"You filthy rotten, no good bamboozler." Luke slammed the cider glass nonchalantly down with a crash. "Son of a!" The spectators cringed at the human as the profanity escaped his mouth with language far from pure and more colorful than a rainbow. "You trying ta steal all my money!" He swayed around and around as he tried to point to the pony that sold him his drink.
"Just calm down already! We don't want any trouble now."
"Is that so?" Luke yelled as his legs wobbled. "Well, you got trouble you sorry sack of-" He slipped on and into the broken glass that was the vessel to his state. "Why am I covered in ketchup?" Licking the blood from his fingers, he tried to jump back up to his feet.
"Are we going to have to escort you out of here?"
Luke grabbed a bottle and broke it. "You can sure as hell try!" Running at the proprietor, armed with his broken bottle, he madly yelled. The spectators intervened. Each one grabbed at the human and restrained him. "You're not a part of this! Just me and Mr. Swindler here!" Breaking an arm loose, he decked the adjacent restraint in the face. Swinging back, he elbowed the other in the neck. This madman was fueled by raw drunken power that brought false promises of invincibility.
The brawl continued on, blindly. Kick here, dodge, uppercut, dodge again, and keep moving. That was Luke's rhythm as he paraded around and around attacking the would be peace keepers. "Is that all you got?!" He picked the broken bottle back up after losing it in the initial offense defense. Grabbing the proprietor by the neck, he readied his weapon for the plunge only to have a hoof knock it out of his hand. Hands.
He curled both appendages into fists. A surge in his blood took over his body, his eyes blank as he swung down his firsts again and again. "Luke! Stop!" More hooves tried to stop him. He recognized the voice, but far too late as the full force of his hand swung around. The audible smack and shriek left Luke turned around with his fist still in the air. Sweat drenched his eyes as he stared down at Cora.
"Oh my God!" It dawned on him. He had stricken his blow. The damage was done. "Oh God, no..." His eyes, bloodshot, twitched as the voices surrounded him and the injured body of the changeling.
"Monster!"
"Freak."
"Who does he think he is?"
"No good at all."
"He should have stayed dead."
"No, it-it was an ac-accident! No! I wouldn't!" But, he did. There she was. Cora lay passed out, maybe even dead by his hand. But something else was wrong. Luke missed the obvious. His mind tarried in grief for a while, but soon it found that unmistakable truth that eradicated this hellish incident.
"There are no bars in Ponyville."
*****
Luke jumped up in his bed, fear and desperation pumped his lungs till they burst with cries and tears. He was awake now. Frantically he searched around the room. It was his. Thoroughly, he examined his claws and stretched his wings. They were also his. The transformation from nearly six months ago had left him as a dragon. A shadow of his human form seemed to be more or less of a legend now, a fairy tale.
"It was a dream." Luke said emotionally triumphant. Seeing that he wasn't in a bar and in fact in his own bedroom, he breathed deeply to seek peace and comfort. "It was just a dream." Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he looked into the blinding rays of the rising sun. "It was just a dream."
Remembering his chime clock, he looked at it. It was a gift from Fluttershy and her friends. They all pitched in the bits to buy it for him. Listening to its subtle ticks and tocks, he watched the minute hand progress across the face of the clock for about a minute and then some until the chimes rang in eight different tones. The customized lever that controlled when the chimes went off was set at six thirty. It was six thirty. In the morning.
Moving on through the cottage there were various pictures in picture frames of various sizes. It was a humble collection that had been growing in its own due time. A few were paintings. More were photographs of him with the friends he knew. His first birthday party with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash giving him his first flying lesson, a few more photos of him when he was still a human, and many other fond memories hung on the walls of his home. But there was one photo, in a special frame, that stood out to him the most.
Luke smiled at the picture of him and Cora. It showed off their friendship in a white painted frame with a small plaque that read, "Friends Forever."
*****
Bang...Bang...Bang...
Iron Clad hammered into the metal, flattening it to be shaped. The red hot lump was surrounded by his magical aura as he raised his right limb to bring down the hammer. Sweat rolled off in rivers. As the metal became too cold to pound anymore, Iron Clad raised it back into the furnace. "Not hot enough," he muttered, "no how."
"I can fix that." Luke hurried up as he pulled on his leather apron. Moving to the back of the furnace, he opened another panel and steadily blew fire into the chamber. "Should be better now." To follow up, he continued working on the chest plates he was working on the previous day.
"What kept you so long this morning," Iron Clad asked, "not enough sleep?"
"I slept, not well, but I slept. I also had some errands to run." Luke was more focused on catching up on work than discussing his busy morning, but out of decency, he willfully answered Iron Clad's inquiries.
"Errands?"
"Yeah, I helped Applejack fix the roof of her barn, and then I had to do some plumbing over at Quills & Sofas." Luke looked up from the chest plates he was inspecting. He had noticed Iron Clad was staring at him. "What?"
