Dilemmas Abound
Chapter 9: Dilemmas Abound
Fox cracked open the cottage’s door. “Horizon, Fluttershy, you guys here?”
“We’re right here,” said Horizon.
Fox stepped into the den and shut the door behind him. “Tell it to me straight, Horizon. Just how badly are you going to rough me up before making a grand escape?” He stared at Rarity, where she lay on the couch. “Oh, horse apples! Please tell me you didn’t knock out one of the Elements of Harmony!”
“I didn’t touch her!” Horizon protested. “I wasn't thinking about knocking you over the head either!”
Fluttershy adjusted the blanket draped across Rarity so that it covered her better. “When she saw me as the creature she fainted.”
“You would have thought she would have recognized you. After all, she has seen you as a vampire fruit bat before.” Fox made his way to the couch and sat down beside Horizon. “You’re taking her passing out rather well.”
“She’s done this before, but I’ve never seen her out this long.”
“She was building up a lot of magic before she collapsed,” said Horizon. “I have a feeling that may part of the reason that she hasn’t woken up. The effort of pulling that much power and then seeing you was just a bit too much.” He turned to Fox. “I take it Luna sent you to get us?”
“No, I headed this direction before Luna knew something was going on.”
“You came even though you thought I was going to waylay you?” Horizon patted Fox on the shoulder. “I don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like you.”
“You helped me pull through some of my darkest moments; it’s only fair that I help you through yours.”
“You’ve done more than enough.”
Fluttershy hugged Fox. “Thank you for all that you have done for us. We’re going to keep it secret that you knew about me.”
“It was my pleasure. It’s not every day that you get to help one of the Elements of Harmony.” He gave her a brief hug in return. “As much as I hate to say this, you better let go. Your coltfriend is going to get jealous.”
“No, he’s not.” As soon as Fluttershy let go of Fox, Horizon shook his hoof. “I want you to know that it has been an honor serving with you.”
Fox pulled Horizon into a hug and slapped him on his shoulder a couple of times. “You think it’s going to get that bad?”
“It could.”
“Then it’s not. You’re always seeing the worst that can happen, but it never does.”
“I hope you’re right.” Horizon asked Fluttershy, “What should our next move be?”
“We should go to Sweet Apple Acres so I can apologize.” She shifted back to her original form and looked around the cottage at the various nests and animal homes. “If ponies start yelling, I don’t want my animal friends to be upset.”
“The farm is where the Elements are going to gather too,” Fox said. “I sent the fillies into town with Applejack as a distraction, in case you two decided to run for it.”
“We discussed doing that, but Fluttershy wants to stay.” Horizon hugged her across the shoulders. “I’m going to do whatever I can to help.”
Fox pointed a hoof at Rarity. “What should we do about her?”
“I guess you’ll have to carry her.” Horizon chuckled. “You can play the dashing hero saving the damsel in distress and bringing the bad guys to justice.”
“Don’t try to be funny. You’re awful at it.” Fox gently took the blanket off Rarity and gave it to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, if you don't mind, fold the blanket and put it on my back so that my armor won’t hurt her. Horizon, you’re going to have to put her on my back.”
Fox lowered himself to the floor. Fluttershy put the blanket on Fox’s back.
Horizon scooped Rarity from the couch and put her across Fox’s back. “Are you going to make it?”
“I’ll be fine. She doesn’t weigh much,” Fox said, as he got to his hooves. He flicked his left ear a couple of times. “Could you move her head a little? Her breathing tickles.”
“I think it’s kind of cute,” Fluttershy said, as she angled Rarity’s head down a little.
“You better hope Zecora doesn’t decide to show up. If she sees you like this, she might get jealous.”
“Just get the door,” Fox grumbled.
*****
Rainbow stretched deeply into a downward dog pose for a few seconds and then hopped to her hooves. She moved into a fighting stance and jabbed the air a couple of times. “I’m warmed up and I’m ready to beat the stuffing out of that creature! What’s the hold up?!”
“We have no need to venture forth.” Luna nodded down the path leading from the Apples home. “It would seem our friends have come to us.”
“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle gasped. “What did the creature do to her?!”
