//------------------------------// // Ch.10 Busted // Story: Discord's Reign // by chief maximus //------------------------------// DISCORD'S REIGN Chapter 10-Busted "How'd I end up out here?" Spike asked himself as he woke from his slumber behind the closed door to the library loft where Twilight slept. He hopped out of bed with sleep still in his eyes and banged on the door. Twilight slept wonderfully for the few hours they actually slept. Being alone in her bed for so long had desensitized her to how cold it got in her loft at night. Having another warm body, especially one nearly twice her size to cuddle with was something she could definitely see herself doing more often. Big Macintosh's hoof was firmly wrapped around her shoulders as she slept with her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Their back legs intertwined under the sheets as she found her eyes began to flutter awake. Every muscle in her body was sore, but the good kind of sore, as if she had just run a marathon or saved a group of foals from a burning building. She couldn't believe she had tried to think of a reason not to be with the stallion she clung to. Twilight discovered the emptiness she had always felt she could fill with books and academics was more perfectly filled by the love of another. She had never felt so emotionally connected to anypony before last night, and now she could swear her heart and his were now beating in sync. Among other things she discovered last night was that the 'Big' in Big MacIntosh was most certainly not an ironic nickname. The lavender unicorn glanced up at her still sleeping lover, his shaggy blond mane flopping lazily over one side of his face. She lay her head back down on his chest as she threw a foreleg over him protectively, content with the world, even temporarily forgetting about the escaped lunatic currently running the kingdom. All she wanted was for the satisfaction and relief that was coursing through her to stay with her forever. But that was not to last a she and Big Mac were startled by a pounding at her bedroom door. The red stallion simply stirred and settled back down, not even opening his eyes as Twilight used her magic to unlock the door, knowing it was Spike. "Why the heck did you..." he trailed off seeing the two of them so close together and under blankets. "Oh. Oh! Ugh, gross! There isn't enough soap in all of Equestria to clean this room!" he huffed, "Looks like I'll just sleep downstairs for the rest of my life." he closed the door behind him as he headed towards the kitchen to start on breakfast. Truthfully, he had no idea what he was finding himself disgusted by, but he had always heard of ponies 'sleeping together' as some kind of ultimate act of love. Though why making somepony sleep in a space half the size of the bed they were used to was seen as an act of love, he was unsure. Twilight couldn't help but laugh at her friends reaction, still too wrapped up in her happiness and their afterglow to honestly care what anypony thought at this point. While Twilight was experiencing bliss beyond her wildest imagination, two of her other friends were feeling quite the opposite... Rainbow got maybe two hours of sleep the night after she confessed to Applejack. Only out of sheer exhaustion was she finally able to achieve any kind of slumber. Her body may have been tired but her mind was wide awake, thoughts of what she had done and the image of Applejack's devastated expression haunted her consciousness and kept her from feeling anything except monumental guilt. She heard a knock at the door as she rolled over on her bed, debating wether on not she should even bother to answer it. Rainbow reasoned it sure as hell couldn't be Applejerk so she decided to drag herself from her bedroom. Her mane was a mess and her eyes were bloodshot from the tears she had been crying through the night as she opened the door, revealing a canary yellow pegasus coyly waiting outside it. "Hey Rainbow...I just came by to see-" Her ego picked a rather sensitive target for her to take her frustration out upon. It wasn't Fluttershy's fault that Applejack had felt such tremendous hurt over Rainbow's actions, but it was certainly enough for her ego to save herself from admitting who was actually in the wrong by blaming the shy pegasus. "What do you want?" she sneered. Fluttershy recoiled in fear behind her pink mane, forgetting why she had even stopped by in the first place as Rainbow narrowed her eyes, masking her anger towards herself and directing it towards the pegasus who had told her foolishly to 'tell the truth'. "I...just...wanted t-to see how...uhm..." "What? How your crappy advice ruined the one thing that made me happy?! What was I thinking listening to you!? I've never even seen you with anypony else!" she snapped as Fluttershy completely shut down in the face of her oldest friends anger. "I was such an idiot for thinking you would know what you were talking about!" She didn't utter a word besides a soft squeak as she darted off her porch in fear, heading back to her cottage with tears in her eyes, Rainbow feeling little remorse for her actions. 