"You do well to fix a lot of things don't you," Iron Clad chuckled a bit, "I'm surprised that you're here working in the blacksmith instead of running your own little fix-it and repair business."
"First of all, I wouldn't call it fix-it and repair, and second, I work here because it's a place where I can put my fire breathing to good use." Luke laughed to himself. "And I have to babysit you."
"Hey now," Iron Clad protested, "I ain't no baby!"
"Okay then," a smile crept up onto Luke, "I still have to foalsit you, you old coot."
They both erupted with gut clenching laughter. Just then a passerby stopped to see what the commotion was about. At the sight of the passerby, Luke and Iron Clad just pointed and erupted into even more laughter at the sight of his confused face. Steadily the passerby went on his way trying to shake the confusion.
"Wow!" Iron Clad choked a bit on his breath. "I don't know why but, you're funny for some reason."
Luke wasn't even sure why it was funny in the first place. "My humor is just a bit old fashioned I guess."
"You making fun of my age?" Iron Clad teased. "I wouldn't blame you. I am pretty old."
"Any regrets you can warn me about?"
Iron Clad thought for a moment. "Surprisingly, no." He looked a bit distant. "Maybe it's because I got married." He let a quiet laugh escape. "I wish Filigree could have lived to meet you."
"You never did mention how you and wife met." Luke could see Iron Clad squirm at the mention of how he and his wife met. "Embarrassing?"
"Yes."
Luke sighed. "Still don't regret it?"
"Nope." Iron Clad smiled. "I was in Canterlot when I first saw her. I was walking down the street and she was working at the ticket booth to the theater. I caught a glance from her. Then I ran into a pole." They both laughed. "Then, every day I had off, I would buy a ticket from her, just so I could talk to her. A few dates later, she brought me to meet her parents and told them that I was the stallion she was going to be married to."
"Sounds like a really good book." Luke commented.
"You have no idea." Iron Clad let out a hefty sigh about the one regret he never told anyone. "Just remember, if you ever get married, enjoy every moment of it."
"Will do." Luke patted him on the back. "Hey I wanted to ask you-" a sharp high pitched tone in Luke's ear cut him off. "Ah! Dangit!" He smacked his ear a bit until the sound just went away.
"What, do you got a bug in your ear?"
"No," Luke blinked in dazed confusion, "it was nothing."
*****
"Yes, uh, miss?"
"Yes, I'm a mare, that is correct." Cora was getting rather irritated with the home improvement store employee. "The pansies, when did you say that you would have more?"
"Um, next week, there uh, should be some more..."
"Oh, okay then. Thank you." Cora retreated from the awkward moment. You would think he had seen a changeling before, she thought to herself. Continuing towards the door she noticed Rarity and her little sister Sweetie Belle. "Hi Rarity!"
"Cora? I'm surprised to see you out and about." Rarity greeted her with a hug. "What brings you here?"
"I was just looking for some flowers to plant in the little garden by Luke's cottage. I thought it would be a nice way to add some diversity to the area." Cora looked at Sweetie Belle. "And this is your sister, Sweetie, isn't it?"
"Yes, that's me." Sweetie Belle's curiosity soon overpowered her censorship. "Aren't you Luke's marefriend?"
"Sweetie Belle," Rarity scolded her younger sister, "you shouldn't make assumptions about others. I'm sorry about that Cora, she tends to speak her mind without thinking."
"Hey!" Sweetie Belle scowled up at Rarity in the way youth often do when they're annoyed or embarrassed.
"It's alright, Rarity." Cora directed her attention to Sweetie Belle. "What makes you think I'm Luke's marefriend?"
Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity to make sure she was allowed to speak. Once she was given the nod, she got down to business. "Well for one, you two are great friends."
Cora smiled. They were great friends, that was all. "Well, what if that's all he wants to be, just friends?"
Sweetie Belle laughed. "Have you seen the way he looks at you? And besides, two personages of the opposite gender, such as you and Luke, are never truly bound to a platonic relationship. I see progress down the road of life for the two of you."
Wow, thought Cora, this filly had either had a big dictionary, or read the latest Canterlot Pony Relations magazine. The thought struck Cora hard. A while ago, she had expressed to Fluttershy that she had feelings beyond friendship for Luke and that she suppressed them, but it could have been a spur of the moment response. Was it real? Now that things had calmed down and Luke wasn't in any danger, her voice in that matter had calmed down. Stopped? Maybe, or did that voice have excellent patience?
"This could all be speculation." Rarity cut in.
"Your sister has a point, Sweetie Belle." Cora was ready to dismiss the matter. After all, she was talking to a filly, who probably has never even been on a date yet. Then again, Cora had never been on a date herself.
"Yes, I do," Rarity said proudly, "Come on Sweetie, we need to get in line to purchase these new shelf clips."
Cora watched as the two sisters walked away down to the cashier. Alone, she tried to make sense of what she had just experienced. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Big Macintosh buying a pile of lumber.
*****
one week later...
Fluttershy handed Luke a cup of tea as he sat down on her couch. “It’s been awhile since you’ve needed to talk to me Luke. What seems to be the problem?”