Fluttershy carefully slid the blanket from under Rarity and put it on the ground. “She’s fine. She passed out when she saw the creature.”
Fox knelt down, and Horizon transferred Rarity to the blanket.
Pinkie ran loops around Fox, Horizon, and Fluttershy. “I don’t see the creature. Are one of you hiding it somewhere?”
“We’re not hiding the creature, Pinkie,” said Fox.
“You let it get away?!” Rainbow stomped the ground. “Just what kind of Lunar Guards are you?”
“Rainbow, you should just be glad that nopony got hurt,” Twilight said, as she levitated Rarity and the blanket to the ground. She glanced at Horizon. “Nopony did get hurt, right?”
“We're fine.”
Sweetie Belle patted Rarity’s cheek. “Sis, are you okay?”
Rarity stirred and sat up. “Sweetie, what is going on?” She looked around at the ponies gathered around her. “Why are all of you here? Perhaps more importantly, why I am here?”
Sweetie Belle hugged Rarity around the neck. “Fox and Horizon saved you from the creature and brought you back!”
“Let’s go after the varmint.” Applejack grinned at Rainbow. “You think you can catch up to it and keep it busy till I get there?”
“No problem. You just get that rope of yours ready and try to keep up.”
Luna met eyes with Fluttershy. “Do you know where the creature could be at this moment?”
Fluttershy slowly nodded.
“Then tell us, so we can get started!” Rainbow ran in place. “Come on! I don't want it getting away!”
Fluttershy swallowed and then softly said, “You don’t have to go anywhere.”
“You were hiding the creature!” Pinkie nosed through Futtershy’s mane. “Where is it? I want to see!”
“Pinkie!” Twilight used her magic to pull Pinkie away from Fluttershy and place her by Luna’s side. “Go on Fluttershy; tell us where the creature is.”
Fluttershy closed her eyes. A soft glow formed around her. It grew brighter for moment, flickered, and then went out.
“Fluttershy?” Rarity put a hoof to her mouth and pulled Sweetie Belle to her. “Darling, what is happening?”
“It’s some kind of magic!” Twilight said.
The glow surrounded Fluttershy again. It flickered and vanished abruptly after a couple of seconds. Fluttershy shook her head. “I can’t do it! There are too many ponies looking at me!”
Horizon hurried to her. “Just calm down, everything is going to be fine.” He put his fore hooves on her shoulders. “Relax and breathe.”
Tears ran down Fluttershy's face. “I have to change! I have to show them I can do this!”
Horison pulled her to him. “Fluttershy, it’s alright.”
“No, it’s not!” She put her head to his chest and sobbed. “I don’t want you to get into trouble! I want to fly with you like we did! I want to keep this! ”
“Fluttershy, we’ll fly together again. I promise.”
“We won’t be able to fly like we did if they take it away from me!”
“Will somepony please tell me what the hay is going on?!” Rainbow demanded.
Horizon wrapped Fluttershy in his wings. “They can’t see you now. Relax, breathe slowly, and let all the pressure you're putting on yourself go. You know you can do it, just let it happen.”
The glow surrounded Fluttershy, grew in intensity strong enough to make the webbing of Horizon’s wings transparent, revealing the veins in them clearly, and then slowly faded.
“Sugar cube, are you alright?” Applejack asked.
Horizon kissed Fluttershy on top of her head and held her a moment, before asking, “You ready?”
“I think so.”
Horizon folded his wings, revealing Fluttershy in her fruit bat form. He stood beside her and took one of her fore hooves with one of his.
Rainbow’s mouth fell open.
“Cool!” all three fillies exclaimed.
“You're the creature?!” Rarity stammered. Her eyes dropped to their entwined hooves. “You and Horizon are together?!”
“You knew,” Applejack stated icily. “You knew from the start didn’t you?”
“I did,” said Horizon.
Applejack stomped over and went nose to nose with him. “Tell me why I shouldn’t beat you until I’m tired.”
“Sis, you're mad and not thinkin' straight,” McIntosh cautioned.
Applejack looked at McIntosh with an expression of disbelief. “Mad?! I’m fit to be tied! This sorry varmint pulled the wool over our eyes!”
“I never lied to you.”