'She told you to tell her the truth, and look where that got you.' she thought slamming her door and going back to her bedroom, the large poster of Spitfire she had kept next to her bed having been ripped off the wall. Her directionless anger consumed her every thought as she flopped back onto her bed. Her ego shielding her from responsibility while she cursed her former idol for coming on to her the way she did. Rainbow's rage slowly began to replace itself with sadness as she realized there was very little she could do to reconcile with Applejack. Tears in a mix of frustration and sadness resumed their march down her face, knowing in her heart that Fluttershy was only trying to help, but having made such a scene in front of her would make it somewhat difficult to apologize and keep her perceived dignity. Apologizing wasn't one of Rainbow's strong suits to begin with, and her overprotective ego was putting up a stiff fight to keep her pride intact. She rolled onto her back and thought of her options. She didn't need Applejack, she had Spitfire! She practically invited her to be a Wonderbolt! Her head swam with all sorts of ideas about what it would be like to be a stunt flier full time. To get to hang out with Spitfire, Soarin and the rest of the group all while making tons of money and living whatever kind of life she chose. However, Rainbow's feelings soon began to wane as she thought of all the good times and the fun she had here in Ponyville with her friends. Her thoughts naturally drifting back to a certain orange earth pony she had drunkenly kissed the day after the Sun Celebration. Sure Spitfire was her perfect idea of a beautiful mare, but she didn't even know her on much of a personal level. She could be a completely different pony behind closed doors. Applejack on the other hoof was someone she knew, someone whose feelings didn't just exist because she was attracted to her physically, but gradually shaped and formed into the unrivaled sense of wholeness she felt in her heart when she was near her. She had to ask herself, was maintaining her pride worth giving up everything she had worked so hard for here in this tiny town outside the capital? Rainbow still couldn't fathom trying to see Applejack again. Not after what happened in the barn...she just couldn't face her. Admitting fault was like admitting defeat, something she had never in her life even dreamed of doing. 'But I didn't even do anything wrong! I didn't kiss her, she kissed me!' she reasoned, though she knew that wasn't entirely true. This was herself she was arguing with, so it was somewhat difficult to keep secrets. Rainbow knew she could have immediately withdrawn as soon as she felt lips on lips, but she didn't, in fact she let it go way farther than she had any right to allow. Her eyes shut tightly as the battle inside her head raged on. Indecision was her only companion as every window she had was closed to shut out the day. She pounded a hoof on her bed in frustration, scattering some cloud fluff about her room as she bit her lip, a fresh line of tears leaving her eyes. She rolled onto her belly burying her face in her cloudy pillow, her whole body limp on the bed as she heard a sound that made her heart jump. The echoing snap of taloned fingers. Twilight and Big Macintosh laid lazily on her couch, the lavender unicorn's head across his lap as a book hovered in front of her face. The red stallion had a book on soil composition across the arm of the couch, but was steadily losing his interest in it, as well as his interest in staying awake. His head began to nod a few times before he caught himself, though not before accidentally knocking the book out of Twilight's magic and onto her face. Her eyes furrowed beneath it before putting on a rather disheartened expression. "Sorry Mac, I know this is boring..." "I don't mind sittin' here with ya Twilight, I'm still just a bit tired from...last night." he added, a deep crimson outshining his normally apple red coat. She grinned, taking that as a compliment. Truth be told she was just as tired, but after finally taking a risk whose outcomes she didn't meticulously calculate before hoof, she felt emboldened to become more assertive and less coy in her dealings with a certain stallion. "You should be." she