Luke twiddled his claws around the warm cup of tea. He simply muttered, “Bad dreams.”
Fluttershy sighed as she prepared herself to resume her role as an emotional support. “Luke, you do know that dreams are still dreams. They reflect things that have already happened. The only way they become real is if you fall victim to your own self fulfilled prophecies.”
“My uncle…”
“Your uncle,” Fluttershy asked.
“I had a nightmare that I had become my uncle.” Luke shuttered at the memory of it. The blind rage, the drinking, and the abuse all gnawed at his mind. “I dreamt that I hurt Cora.”
Fluttershy looked at the trembling teacup in Luke’s unstable grasp. She took it before it had the chance to fall and put it on the side table, next to the discord lamp. “Tell me about your uncle.”
“He was a rotten man, a terrible man.” Luke didn’t want to tell Fluttershy the full story of the drunken uncle who abused him and his aunt. He remembered, after his parents were gone, he lived with his aunt and uncle. His uncle was mostly if not always drunk on beer, whiskey, and many other poisons that Luke couldn’t pronounce the names of as a teenager. Luke remembered his aunt, who would always go and drive her drunken husband home from the bar. One day his aunt brought him along to go pick up his uncle. He waited in the car for her to return, but she didn’t. He chose not to remember what happened after the red and blue lights showed up with sirens blaring. “That’s all you need to know.”
“He hurt others. And, in your bad dream, you hurt Cora?” Fluttershy knew about dreams and how they can be warped by past thoughts or memories that come up. “You’re afraid of becoming you’re uncle, but you are not him. Whatever he may have done, you have the choice to not make the same mistakes.”
“I know, and he has a different reason for why he caused pain. I’m afraid that my own reason will turn me into the same man. I’m afraid that all I’ve been through can make me a monster again.”
“You’re not a monster Luke. You never were. You’ve just been through alot that most don’t ever go through. Is there a way to let it go, would that help?” Fluttershy saw him drift a bit. “Luke?”
He had been thinking. “Well, I come to you to let out my feelings about everything. Maybe,” he thought more, “maybe I need to tell more people. Maybe it will set my conscience free knowing that more people could understand.”
Fluttershy smiled. "Maybe you should write it down. What do you think?"
Luke looked up at Fluttershy. A glimmer of fresh green hope flickered in his eyes. "That's good. I can do that. Maybe, I'll publish it."
"I'll be back in just a moment." After leaving the room, Fluttershy came back with plenty of paper for Luke to write on. Also, she brought a quill and ink for him to write with. "What exactly do you think you're going to write?"
"I'm going to tell about how I came here, and how I became a dragon." He picked up the quill in his claws and readied over the ink well. "What do you think I should title it?"
"How about, Trauma: A Memoir by Luke." Fluttershy looked at him with anticipation.
"I think I'll name it after one of my favorite songs." Luke dipped the quill into the ink and then proceeded to write, "Fluttershy rushed through the streets as fast as she could. As soon as she heard from the police that he was in jail she knew whatever happened was bad. Oh no, oh no, oh no, she panted as she pushed her wings to carry her to the police station. Everything was a blur..."
*****
Waking up on his couch, Luke grumbled as he tried to remember what happened the other day. He was writing, all night, and didn't get home until nearly four o'clock in the morning. It was probably eight o'clock now, but Luke was focused to catch up on sleep, though, the stack of papers which measured almost ten thousand words grasped his attention. It was neatly stacked when he fell asleep, but now it was scattered around in smaller organized piles. Sitting in the chair adjacent to the couch was Applejack.
She was stuck reading the same last page, over and over again. "It must be a good one." Applejack read it with smile that was heartwarming, a happy tear was wiped away by her hoof. She finally looked up and saw Luke watching her from where he lay. "Oh, I'm sorry Luke, I was just, the papers were there and I didn't want to wake you," she fumbled with a lot more strange apologies to the point where she had to be stopped.
"It's all right, I was planning to show it to everyone." Recovering from his strange awakening, Luke forced his tired frame to sit up on the couch. "It's not finished yet. I still need to fill in some gaps. A lot of what is in there is from either my memory or what Fluttershy told me. I want to ask a few others more about what happened while I was asleep. I really want to ask Cora, I'm sure she'll have a lot to say."
"Heh, yeah." Applejack looked up to the best friends picture of Luke and Cora. "I saw you wrote about me in here. And about my comment I made about Spike." Applejack bit her lip.
Luke chuckled a bit. "I didn't want all who read it to be completely sad. I wanted a bit of relief to shift gears, if you know what I mean." Luke shook his head a little bit as he realized, "Wait. Why are you in my home?"
"Oh golly, I'm mighty sorry," Applejack said defensively, "I knocked on the door, but you didn't answer, and I got worried, and the door was unlocked, and-"
"Applejack!" She fell silent as Luke spoke. "I get it, okay? Now tell me why you're here."