Applejack spun back to Horizon. “You didn’t tell us the truth either! A half-truth might as well be a lie!”
“Sis, you’re not goin’ to help thin’s by yellin’ at him,” McIntosh said, his voice calm.
“He could have saved us all this trouble if he had just said somethin'!” she raged.
“Applejack, please don’t be mad at Horizon. I’m the one that hid that I could change,” Fluttershy pleaded, in a soft voice. “He just wanted to help me, so he kept it a secret.”
“Did you ask him to?”
“She didn’t,” Horizon answered. “I saw how terrified she was that night and decided to keep quiet on my own.”
“Then you both did somethin’ wrong and then went and wasted our time!” Applejack pointed her hoof at Horizon. “You’re supposed to report to your superiors about somethin’ like this!” She then pointed towards Fluttershy. “You’re my friend! If you had just told me about you changing in a vampire bat, we could have fixed it!”
Fluttershy shrank against Horizon’s side.
“There is nothing to ‘fix,’ Applejack.” Horizon draped a wing over Fluttershy protectively. “The change does not hurt her, and it doesn’t hurt anypony else.”
“I guess we can just take your word on that,” Applejack scoffed.
The glow of Luna’s magic surrounded Applejack’s chin and turned her face towards the princess. Luna lowered her head till it was at the same height as Applejack's. “I understand why you lose your ire so. I too would be vexed with a friend who would keep such a thing from me. However, harsh words do nothing to move us towards a means to set these transgressions right.”
“I don’t know if this is somethin’ that can be made right.”
McIntosh patted Applejack’s shoulder with a hoof. “Sis, why don’t we get somethin’ in our stomachs and think this over for a bit?”
“You’re kiddin’, right?”
McIntosh shrugged. “We can settle thin’s right now, if that’s what you want, but you’re goin’ to be the one to explain to Granny why enough food to feed over a dozen ponies went to waste.”
Applejack swallowed. “Now that you mention it, I am feelin’ a might bit hungry.”
*****
“Will somepony explain to me what in tarnation is goin’ on?” Granny Smith leaned on the kitchen table and looked at each pony. “Y’all are too quiet. I may be older than the hills and my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I still have somethin’ goin’ on under my bonnet.”
“There have been a couple of revelations that have not set well with some,” Luna answered.
“You don’t say. The fillies ain’t here. The guard, the quiet one, the crazy pink mare, and the racer aren’t here either.”
“They’re eatin’ in Horizon’s and Fox’s room,” Applejack said.
“Judgin’ by your tone, you had somethin’ to do with that.” Granny used her free hoof to rub her back. “If my dern lumbago weren’t actin’ up, I’d go ask them what’s goin’ on myself. It doesn’t look like you’re, or anypony else is this room, is goin’ to tell me.”
“It’s all right, Granny. We’ll get everthin’ sorted out pretty soon.” Applejack cut her eyes towards McIntosh. “That is, if Big Mac quits puttin' his hoof into things.”
“That’s the second time you’ve used that tone, and I don’t like it a plumb bit.” Granny leaned towards Applejack a bit more. “I don’t know what is goin’ on, but I can tell you’re wound up about somethin’ and not everyone that is supposed to be here is. That tells me you’ve gone and got yourself crossways with at least one of your friends. Am I right?”
Applejack looked at her plate. “Yes, Granny.”
“Anypony hurt?”
Applejack looked back to Granny. “No, everypony is all right.”
“The farm and crops doin' all right?”
“Well, yes, but what’s that go to do with anythin'?”
“If nopony needs tendin' to, the farm and the harvest are in good, and there’s food on the table then thin’s aren’t too bad.”
Applejack jumped to her hooves. “They lied to me! They lied to all of us! They cost us hours of..!”
“Jacklyn Apple, you sit your tail down this instant,” Granny said, thumping her hoof on the table’s surface. “You’re a grown mare. You should know better than to be throwin’ fits like this, especially in front of guests.”
Nopony moved.
Granny locked eyes with Applejack. “You hear me young’un?”
Applejack slowly sat back down and nodded. “Yes, Granny, I hear you.”
“Good. Now, I want to you listen. You’ve had your feelin’s stung, I can tell. I don’t like that you’re hurtin’, but you need to keep your hat on straight and think about what is important.”