added, casting at him the bedroom eyes she had worked so hard to perfect. "I don't see any reason we couldn't go one more round..." Somehow, Big Mac grew even more crimson at her suggestion. Twilight reveled in the newfound feeling of power she had over her genteel coltfriend. She found herself trying to think of a happier time in her life, and while she was content with studying and academics, nothing compared to knowing that no matter how far she roamed or where her life would take her, there was one pony here, back in the stable, slow paced town of Ponyville that still kept her in his heart. Big Macintosh's eyes held a look of reluctance. Not that he didn't want to be with Twilight, but every muscle he had was sore. He had plowed entire plots of Sweet Apple Acres in a single day, planted hundreds of trees in a season, but nothing compared to the absolute exhaustion brought on by the night he had just shared with her. "You know normally I'd be more than happy to Twilight...but you couldn't possibly have any more energy after last night." he said calling her bluff. She was actually somewhat relieved, as she didn't see anything they would have done as being a very motion oriented affair. "You'd be lucky to get me off this couch in the next six hours." she laughed in agreement. She propped herself up on her elbows and moved her head close to his, rubbing the side of her horn against the underside of his chin before she looked up into his waiting eyes. "I guess I'll just have to settle for this..." she said softly, her lips against his in an unintentionally deep kiss. She felt his foreleg wrap around her back to support her as she lightly drug a hoof down his chest, barely ruffling his coat as she went. They held each other close until Spike interrupted with a rather loud throat clearing. "Do you have to do that in the living room?" he asked indignantly, his usual grossed out face conveying his feelings on the mushy, lovey-doveyness on display in front of him. Twilight broke the kiss and turned to face Spike with an unamused look across her face. "Spike, I'm out of scrolls. I need you to go get me some more." she instructed turning to face him, still laying across her red stallion. "You've got ten scrolls right over there!" he said pointing to a stack in the corner. Without missing a beat she gathered them in her magic and held them over a candle, setting them all ablaze in front of them until they were but ashes. Needless to say, Spike was not impressed. "Now then, the bits are on the table." she added as Big Mac held in laughter. "We probably need about ten." Spike mumbled under his breath as he took the bits and left them alone. Twilight spent a second or two looking at the door to make sure Spike wouldn't burst back in before rolling back to face her coltfriend after locking the library door via magic. "Well, we've got the place to ourselves..." she whispered as the red stallion smiled at her knowingly. "I'm willin', but I don't think I can get off tha couch, let alone up them stairs a yours." "Who says we have to get to my room?" she said wrapping her forelegs around his strong neck and pulling his head towards hers in another kiss. She figured just in case Discord couldn't be stopped, she could at least die knowing she had experienced one of life's most basic pleasures. Twice in 24 hours! "Applejack! I'm here for Mrs. Cakes order!" called a bubbly voice the orange pony recognized immediately even through the solid wood walls of her farmhouse. Applejack was a wreck from the past twenty four hours. Like Rainbow, she hadn't got much sleep the night before, a general malaise settling over her as her mane fell freely and untethered under her hat while bags hung under her eyes. The farm girl drug herself out of bed and headed downstairs. Her chores remained undone and oddly enough, so were her brother's. 'Wonder where he got off to...' she didn't have much time to ponder as a pink pony pulling an empty cart waited eagerly outside for her. "Hiya Applejack! Just here for-" the sight of her friend was enough to stop her sentence dead in its tracks. She had never seen her like this before, even after she tried to harvest all the apples in Sweet Apple Acres by herself. "Are you okay?" she asked, putting aside her normally carefree nature with concern for her friend. The self reliant pony didn't want to burden Pinkie with her problems, plus she still wasn't entirely comfortable with telling even her friends about her so far secret relationship. She trusted them, but as the old saying goes, loose lips sink ships. The very idea of Granny Smith or any of her other relatives finding out was simply mortifying, as family was the most important thing to an Apple. Or so she had been raised to believe. "Nothin' sugarcube. Let's get you them apples." she said putting on her most normal face for her friend as she led her around to the side of the barn where large bushels of apples waited to be moved. Pinkie unhitched herself from the cart and began helping Applejack load them. The hard partying pink pony may enjoy a good time, but this didn't mean she wasn't observant. 