"Oh right, why I'm here." She set down the last page she had still been holding. "The roof of barn is broken again." A sheepish look spread across her face.
"Again?" Luke was astounded. "That's the fifth time this month! Will that roof ever be safe?" Luke got up and was ready to go get his tools regardless of the ridiculous situation. "What was it this time? Did Applebloom and her friends try making jet packs again?"
"No," Applejack wiped some sweat off her forehead, "actually they tried bowling." She bit her lip.
"You would think that they would learn from their past mistakes." Luke laughed as he went and pulled his tools out of the closet. "Big Mac still busy in the fields?"
"Oh, yeah, he's still busy, and all." Again Applejack wiped some sweat off her forehead.
Luke finally noticed Applejack's state. "Are you alright? You look like you're about to pass out. Want some water?"
"Yes. Please."
Luke walked into the kitchen, half concerned and half suspicious. Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, he heard Applejack take rapid deep breaths. He quickly filled up the glass with water and returned to Applejack. "Here."
To Luke's surprise, Applejack began chugging the water down her throat until all the water was gone in an instant. "Thanks."
Luke knew that look, he had seen it before. Everyone had seen that look on Applejack before. She was lying, and avoiding the truth. But why? What was she hiding? Luke thought about the barn rooftop that had broken so many times. When he was up there, fixing the roof, Applejack was up there too. "Applebloom and her friends didn't really break the roof, did they..."
Applejack just stared.
"You broke the roof," Luke concluded.
Applejack let go of the heavy sigh that had been waiting to escape. "I thought I could just go on hiding, but I can't. Luke do you remember when I mentioned Spike?"
"Yes."
"Well I was simply asking you what you thought about me possibly liking a dragon." Applejack gulped.
"I teased you about it, but I didn't mean any harm. I'm sorry if I did. Besides, I already said that it's fine if you like Spike. The relationship between you two could never change how me and all your friends think of you. Although, you might want to wait till he's a bit older, don't you think?" Luke stopped when he saw Applejack making that face again. "What's wrong?"
It was eating her from the inside, the struggle within was visible. "It's not Spike."
"Oh, is it another dragon? What's his name, have I met him? I hope it's not one of those mean dragons that Spike mentioned." Luke laughed at the thought of how awkward the situation could be between Applejack and one of Spike's old bullies.
"It's you."
A ringing went off in Luke's ear. He quickly rubbed his ear until the ringing went away. "I'm sorry, what?" The ringing distracted him. He had heard what she said, but he wasn't sure if it was just the ringing that made him hear that.
"I like you." Applejack blurted out.
Luke froze where he stood. He didn't know what to say, he wasn't prepared for this, and he didn't want to be there in that moment. Fear struck him hard as he mentally panicked.
"I know that I'm not the prettiest mare, but when I read what you wrote about liking someone for who they are and not what they are, I believed I could have a chance. I believed that maybe it would be possible for the two of us to," she hesitated, "be together?"
Luke felt cold. The room, the air, it all seemed to freeze and close in on him. He wanted to speak, but his tongue was caught in his mouth. His lips could only tremble further in fear.
"Luke?" She stepped, one hoof at a time, closer until she was face to face with him. Standing up on her hind legs, she wrapped her forelegs around his neck and kissed him.
Luke wanted to squirm away, but something stopped him. Applejack, he didn't want to hurt her. He was afraid of hurting a friend. He was afraid of becoming like his uncle. So, he endured two pains. He didn't feel the same way, but those haunting memories of his uncle neglecting his aunt made him stay in place.
Just then the door opened. "Hey Luke, I got you some flowers." Cora stopped in the doorway when she saw Luke and Applejack. The clay flowerpot fell from the grasp of her magic and smashed against the wooden floor. Broken clay, soil, and purple pansies flooded across the entryway.
By the time Applejack backed off, it was too late. Cora was gone. Suddenly the light, that had filled the void of the darkest part of his soul, had gone out. “No. No.”
“What, was that Cora?” Applejack looked concerned but for all the wrong reasons.
The ringing it came back to his ear, it was all he heard as he ran. Applejack hit the floor as Luke dropped her and ran. “NO!” He ran as fast as he could. “Cora! Come back!” When his legs tried to give up on him, he took to the skies. His flying wasn’t at it’s best, but skill and concentration had been overrun by the passions and desperation of fear. Luke looked everywhere, but Cora was nowhere in sight. He frantically headed for the Everfree Forest, where he had first met her. The ringing was suddenly accompanied by a high pitched tone. Luke nose dived into the lower levels of the forrest. “Cora!”
Dodging every tree he could, he tried to filter through the camouflages of the forest. Nothing stood out, nothing was clear except the ringing in his ear. He couldn’t keep it up. Luke knew somehow his futile efforts were leading him in circles around the forest. “Cora!” His voice was cut off by tree branch that made contact with his shoulder. Down, he fell deep into the forest. It was so deep that light seemed to vanish as Luke spiraled out of control. Trying to control his fall with his wings only resulted in them being scratched by thorns and stray branches. He tucked in his wings and resorted to his arms.
