciation? Jus' let 'im.” “T-That's not the case here, Granny Smith! The problem is that he's hurt, we can't in good conscience let him work at a farm under the condition he's in!” “Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be, Miss Redheart.” Granny said while gently rocking back and forth on her chair, almost in a hypnotizing manner. “If Applejack looks after him and makes sure he don't strain himself, then I fail to see where the problem is.” The gold-maned pony confusedly blinked in response to Granny Smith's sentence as Redheart slowly rose a hoof and asked with a slight glint of incredulity on her voice. “So you claim this is his and Applejack's decision, not mine?” “That's not what ah said. All ah'm sayin' is that if he wants to help, then that's fine by me,” Granny Smith hissed as she looked at the wolf , responding to his glance of interest with one of her own. “Ah'm sure he's gonna be fine, and if he does stress himself, then that's a consequence he'll have to live up with. How's that sound to you?” “That sounds perfect – let's go with that.” Sillabus claimed boldly as the nurse looked at him with a scowl once again, making him smile back at her almost by reflex. Nurse Redheart gave a backwards look at the scene before her. First the wolf was being stubborn about his condition, now Granny Smith was siding with his ridiculous attempt at being medically unhelpful...? “...I can't believe you actually want me to go with this, Granny Smith. Are you sure on what you are doing?” “Ah think we can handle one wounded wolf well enough on our own. If anything happens, we'll deal with that then. Everything's fine now, ain't it?” And that was the ultimatum. Redheart gave one step back as she let go a heavy sigh. If that's how they wanted it to be, then so be it. “Fine. I'll let you off the hook, Mr. Sillabus. However! I don't want to see you limping towards the clinic singing my name and expecting me to patch you up if you get yourself hurt again! Do I make myself clear?” “Well, not really. What if a third party attacks me? Does it still count?” he replied with a mirthful spark of glee on his eyes as Redheart puffed her cheeks in annoyance, patting the ground with her hoof as she turned her back to everyone. “GOOD NIGHT, MR. SILLABUS! ...Apples.” She said with barely constrained irritation as she threw a good-bye nod at the Apple Family, leaving the farmstead towards the night. “Well. Now what do we do with you, partner?” Applejack claimed with a more serious tone as the wolf stopped laughing to himself. “You said you wanted to help.” “Of course. I'm grateful, uh... Granny Smith?” the wolf answered while looking at the elder pony, who responded by raising her eyebrows. “Thank you for this. I'll make sure you don't regret it.” “You should be sayin' that to Applejack, not me.” He smiled at her as he immediately turned around to face his savior. Applejack returned his look with one of her own, analyzing him from top to bottom at a hoof's distance. “If yer bein' honest about this,” she said with a low, fierce tone. “then ah don't see why not.” “Why wouldn't I be honest about repaying the one that just saved me? That sounds like terrible business practice,” he said while averting his gaze slightly from Applejack's, looking at the wound he gave her once again. “Though you are right to be suspicious about that. I mean... Obvious reasons are obvious enough.” “Do you mind me askin'? Why are you so intent on doin' that? Ah said ya didn't have to do nothin', so why even bother?” Sillabus pondered upon her question for a moment, scratching the back of his neck in wonder. Almost as if he himself wasn't exactly sure how to properly reply. A rather comforting moment of silence took place as all Applejack did was simply look intently at him as she waited. And so he rose his eyes, meeting hers directly once again. “Because even if you said that, at least I can say that I tried.” He said with a clear look on his eyes as the earth pony before him blinked, paying attention to every word that he said. “It might have come out of nowhere for you, but we wolves have a... We have a rather strong sense of duty and community. If we walk with the Clan, the Clan is our life. If one of us is in trouble, we risk ourselves to help. If we have been saved, we give our lives for the one that saved us. There are many more dangerous creatures on the Everfree Forest than us, you know. It's not safe to be alone.” “That's understandable.” “That, and there's the fact you're a pony,” he said without shying away from his usage of words. Applejack opened her eyes slightly, actually rather impressed. “A pony that has nothing to do with our customs. ...You know, the whole 'we eat meat and you don't', thing? It's rather shocking to say it, but there is a clear predatory difference here... making this rather uncanny even for me, I'm not going