Applejack closed her eyes, sighed, and nodded. “You’re right. No sense makin’ a bigger mess by actin' like a stubborn mule and not workin’ on fixin’ everythin’.”
“That’s my girl.” Granny flinched as she sat back down awkwardly. “I think I’m goin’ to need a little help gettin’ back to bed.”
“I believe I can be of aid.” Luna’s magic wrapped around Granny and gently moved her to a more comfortable position. “I cannot diminish the pangs of age, but this spell should grant you some support as you move.”
“Much obliged.” Still enveloped by Luna’s magic, Granny gingerly made her way towards her bedroom. “The only thing that’s been helping my back here lately is Zecora's concoction. I don’t know what’s in it, and somethin’ tells me I don’t wanna know, but that stuff really does the trick.”
After Granny had made her way to her room and shut the door, Luna turned to Applejack and McIntosh. “Now that your matriarch is absent, I would like to discuss matters with you two.” Without taking her eyes from the Apple siblings, Luna began clearing the table of the dishes with her magic. “There have been wrongs done and those who are responsible should provide restitution for their actions. However, I urge that you consider the totality of the situation before presenting a demand for reparations to Twilight.”
Twilight's mouth fell open. “Me?! I can't act as a judge over my friends!” She took two deep breaths and made an odd gesture with her hoof. After putting her hoof back on the ground and clearing her throat, she said, “Besides, I am one of the wronged parties in all of this and am disqualified from being a judge.” She pointed at Luna. “You should be the one that rules over this. You are the Princess of the Night, and everything occurred during your rule.”
Luna shook her head. “I cannot preside over this matter due to two conflicts. The first being that I too am one of the ponies that has been wronged. The second is that no matter what occurs I am bound to address Horizon's actions due to his being one of my guards, and I am forbidden under the law from deciding civil matters that involve the same events.”
“What about Celestia?” Rarity ventured. “She hasn't been involved in this mess at all.”
Twilight sighed. “She can't get involved in this either. The press would have a field day if she decided a dispute between the Elements. She's just now recovering from the blow to her reputation due to the cake article in the Foal Free Press; she doesn't need another scandal right now.”
McIntosh lightly tapped his hoof on the table, drawing all eyes to him. “There wasn’t any harm done to anypony, so why don’t we just keep this amongst ourselves? There’s no reason to put a mark on either of their records. Far as I reckon, so long as they repay us for the hours we lost everypony should be square with each other.”
Rarity laughed. “Leave it to the gentlecolt to suggest a gentlecolt’s agreement.”
“All right, but there is somethin' that is goin' to make things a little more complicated.” Applejack left the room and returned with a pouch. She poured part of the pouch’s contents onto the table, sending bits rolling across the table. “How do we figure in Fluttershy’s overpayin’ for our apples into how many hours everypony’s due?”
McIntosh grinned. “I can work those numbers. I’ll just get last month’s ledger and figure out a fair rate.”
Twilight beamed at him. “I forgot that you take care of the farm’s accounting.” With a flash of magic, she made the patrol schedule appear on the table, along with a couple of pieces of paper, an inkwell, and a pair of quills. “We should be able figure everything out in no time. I just need to make a checklist of things that we need to take into consideration.”
“Darling, while this all sounds wonderful, aren’t we getting a bit ahead of ourselves?” said Rarity. “We don’t know if Pinkie and Rainbow are going to agree to this. We also don’t know if Fluttershy shifting her body like she has been is doing something horrible to her.”
Twilight nibbled on the feathery tip of her quill. “I was so worked up about the hours problem that I forgot about figuring out what we should do about that.” She put the quill down and rubbed her temples with both of her hooves. “Fluttershy seemed so scared that she was going to lose the ability to change, so I don't really want to take it from her, but what do we do if it is hurting her somehow?”
“Rarity is right, our friend’s voices must be heard.” said Luna. “Fox, go and tell the other Elements that their presence is needed here so that the terms of the agreement can be finalized.”
Fox snapped off a formal salute and left the room in a military style trot.
Twilight, Rarity, and McIntosh resumed figuring out the terms of the agreement.