Luke caught hold of a single green branch that was just strong enough to hold his weight and not fall out. Looking down, he could see that his feet dangled mere inches from the hard stone floor of the bottom. The bottom? He wasn’t sure what he was at the bottom of. It was all but dark. A single light shone through a small clearing which was the result of Luke’s fall. Letting go of the branch, Luke felt himself float gently to the ground. The gravity, by some strange force had been lightened. He wondered if it was a dream, but the fact that he knew magic existed in Equestria swayed that opinion quickly. The ringing in his ear stopped.
Luke felt a strange sensation brush against his cheek. He lifted his hand… It was his hand. It was pink, fleshy, and patterned with miniscule wrinkles like it once was. Luke looked at his human hands, he felt his human face, and brushed his fingers through his human hair. “Hello Luke.” No, Luke thought, she’s gone. “I am gone Luke, but you need me again.”
Luke turned around and saw her. “No! I let you go!”
“Yes you did Luke, and I’m proud that you found the strength to move on. I’m not here to stay, but I did come back to help.” It was really her, the girl, and she stood there in the flesh.
“I can’t do this anymore.” Luke fell to his knees.
“I know it’s hard.” She put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but the act only resulted in Luke cowering in fear. “Luke?”
“You can’t be real. I made you up.” Luke refused to look at her. “I found Cora. She’s all I need!”
“She slipped from you though. That’s why I’m here. Not to replace her, no, I’m here to help you find her again.” Her voice had that familiar comforting spark of hope that it once had. Luke felt as if he were talking to Cora, which frightened him more.
“I never asked for this,” Luke muttered, “but here I am.”
“You meant no harm to Cora or Applejack, but the damage has been done on both sides. You have hurt both of their feelings.”
Luke shook his head, because he knew. “I thought that Cora was just my friend. I wish I hadn’t been so blind. And Applejack, I never knew. I never thought that she would have come to me like that.”
“It’s not the end of the world Luke. You have a choice. What are you going to choose?”
“I don’t know.” Shaking his head again, he looked into a small pool of water that allowed him access to his human reflection. “Who needs me more?”
“An excellent question, a question you can answer.” As she reached her hand to touch Luke’s face, she slowly dissolved into a thin air which swept across Luke and changed him back into a dragon.
“It’s my choice.” Luke looked at his claws. They had become much more comfortable that his true human form.
*****
many years ago, in the human world…
“Mom? Why did you marry dad?” The young boy asked this question as he sat in his bed, the covers pulled up to his waist as he laid back against the stack of pillows.
“What do you mean Luke? I love your father, that’s enough of a reason.” The boy’s mother rubbed his forehead as she smiled that nurturing smile that only mothers possess.
“But grandpa told me there was more to it than that.” The boy was alway so curious about everything in life.
“I’m sure he did.” The boy’s mother sighed. “I'll tell you later when you’re old enough to understand.”
“Okay,” the boy breathed a precious sigh of disappointment, “but before you go, can I hear a bedtime story?”
“Of course Luke.” The mother thought of what she would tell, it came through the boy’s first question, but he would never know the true meaning for a long time. “Once upon a time there were three friends. A girl, and two boys.” The mother couldn’t help but admire the intensity of her son’s eyes as he listened. “They went on many adventures, they traveled the world together, and they had a pet dragon.” The mother smiled at the memory of her old mutt of a dog she called dragon. “These friends had something special, do you know what it is?” Her son shook his head. “It was friendship. It was a friendship so great that, the world could never keep them apart. But one day, the girl learned a secret.”
“What was the secret?”
“Both of her friends, the boys, they liked her more than most friends do. They both had a crush on her. She didn’t know what to do. Both friends were good, but she didn’t want to lose either of them.”
“What did she do mom?”
“She prayed.” The mother lost her smile, but only for a moment. “She saw her friends differently. One had a family that loved him. He would never be alone, but her other friend had no family to help him and love him. So she shared her love with the one who had the least in life. The other friend understood, thankfully.”
“So, no matter what, they were all happy in the end?”
“Yes Luke. They all lived happily ever after.” The boy’s mother smiled as she stood up to leave her son to rest for the night. Turning out the light, the glowing star stickers lit up the sky of the boy’s bedroom. “Goodnight Luke.”
“Goodnight mommy.”
“Sweet dreams.” The mother gently closed her son’s door.
*****
the present…
Luke picked up the pansies and put them into a new pot. After cleaning up the broken pieces of clay, he took his time to find a spot for the flowers and finally settled on setting them in the windowsill of the kitchen window. After cleaning himself up, he looked through his closet for a set of clean clothes. He finally put on a pair of brown pants and his blue-plaid flannel shirt. Before he left, Luke pinned a note to the door that read, “Cora, I need to talk to you as soon as you are ready to let me explain.” With that done, he set out for Sweet Apple Acres.