to lie to you. It all becomes rather uncomfortable to--" He stopped talking, shaking his head left and right almost as if he was about to say something disgusting. “Urgh! What the hell am I saying? I'm sorry, Applejack!” he spat his own words out almost as if they were poison, covering his face with his paw in complete self-defeat. “This isn't the right way to think at all! I'm better than this, damn it!” “...Come on, now. That's just stinkin' thinkin'.” “No it's not! You... you saved my life. I seriously thought I was going to die back there. After all of that what happened, getting close to thinking that I shouldn't repay you for such a thing...? I cannot for the life of me think of something more offensive than this. U-Unless you don't want me to, no matter what – then I'll turn my back and leave. It's your call after all: forcing anything on others isn't going to make it sound or look any better.” Applejack pondered about it for a moment. First about the reason he just gave her for wanting to repay her, second about how even a place such as the Everfree Forest proved to have a working community in it. For as unnatural and wild-like as it was. She didn't really know what was the best thing to do. Declining it, or accepting his offer... Declining it would mean he would go back home, but wouldn't that be an insult to his customs...? For as young as she was, Applejack knows how to uphold tradition. It's been part of the Apple family for Celestia knows how long, and she would feel unnecessary and pigheaded if suddenly, someone said her help wasn't needed if she desperately wanted to help. That wasn't something that she would take down lightly. She was the most dependable of ponies, after all! She wouldn't want that done to her. Why would she want to do that to others...? Even if they happened to be a wolf... “...Fine. You convinced me, so ah'll give you a chance. Rest for a while, and then we can talk business. Ah'll ask you one last time just for the sake of askin': can ah trust you on this?” He immediately sat down and placed a paw over his chest, puffing it rather pompously almost as if greeting someone from royalty. “Of course! I swear on my Clan's name that I will not disappoint you! Thank you, Applejack, you won't regret this!” The earth pony opened a smile at his overdone claim. That would have to do for now, apparently... “Well, then! I guess you two have everythin' sorted out,” Granny Smith finished as she finally climbed out of the chair. “That will have to do for now. It's also getting' late, y'know” “Eeyup.” Big Macintosh nodded in response, helping Granny Smith get off her chair which was once again, not really needed. “It's that late, huh. Ah didn't see time go by at all,” Applejack yawned as she watched Granny Smith make way deeper into the house. “Well then, Sillabus? You can use the bed you were in to--” The wolf rose a paw, cutting Applejack mid-sentence. Every pony in the room looked back at him as he traded eyes of incredulity with them all, almost as if he took offense to that. “Sorry, but I can't accept that.” “Why not? It's a bed we're not usin' anyway.” “You're already doing more than enough by letting me stay and repay you. Don't let me take up useful space for you, that's extremely unnerving,” he quickly explained while brushing off his frown with the back of his paw. “I'm just going to go make myself comfortable on the grass outside, that's more than enough.” The golden-maned pony rose an eyebrow, taking a quick worried look at Granny Smith who simply shrugged back at her. “...Uh. Fine, ah guess. I mean, ain't that a bother?” “It could be, but I'm pretty sure the grass around here is comfortable! Heh heh heh!” ...That's not what I asked, Applejack thought to herself as the Wolf bid them all good night, walking away from the ponies and closing the farm door behind him as they could hear his weight crushing down the grass under his weight. And then suddenly there was nothing else but silence. “Well. That's all bound to get interesting pretty darned soon,” Applejack said as she turned around and started walking towards the aged jade pony, who was displaying an interesting, wide smile at the young-ling. “Extra help is extra help! Can't get prissy over someone tryin' to get things done, can we?” “That's true, but... Are you sure that this was such a good idea, Granny?” Granny Smith faced the pony as she gave the window a quick, beaten glance, looking at the Wolf standing on the grass by the barn, face risen up to the moon with a look of contemplation on his eyes. “No idea, sugar cube... But that's fine. Ah trust yer' gonna do the right thing. You always do.” That's also not what ah'm worried about, Applejack thought to herself once again. ...I just have to wonder if doin' the right thing means exactly what says on the tin. An' that's the part that not always works out, ain't it...?