'Something's bothering Applejack. Pinkie, it's your duty as a friend and your privilege as a party planner to find out what it is, then throw a related party to cheer her up!' she thought confidently. "C'mon Applejack! You look like you just worked all day, and it's only eleven! Tell me what's the matter." she insisted, though the stubborn as a mule country mare still refused. "Ah already told ya it's nothin!" she snapped at her, "I didn't get much sleep last night. There, ya happy?" Pinkie withdrew slightly, but her anger only gave her more reason to think she was on to something. The pink pony let out a defeated sigh before giving Applejack a few minutes to calm down. She cast a quick glance toward the orange earth pony before trying one last time as she loaded the last bit of apples into the cart. 'Lets see, she's never looked this sad, so whatever happened must have been something that hasn't ever happened before...' she thought, suddenly remembering a rainy day when she had gotten stuck under a storm inside Twilights library for a few hours. Twilight was studying a psychology book and when she'd asked what she was reading, she said it was about word association. She went on to explain that in the book, it said you could give a pony three words to pick from, the pony in question memorizing one of the words. Then you could guess which word it was simply by repeating the word and studying their reaction! They had tried it a few times on each other, and it seemed to work, so she decided it couldn't hurt to try. 'So who was the last pony I saw her with...' she thought back searching her memory to the night of the Summer Sun Celebration. 'Wow it's been that long since I've seen Applejack? I should visit her more often- No! Stay on point Pinkie! This is about Applejack, not...Applejack. Now then, the last time I saw her she was walking Rainbow Dash home. Something must have happened between then and now!' she thought as Applejack stared at her in confusion, since she had simply been standing there for the past few seconds looking at her, but not saying a word. "You okay, sugarcube?" "Rainbow Dash." Pinkie responded calmly, searching her friends features for a reaction, getting a subtle one almost instantly. Applejack's ears lowered slightly as she broke eye contact. The exact tells Twilight had told her to look out for. "What about her?" she said in a flat monotone. "I knew it! Rainbow Dash has something to do with why you're all mopey!" she said nearly jumping in excitement, which was not the emotion the situation warranted. "Horseapples!" she snapped defensively. "She don't got nothin to do with me!" "Aww, c'mon Applejack. You can tell me what she did! I bet she knocked some of your apples off one of your trees before they were ripe huh? Or did she schedule a thunderstorm and not tell you again?" she asked rapid fire before she could decide wether or not she wanted to tell Pinkie about the two of them. The pink pony gasped as she slowly realized what was truly going on. "Oh...Oh my gosh. I saw Rainbow flying toward your farm a few times after dark when I was out walking Gummy, and I never see her come back. It's so obvious! She's always around the farm, she hangs out with you constantly! I can't believe I've been so blind!" she said as her eyes widened and Applejack recoiled somewhat in anticipation of her friends reaction to their relationship. Rainbow assured her no one ever saw her come over, even that she took a route around town just to avoid being seen! 'I guess I should add that to tha list of things she's lied about.' Applejack thought as Pinkie took in another lung full of air. "Rainbow Dash, is an apple rustler!" she whispered in disbelief. "She must just be using you for apples! I'm so sorry Applejack!" she thought throwing her pink forelegs around her friends neck in a hug. The farmers daughter didn't know whether to feel more relived or surprised that Pinkie thought Rainbow was something she was fairly certain she had only told Applebloom about. Applejack couldn't help but smile as her friend let her go, her blue eyes etched in sadness as she looked into her green ones. "No darlin, Rainbow ain't a apple rustler." she sighed, still debating wether or not to let Pinkie in on her and Rainbow's now former relationship. 