The road was long and seemed to drag out even longer as he marched himself across Ponyville. Strange glances were thrown his way as he walked along at a steady pace. Apparently some sort of rumor had spread concerning an incident between him and Applejack, but no one was sure enough about the rumors to confront him. At the end of the short trek, Luke found himself standing at the entrance to the apple farm. Sitting there was a filly. It was Applejack’s little sister, Applebloom.
“Luke?” Applebloom was surprised by his appearance. She seemed down.
“You all right?”
“Oh.” Applebloom’s demeanor suddenly drooped. “It’s Applejack. She hasn’t come out of her room in a while. I don't know why, and Big Max wouldn't tell me." She looked to Luke with pleading eyes. "Do you think you can talk to her?"
"I'll try." Luke patted her on the shoulder and crossed the border into the yard.
Looking forward, Luke could see Applejack's older brother, Big Mac, standing resolute on the porch of the house. Like a guard dog at the ready, Big Mac looked narrowly down at Luke in disapproval. Luke stood at the base of the steps, not daring to show any signs of disrespect to Applejack's brother.
Luke took a deep breath before speaking. "I know that I hurt her."
"Eeyup." His scowl only deepened.
"And for that, all I can say to you is I'm sorry. If you want, if it will make you feel better, I'll let you deck me in the face as many times as you like." Luke saw Big Mac shake his head.
"It would be no good. It would probably only hurt my little sis' if I were to hurt you."
"In that case, would you let me talk to her so I can fix my mistake." Luke waited tensely for the response that could determine whether or not his endeavor could continue.
"Go on in." With those final words from Big Mac, Luke continued on into the house and nodded respectively to Big Mac as he passed him.
Up the rickety stairs he hiked, up to the hallway that lead to Applejack's room. Nervous? No, he was tense. Luke worried about saying the wrong thing. Not much time was available as her door was in his view.
Gently, Luke began to push the door open. It stopped. Looking at the small opening, he could see that the door had been blocked by a dresser. Putting more muscle into it, he eventually forced the door open enough to squeeze through. He could see Applejack curled up underneath her sheets. Looking around, Luke could see the dust shadow of where the dresser had once been. He pushed it back into place.
"Big Mac, please go away. I just need to be alone right now." Applejack curled up even tighter as she pulled a pillow over her head.
"He's downstairs, and it doesn't help to be alone. Trust me, I've tried that before." Luke closed the door as he prepared to give his speech. "It's me. Yes, I know you're mad at me."
"I ain't mad at you."
"No. You don't want to be mad at me, but you are mad. I know." Luke sat down next to her. "I never meant to hurt your feelings. It's just that, I don't think I can return your feelings."
"It's because you love her." Applejack practically spit the words referring to Cora. There was anger, hatred, and jealousy.
"I do love her, but that's not the reason I don't share your feelings." Luke stopped himself. He was curious. He wanted to know why exactly Applejack felt inclined to have affections for him. "Can I ask you why you have feelings for me?"
Applejack felt her bones gain enough courage to remove the sheets and face Luke. "It was sometime after you first arrived. Rarity was asking you about things you liked, and you said family. You kept talking about how important family was to you and that you always wished you could have your own. I guess that's why I sort of fell for you. I liked your value of family. It ain't hard to tell that I enjoy living with my family. You see how happy I am since I've got my own family to take care of. I just wanted you to be a part of it."
"You feel like this, all because I value the institution of family?"
"Well, you're smart, and you're hard working. Iron Clad told me how you always work hard just to help everyone you can. Besides, you aren't so bad looking, for a dragon." Applejack blushed a little at that last remark.
Luke saw that Applejack's intentions were good. The idea that she hoped for an ideal so innocent as family made him feel guilty. it was the first time Luke had ever considered it, but in the sense of family, he felt a small momentary wave of innocent affection wash over him. However, Luke was not one to abandon his mindset. He knew Cora needed him more. "Cora hasn't had all the advantages that you've had. Applejack, she has no one to be with. You have your family. She has no family. I'm the only friend she trusts." Luke could tell he was hurting Applejack. "I'm sorry that I can't love two at the same time."
"Why not?!"
Luke felt his heart sink. Why not? No. It was more complicated than that. "Don't ask me why. Applejack, it could only end in me asking who do I love more. I'd rather not answer that kind of question. I'm going to take care of Cora, not because I respect her anymore than I respect you, but because she needs me more than you do right now. I know you're a mare of respect. I respect you for that. Now I'm asking, can you respect me by respecting my decision?"
Applejack wiped off the few tears that had accumulated. She understood his words were meant to say volumes, and yet they were short. "I understand. I'm sorry for making things worse."
Luke shook his head. "Difficult, not worse. Life is full of complications, but we're grown up enough to handle it. Are we alright?"
"Water under the bridge." Applejack managed to smile.
"Good." Before Applejack could do anything, Luke pulled her into a quick hug.