Applejack’s eyes lingered on the empty doorway long after Fox had gone.
Luna moved to Applejack’s side and sat down. “What troubles you?”
“That’s the most formal and quiet I’ve ever seen him. He didn’t say a word while we ate either.”
“He worries for the fate of his friends.”
Applejack turned and looked up to Luna. “Princess, I was madder than a wet hen earlier, and I’m still a bit sore, but now that I’ve had time to think I’m not sure if we’re fixin’ the problem or just makin’ another one. Fluttershy seemed mighty upset about losin' bein’ able to change, and Horizon’s a stand up stallion. I mean, there are not too many ponies that would put their job and reputation on the line to help another pony they didn't really know.”
Luna’s brow furrowed. “Are you saying that you they should not be brought to task for what they have done?”
Applejack took her hat off and slowly turned in between her hooves. “I’m not sayin’ that.”
“No matter what you and your friends decide shall be the fate of Horizon and Fluttershy, I cannot ignore that he failed in his duties as a Lunar Guard.”
“I understand, but since nopony has gotten into real bad trouble throughout all of this I would hate to see somepony have something bad happen to them right at the end.” Applejack bowed low enough for her mane to lay the floor. “Please, go easy on him.”
The discussions between the others had stopped. As Luna looked to each of the other ponies, they bowed to her as well.
“I assume that you three share Applejack’s thoughts?”
“Yes, we do,” said Twilight.
McIntosh raised his head a little and smiled at Luna.
She returned the smile. “While Horizon cannot go without punishment completely, I will take your thoughts on the matter into consideration when deciding what the proper atonement should be.”
*****
Fluttershy put the shriveled apple down on the table.
“OOOooooo!” Pinkie cheered, as she bounced up and down. “That was neato! Do it again!”
Rainbow crossed her forelegs and leaned back from the table. “So you’re just like you were the last time you turned batty on us, but you have control over yourself?”
“I think so,” Fluttershy said.
“This isn’t doing anything bad to you, is it?”
“I haven’t noticed anything, except for the pointy teeth that I still have when I’m a pony.”
“You sure there’s nothing else going on?” Rainbow pressed.
“I got checked by somepony I trust and who knows about this kind of thing and they said they couldn’t find anything wrong.”
“I take it that you’re not going to tell us who it was?”
Fluttershy looked away and pawed at the floor. “I wasn’t asked to keep who it was secret, but I don’t want them to get into trouble.”
“I can respect that.” Rainbow shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter to me who it was; just that we know you’re all right.”
Apple Bloom took the apple off the table and examined it. “This looks just like what the other fruit bats leave behind, except you leave bigger bite marks. Maybe if you show this to Applejack and promise to give your drained apples to her she won’t be so sore.”
Fluttershy gave her a weak smile. “I hope you’re right, but I think Applejack is really mad at me right now. She might not sell me apples at all now.”
Rainbow snorted. “Nah, you don’t have to worry about that. That would bite into her bottom line for the farm a little too much since you buy for your animals too.”
“Excuse me. Can I ask you something?”
Everypony turned to Sweetie Belle.
She adjusted the collar of her uniform, before asking Fluttershy, “What did you mean when you said that ‘I want to keep this’?”
“I’m worried that after all of this that everypony will decide it would be best if I couldn’t transform anymore.”
Pinkie ran around the table to Fluttershy and hugged her. “Don’t make that face! I can’t stand it to see anypony so sad!”
“They can’t do that!” Scootaloo said. “All that you want to do is help the nighttime animals and be yourself!” She looked to Horizon, “Get her out of here, run!”
Horizon shook his head. “She doesn’t want to run, and I don’t either.”
Fluttershy nodded. “We did the wrong thing and we have to make it right the best we can.”
The cellar doors swung open, causing everypony to pause.
After shutting the doors behind him, moving in disciplined and rigid form, Fox made his way down the stairs.
Rainbow pointed towards the cellar doors. “Well, what’s going on up there?”
“I have been ordered to inform you and Pinkie that you are to join the others so that terms to an agreement between everypony can be drafted.”
Releasing Fluttershy from her hug and putting her hooves back on the ground, Pinkie tilted her head at Fox. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
Fox broke his stoic poise and slumped onto his haunches. “To tell the truth, I don’t know. Nothing is really set right now.”