'Well, I spose there's no harm in it now, seein how it's over.' she thought. Plus she knew how well Pinkie could keep a secret. The idea of opening up to somepony about this was a gratifying thought, so she decided it could only make her feel better to come clean. "Come inside the barn sugarcube, I'll tell ya what's been botherin me." she said as Pinkie bounced merrily beside her. Applejack laid down on a soft spot in the side of a large pile of hay in the barn as Pinkie took a seat next to her. "Alright, I'm all ears!" she said ready and eager to help her friend and fellow earth pony through her troubles. Applejack took a deep breath and glanced at Pinkie before she began. She got all the way to the part about the events from yesterday before she started getting choked up. Pinkie's expression had changed a couple of times during the story, from generally happy, to somewhat less happy, to confused. "I'm glad you and Rainbow make each other happy Applejack, but I still don't get why you're acting all grumpy." "I was just gettin' ta that part...Rainbow came over here yesterday to tell me that...that..." she began, losing her nerve about half way through the sentence as a few tears began to drip from her eyes. Pinkie's ears flattened as she sensed her friends hurt in her stuttered words. "She cheated on me...with Spitfire, that 'what if' mare I was tellin' ya 'bout. She said she came over ta her house and one thing led to another...and..." she faltered, biting her bottom lip to keep herself from continuing something she had spent most of last night doing. "Oh...Applejack, I'm so sorry..." she said putting a hoof around her friends shoulder in support, feeling sure she was one of the few people outside the Apple family that had ever seen Applejack cry. "There's nothin for you to be sorry bout darlin'. I shoulda never trusted that yellow bellied snake in the first place." she added bitterly, just as angry at herself as she was at Rainbow Dash. "Hey now, Dashie may have gotten carried away, but you don't think she wanted to hurt you on purpose do you?" "Then why did she kiss her Pinkie?" she nearly growled at her, getting agitated that she would even consider Rainbow's side of the story. "I dunno, how did the kiss happen? Did she start it? Did Spitfire start it?" she asked, Applejack's anger slowly defusing at the use of logic. "Well...Ah didn't really give her a chance ta explain." she admitted sheepishly. "The thought of her with someone else just hurt so much that...I didn't give her much of a chance to tell me her side of the story. I told her to get the hell out." she added, her one tracked heart now split between two emotions, anger at Rainbow and guilt for not letting her at least try to explain herself. "You said it happened that day right?" Pinkie asked. "Yeah...so?" "Weeeeeeell, I don't know much about relationships, but it seems to me that if she didn't care about you, she wouldn't have told you anything at all!" she answered in a happier tone than the one she had held for the duration of the conversation. "She cared enough about you to actually come and tell you about it right after it happened! Was she upset when she told you?" she went on to ask. Applejack could hardly remember anytime Rainbow's eyes held that much pain while she was with her. "Yeah...she seemed pretty broke up about it...Oh Pinkie, I've been such a dang fool!" she admitted, burying her head in her forelegs in shame. "That may be true, but there's nothing stopping you from telling her you're sorry next time you see her is there?" "I spose not..." "Then there ya go!" she said happily springing to her hooves as Applejack brushed the little moisture remaining from her eyes. "Thank's so much Pinkie...Ah'm glad Ah talked to ya bout this." "Me too! I'm just glad I could help!" Pinkie said hitching herself to the fully loaded applecart. "Oh and Pinkie, do ya think ya could keep me and Dashie's little...thing a secret? We haven't really decided to err...go public yet..." Applejack added. "Your secret is safe with me! Say hello to Granny Smith for me! Oh wait, you won't have to, she's right there! Thanks for the apples Granny!" Pinkie said waving goodbye as she started off down the road. Applejacks heart stopped, her pupils shrank to pinholes, her eyes widened and her stomach felt like she had just swallowed a ten pound weight. 'Celestia, I don't ask for much, but please let her be joking.' she prayed, gathering the courage to glance behind her. She slowly looked over her shoulder to see an unamused Granny Smith slowly coming down the ramp to the hay loft. Her greatest fear having just been realized. "G-Granny...how long have you been up there?" she asked through an extremely nervous laugh. "Long enough."