Applejack felt the bad inside fade away. Maybe things could be better this way. Who knew? The future hasn't been set in stone yet. "You should probably go on and talk to Cora, but before you go," Applejack wanted something to say goodbye to the emotions she would have to bury away, "could I have one last kiss?"
Luke thought to himself. Was he in the right? "Okay."
*****
Luke looked back at the Apple family as he walked away. All of them stood there, even Applejack. One big happy family waved him goodbye as he continued down the path to head back to his home.
As he turned away from them, a sharp pain stung his ear. Ringing, and a high pitch, echoed through his head. He tried to rub it out, but that only made it worse. Then he tried scratching it. It stopped, but only after one of his claws had left behind a shallow cut. Pulling away his claws, Luke could see a tiny trickle of blood. "Dangit." Mentally cursing himself, he looked up ahead of the road to see where he could get his ear bandaged up.
Continuing along the road, the Carousel Boutique came into his view. Luke headed up to knock on Rarity's door.
"Hello? Oh Luke...oh Luke! What happened to your ear?" Rarity seemed all too astonished, but drama queens will be drama queens.
"That's not important right now. I was just wondering if you have a first aid kit or the know how for a quick fix to this little snag." Luke did his best to appear unaffected by his minor injury and its cause.
"Alright, come in." Rarity directed Luke to the kitchen where she pulled out a white box labeled first aid. Carefully she read over the simple healing spell that Twilight has given her to help whenever she pricked herself with sewing needles. After healing the wound, the way amateurs do, Rarity wrapped it all up with some minor bandages. Minor would work for describing the kind of bandages. The word for the amount of bandages comes no short of excessive. "There, that should do it."
Luke thanked her with a nod and then he brought up what he had been meaning to bring up."Rarity I need to ask you for some advice."
“Well that depends. What kind of advice are you looking for?”
"What kind of rings do mares like?" His innocent question earned a double take from Rarity.
"As in, the marriage kind?" Rarity hummed to herself in thought. "I can't rightfully say, or rather, I can't speak for all mares. It depends on who it is."
"Oh." Luke let out a breath of disappointment.
"The best way to approach this kind of situation would be to put your heart into it. An expensive ring is worthless if it has no connection to the love they may share." Rarity lost herself in a dreamy state. Noticing Luke staring awkwardly at her, she came to attention. "What?"
Luke raised his brow. "You read a lot of romance novels, don't you."
"Yes," Rarity huffed, "and you should try it sometime. You might learn something."
"I'll keep that in mind." Luke rubbed his ear a bit as the high pitched tone ran loose.
*****
Luke looked over his craft as in sat in the red velvet box he had bought from the jeweler. The ring he had not purchased, it was his creation of his own design. Using the tools from the blacksmith by Twilight's castle, he forged the gold and braided it into shape. The two gems, a topaz and amethyst, acted as the centerpiece.
He closed the box and set it on the bedside table, next to his clock. "I hope you like it Cora." Luke got up and sat in the living room. He picked up the book that Rarity lent him and began to read.
The book was about a young mare who fell in love with a farm colt. She loved him so much, but she was never sure if the farm colt loved her back. Every day she would ask the farm colt to help her with some chore. She could have easily done the chores by herself, but she wanted the farm colt to help her so that she could be close to him. No matter how ridiculous or simple the chores seemed to be, every time the mare asked for his help, the farm colt would always respond, "As you wish."
"This sounds familiar," Luke muttered to himself.
The mare learned that the farm colt did love her. But, a day came when the colt said that he was going to leave for a short time. He wanted to go out into the world and make something of himself. He wanted to make his fortune so he could come back and take care of the mare. Time passed, and rumors of the colt's death soon reached the mare. She was heartbroken and alone. She stayed in her room for the longest time. He fathered, fed up with his daughter's self inflicted solitude, offered her up to the prince of the land. All hope in being happy seemed lost to the mare. She never wanted to become a princess, she just wanted her farm colt to be by her side again.
"I know I've heard this before." Luke was sure of what he was thinking. "I can't remember the title, uh, Princess something." After giving up on remembering the title of the similar script, Luke read on as the mare was kidnapped and rescued by a masked stallion.
The masked stallion turned out to be the farm colt that the mare supposed to be dead, but he was not dead. For this, she was happy. And after traversing through a deadly swamp, the two were separated once again by the prince who had come to the claim back his bride. The farm colt endured torture and even death. Believing that the farm colt was dead, the prince went on with his plans to marry the mare. Unknown to the prince, a unicorn revived the farm colt with a miracle pill. He was alive but temporarily paralyzed. With the help of the mare's former kidnappers, the farm colt was able to rescue the mare from the prince who proved to be a vile stallion.
"It's a good thing that equine books aren't in the same bookstores as human books, this would definitely be copyright infringement." Luke chuckled a bit, still enjoying the story.
In the end, the farm colt had indeed grown into a great stallion who would always take care of the young mare who loved him. Whenever she asked anything of him it was always the same words, "As you wish." But he was really saying, "I love you."