“Tell us what you do know,” said Horizon.
“Nopony wanted to involve the courts in this, so McIntosh suggested that you and Fluttershy could make up the hours that everypony spent during the patrols.” Fox looked to Fluttershy. “You overpaying for the apples you took is going to reduce the amount of hours that you have to work.”
“That’s great!” Sweetie cheered.
“It’s a good sign, but there is still a lot we don’t know,” Horizon said. “Was there any discussion about Fluttershy’s ability to change?” he asked Fox.
Fluttershy tensed.
“They were just starting to talk about that when I left.” Fox looked over his shoulder at the cellar doors. “Twilight didn’t know what to do about Fluttershy being able to change. She’s concerned that it could be hurting Fluttershy without her knowing it.”
Apple Bloom stomped the floor. “But we know that it doesn’t!”
“Then she has a chance to show that it doesn’t,” Horizon said.
Fox grinned. “You have a plan.”
“I’ve been thinking about one for a while.”
“No surprise here,” Fox said. “Spill it.”
“Twilight will want to study Fluttershy’s ability to change. If Fluttershy offers to allow Twilight to study her as part the agreement it would satisfy Twilight’s curiosity, let her determine that the change is safe, and allow her a rational way to not hurt a friend.”
Rainbow smiled. “Sounds like you’ve got this all figured out. Our egghead will certainly go for something like that.”
“What about Horizon?” Sweetie said.
Fox licked his lips before answering, “He is going to have to pay everypony back for their hours and face judgment by Luna for not fulfilling his duties as a Lunar Guard.”
“What?!” Rainbow’s wings snapped open. “You’ve got to be kidding! If he’s paying us back that should be enough!”
“That’s horrible!” Fluttershy said.
“That’s fine,” said Horizon, in a calm voice.
“Wait, what?!” said Pinkie. “You should be upset, mad, scared, something!”
“Yeah, what gives?” Scootaloo said. “Do you have a plan for that too?”
“I do. I’m going to take responsibility for my actions and accept the punishment for breaking my oath.” Horizon patted his chest with a hoof. “When I put on this armor and became a member of the Lunar Guard, I promised to protect all the ponies of Equestria no matter what the danger to myself.”
“You did that,” Apple Bloom said. “You helped Fluttershy when she needed it.”
“True, and I would do it again in heartbeat, but change a couple of things and what I did might have allowed horrible things to happen. What if the pony that I had let go had not been as kind as Fluttershy and they used that power to hurt others? What if that pony was a nice pony, but the transformation was making them sick without them knowing it and they needed help?”
Apple Bloom looked away glumly. “That does make sense.”
“You did what you thought was right, why should you be punished for it?” said Sweetie.
“What I thought at the time does not matter past a certain point. The real issue is that I chose to do something other than what I should have.”
“Being a Lunar Guard sounds like it’s a lot tougher than I thought it would be,” said Scootaloo . “Why would anypony want to be a part of it if it was going make them go through stuff like this?”
“The Lunar Guard strives to protect ponies when they are their most vulnerable. I liked that idea and decided to dedicate my time, body, and mind to helping the Guard meet that goal. I think I did a pretty good job as a guard and I enjoyed it.”
“You’re talking like you’re not a part of the guard already,” said Rainbow.
“After tonight, I most probably won’t be.” Horizon smiled at Fluttershy. “I wouldn’t change a thing, though. While being a part of the guard was a wonderful experience, I’ve found something that I love a lot more.”
Rainbow made a gagging motion. “When the lovey-dovey stuff starts it’s time for me to leave. Come on Pinkie, we better get going or they’re going to wonder what’s up.” She nodded towards Horizon and Fluttershy. “We'll keep our mouths shut about your plan, you just make it work.”
“We'll do our best,” said Horizon.
“I thought you liked lovey-dovey stuff Dashie,” Pinkie said, following Rainbow up the stairs.
“You know I’m not into that stuff.”
“You and Soarin were looking awfully snuggly on that cloud the other day.”
“We were cooling down after a workout! We’re just training buddies!”
“Do all of your training buddies hold you like that and ki--?”