Luke closed the book with a satisfied smile. "Still a good story, in both worlds." The high pitched tone returned, but Luke quickly smacked it away through the bandages. "Nope! I'm in too good of a mood right now. Don't you dare." Brushing off the incident, he proceeded to the kitchen to make some herbal tea. He pulled out the box of teabags and put the water filled kettle over the stove. Leaning against the wood top counter, Luke heard the high pitched voice creeping back. "Stop that," he grumbled as he violently rubbed his ear. A knock at the door caused the noise to cease. Luke walked over to the door nonchalantly; he assumed it was just Fluttershy coming to check up on him. But to his surprise, it wasn't who he had expected. He thought it would have taken a much longer time for her to warm up to ever talking to him again. Luke wanted to believe that the reason she came back so soon was because she loved him so much.
"Hi Luke." Cora gave a fake smile that Luke knew recognized as one that most friends give when they're trying not to be sad. "I got the note."
Luke hadn't even noticed that the note on his door was gone. "Yes."
"What happened to your ear?" Cora tilted her head a bit to get a better look at the bandages area.
"It's nothing." Luke covered it with his claws.
Looking back an forth between the floor and Luke she mentally prepared herself. "I'm sorry I took off like I did," Cora explained, "I didn't want to interrupt you and," she almost couldn't say the name, "Applejack."
"Cora, it's not like that." Luke was trying hard not to embrace Cora passionately and by consequences be seen as a double dealer.
"It's okay. You have to deny what you two have in front of me." Cora's words were shaky. She really was distraught on the inside, but Luke see past her masquerade.
"Cora, she and I aren't together!" The ringing raged in Luke's ear but he hid it well so Cora wouldn't see the pain.
"What?"
"I said no." Luke confirmed. The ringing got louder, but he held his peace.
"But, I saw you two kissing."
"Yes, she kissed me. I was not expecting that." Luke mentally laughed. "It scared the living daylights out of me." The noise in his ear was at a high, but not as high as the steaming kettle that sang in the kitchen. "Oh, I was making some tea, would you like to have some?"
"Alright," was all she said in response.
Luke lead Cora to the kitchen where he poured the hot water into a mug with a teabag. As Luke began to pour the hot water into his own mug, he noticed that Cora was tense. "Is something wrong?"
"Why did you say no to Applejack?" Cora's emotions displayed on her face as if she was balancing on a tightrope.
Luke caught on to the idea brewing in her head. He realized that Cora was thinking it was her fault. Luke didn't want to say it wasn't because of her, but it really was because of her. "It's complicated."
Cora seemed to calm down a bit at that statement. She took a sip of her tea. Letting the flavor roll on her tongue, she hesitantly asked, "Could I have some sugar?"
Luke stared into Cora's eyes. He wanted to say something. He wanted to confess, but something different came out instead. "As you wish." Reaching up to the cupboard, Luke pulled out the container of sugar and carefully scooped a few small spoonfuls of it into Cora's mug.
"Thank you." She finally smiled as she went back to sipping on her tea.
Sugar in herbal tea, Luke thought about that, strange. He thought it was strange, but it didn't bother him. It was a unique trait about Cora. She had her fair share of quirks, but that didn't stop him from... Did he really? It was a question on his mind. Should he? He was a human that had turned into a dragon. Morality bombarded his mind. Attracted? No, but love wasn't the same as attraction. Luke thought on more. Love? Did he love her? His mind traced over memories. She was always there, she always cared, and around her, he never felt alone. A genuine need of her company flushed through him. He needed her. From the first day that they met, he loved her company. He loved her. Watching her standing there, any troubles Luke felt were daydreamed away. Her eyes, those shining green eyes were so comfortable to him, so hopeful. Smiling from his epiphany, Luke lifted his mug to his mouth. "Oh." Luke spit out what he had barely sipped in.
"What? What is it," Cora asked concerned.
Luke looked at the tea bag that was still sitting on the counter and not in his mug. "Hot water by itself isn't very good."
Cora began to laugh. Luke instantly forgot his embarrassment as he listened to the cute chuckles that emitted from Cora. He felt his heart flutter. But the moment was not meant to last.
"Ah!!!" Luke collapsed onto the floor as the high pitched tone screamed violence into his mind. He felt his blood curdling inside. His gut was wrenching as cramps and spasms shook through his body. The noise grew even louder than ever before. Luke desperately clawed at his ear, undoing the bandages.
"Luke what is it?!" Cora cried as she watched in terror as Luke's back arched in agony.
"No! I'm not him!" Luke started screaming as maddening visions of his drunken uncle shook him to the core. His ear burned with pain as he thrashed about the kitchen. "Make it stop!!!" Luke swore that he saw his uncle chasing after him with a broken glass bottle. "No! Don't hurt me!!!" Luke banged his head against the counter. Then his ear struck a cabinet, and for a brief second the pain lessened. Desperately grabbing around, the first thing he latched onto was a kitchen knife.
Cora cowered in fear has Luke towered over her with the knife held high.