The cellar doors closing cut off the rest of Pinkie’s question.
“Now all we can do is wait and see what they come up with,” Fox said.
“That's not all we're going to do, we're going to make a plan,” Scootaloo declared with conviction.
“Yeah!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie agreed.
“Girls, it’s nice of you to try to help, but it might be best if you don't do anything,” said Fluttershy.
“We can't just sit here!” said Scootaloo. “Friends help friends when they are in trouble, right?”
“Yes, they do. But you girls don't need to do anything. We got ourselves in trouble and can't ask for anypony else to help.”
“If you get yourself into trouble, that's when you need your friends the most,” Apple Bloom said. “Look what happened with Sis when she tried to harvest all our apples herself. She pushed too hard, made herself sick, messed up a heap of jobs around town, and made everypony worry. After all that, she still needed help from to get the harvest in on time.”
“Applejack was trying to help your family and made a couple of mistakes trying to do the right thing.” Fluttershy looked to her hooves. “We did things for selfish reasons.”
Sweetie Belle shook her head. “Neither of you were selfish. You wanted to help the nighttime animals, and he wanted to help you.”
“You're not going to talk us out of this,” said Scootaloo. “We can come up with some kind of plan.”
“I think at this point I think it might be best if I go and stand guard outside,” Fox said, getting to his hooves.
“No, Fox, you can stay.” Horizon motioned for Fox to sit back down. “We're not going to plot anything.” He turned back to the fillies. “Friends are supposed to help friends when they are in trouble, but friends are supposed to help each not get into trouble in the first place too. Thank you for offering, but we can't accept your help if it means you will get pulled into the mess with us.”
“Girls, he's right.” Fluttershy walked around the table and pulled the three fillies into a hug. “You are very sweet, but this is something that we need to work out with the others ourselves.”
There was a knock on the cellar doors. McIntosh's voice sounded through the wood, “Everythin's been written up.”
“Why don’t you girls stay here for a bit?” Fluttershy said, as she ended the hug. “I know there is not much to do down here, but I would feel better if you did.”
“I’ll stay here with them,” Fox said. He made his way over to the chest at the foot of his bed and opened its lid. “I can show them some of our maps and equipment.”
“Thank you, Fox.” Horizon smiled bravely at Fluttershy. “We need to get going.” He led the way up the stairs, opened the doors for her, passed through the doors himself, and then shut them.
Fox carefully shut the lid back. “Why are you looking so down?”
“We can’t help and we’re stuck here with you,” Scootaloo said, and then flinched. “No offense.”
“None taken, I understand.”
Sweetie Belle looked at Fox’s hoof where it sat on top on the chest. “I thought that you were going to show us some of your stuff.”
“Would you rather me do that, or try to figure out a way to help Horizon and Fluttershy?”
“Help them, duh!” Scootaloo quipped. “But they said they didn’t want us getting into trouble.”
“What if we come up with something that helps them without any of us getting into trouble too?”
Sweetie narrowed her eyes at him. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m on my friends’ side, of course.”
“That doesn’t tell us anythin’!” Apple Bloom pouted.
“I think that Fluttershy and Horizon both made mistakes and should make up for them, but I think the rest of our friends could make as bad of a mistake if they take this payback thing too far.”
Apple Bloom stomped the ground. “It wouldn’t be so bad if Sis hadn’t gone and pitched a right royal fit.”
“Don't be too hard on her. I would be mad too, if two of my friends kept something important from me and made me waste a lot of my time on a snipe hunt.” Fox made a motion as if pushing something from in front of him. “Let's put that aside for right now. What we need to do is focus on how we can help them.” He looked at the three expectantly and waited for nearly a minute. “Well?”
“What do you mean, 'well'?” said Sweetie Belle. “You're the adult. You're supposed to be the one making the plans!”
Fox rubbed the back of his neck. “To be honest, I'm not all that good at this sort of thing. Most of the time I just go with what my gut tells me.”
"That might not be the best idea. We do that all the time and it gets us into nothing but trouble," said Scootaloo.
"Wait a minute," Apple Bloom said. "No pony is goin' to court, right?"
"As far as I know."
"What about Horizon? You think Luna is goin' to give him a hearing of some kind?"
Fox rubbed his chin. "I can't see why not. She's been pretty even hooved so far."
Apple Bloom grinned. "Then I think I have a plan. Can you teach us about Lunar Guard hearing rules really quick?"
Fox smiled back. "I'll do what I can."
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Fox needs an adult.
Ah, a welcome update. Nice to see the fallout happen. Though Applejack was slightly predictable, I'm giving ya points for a sassy Granny Smith. Reminds me of my younger days when my hand got caught in my mum's purse...She gave me a talking I could never forget.
Scoots was a little mean to Fox there at the end...
Thanks for the update, been wondering when it would come up
5539075 I read back over that part, and I see what you mean. I did not intend for Scootaloo to sound like she was being nasty, just that she frustrated. I changed things a bit so that the ending to the chapter does not end on such a sour note.
Thankfully, life is settling down, and I'm getting back into the swing of writing. While good things have happened overall, I was not left with much free time me for a while. I plan to have the next update done by the end of the month and hope to continue to write a much brisker pace.
5538306 Thank you. I could not figure out a way to have Applejack behave too differently without it not fitting with her personality and the situation overall. I am glad that Granny made up for it. I have to admit, I put more than a dash of my grandmother's personality into Granny when I wrote that part. She was something.
5538009 If I were left with the CMC all alone in a cellar, I think I would need an adult too. There is no telling what that trio would do.
I changed the last part of the chapter. Someone pointed out that Scootaloo sounded mean to poor Fox. I reread that part, and agreed with their assessment. Scootaloo coming off mean spirited was not what I was aiming for at all, so I tweaked a couple of things and added a bit of a lead into the next chapter.
5539252 prefer this one, but you said 'Horizon' where it should be Fox at the end
Just trying to help...
5539297 Thank you for catching that! I had Horizon on the brain and so my fingers just put his name there.
You are helping more than you can know. Comments like yours really help my writing. What sounds one way in my head may sound completely different to someone else. I am very glad you gave me the feedback that you did. I did not mean for Scoots to sound snarky to poor Fox at all, but I can very clearly see why you interpreted what I had down as being mean spirited. It needed to be changed, and I think the story flows better with the revisions too.
Thank you so much for your help and for sticking with my story.
Yeah, nice to see you're back updating.
5541366 you're welcome
(ding)
5541386 Sorry for dropping off the grid for a couple of months at at time. It's been a bit of a wild ride here lately. Overall it's been positive, just so overwhelming at times that finding time to write was impossible.
I might start making shorter chapters to post, so that people won't think I'm dead or something of the sort, but where I am in the story governs where I stop more than anything else.
5542575 You do what you think is best. I'm just happy for updates.
Well, then you'd be tired, Horizon would be a bloody mess, and this situation wouldn't really be improved at all. So really, it's lose-lose.
He engaged in a long, complex, and convoluted series of deceptions that involved pretending to search for and guard against a creature whose whereabouts he knew the entire time. The fact that he never, technically, told Applejack a direct falsehood is a pretty flimsy defense.
But she isn't all that bothered by one of her guards doing the same thing, it seems.
And ACCOUNTING saves the day! Boo-yah! (Elbow pump)
Well, less "failed" and more "directly and willfully rejected".
I think that is exactly what they're afraid of, girls. Seriously, they're NOT in that much trouble.
Phew! Crisis averted. If they're worried about making Flutters and Horizon pay for everypony's wasted time, they'd definitely have to pick up the bill for whatever damage the CMC did while trying to help.
Except that's pretty much what happened, and Fox was actually really cool about it. To the point of assisting the cover-up.
5572968 I was wondering how you were going to take that part of the story. While there will be no floggings, or things of that nature, I assure you there will be consequences for both Fluttershy and Horizon.
One of the things that will be discussed is how badly Horizon screwed up by not telling about Fluttershy, and how much of a betrayal Fluttershy not telling her friends was. Horizon is going to get blasted pretty hard by Luna, I can assure you of that. That Horizon shirking his duty is going to be a key reason that his penalty is going to be so much higher than Fluttershy's. Fluttershy is not going to have a good time of it either, but she will not face the level of consequences that Horizon will.