//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Only One Speck of Dust // by TheMareWhoSaysNi //------------------------------// Soarin would probably be mad at him for not coming with him, not even taking a bit of his time to introduce him to Rainbow Dash. Years ago, when Caramel had arrived in the Great Guts Region, the midnight-blue maned pegasus had welcomed him and helped him to get integrated among the other recruits of the initiation camp. Thanks to him, he never had to have a single lunch on his own, not a training session without some pony to help him and not even one nightly jaunt roaming the city and painting the town red without friends to share the experience with. Both had kept in touch since then, sending each other letters on a regular basis, sometimes only to talk about mares, weather or the latest fighting techniques they had learned. It did not matter as long as they sustained a correspondence. He wanted to stay and to cheer up on him, he really did… But the rule said that the Warrior Test had to be taking place as a one-on-one between the Aspirant and the Militia’s Head and nopony else. It was like that. Even the fact that he was Rainbow Dash’s friend would not change anything about it. Caramel giggled in a whisper. Maybe he could be lying to his friend but he could not lie to himself. Even if this rule had never existed, he would not have stayed. Not tonight. Applejack had given him a rendezvous here in the assembly room. He had the feeling that this was not a trifling rendezvous. It was not in order to speak about tonight’s night watch or even about tomorrow’s one. It was all about something else, he could bet on it. He knocked three times and hearing no answer, he entered in by pushing the door. There was no light. At first glance, the room looked empty. Caramel's heart crumbled from deception, until he looked up and had a glimpse at the mare of his dreams, sitting on the sill of a large window that was wide opened. Reluctantly, he suppressed a chill. Even warmly wrapped up, this cooling air that came and licked your coat was hard to endure without batting an eye. Applejack was staring at the stars, oblivious of any kind of presence in the room. He knew who she was thinking about when she was behaving this way. Her father, Longreen Woodrow. Unlike Big Macintosh, she had never known him, not even a little. Although she grew up in a loving blood and substitute family, there were some kind of furrow in her soul, an empty space impossible to fulfill… Caramel sighed. It was as if this single whisper had been a thunderclap in a quiet sky. Applejack felt herself going back among the living. She breathed deeply again. The cold was dry and the wind whipped her muzzle yet she liked this weather that she found invigorating. She turned around and saw Caramel, muffled in his Militia’s red cloak, his steel blue eyes staring at her from the other side of the long table where they all sat down during the assemblies. “Hi, you”, she said with a weak smile. “’Tis good yar right on time.” He noticed then that she did not wear her usual hat. It remained on the table between them, back to front. This hat came from her father and was not designed for weather like the one in Ponyville, yet she would not give it away for anything in Equestria, and she rarely parted from it. If she had left it tonight in order to look at the stars in the sky, Caramel would have bet on it – again – it was for a very particular reason. Applejack stood back up and the earth-colored stallion gasped. Now she was unstable on the window’s sill. It was not that high, of course, but a bad fall never was welcome, especially when the night watch was about to begin. Not without some kind of dexterity, she dangerously spun round and jumped on the table in front of her. Caramel always saw these kind of eccentricities with Pinkie Pie. Applejack never behaved this way. Not because she did not like to laugh and to have fun, but because she did the right thing at the right time. When seriousness was required, serious she was. Her hooves cracked against the wood then with an additional jump, she arrived by his side. She was maller than Rainbow Dash who already was not really tall, somehow, she did not look tiny when beside Caramel. The stallion was not like her big brother Big Macintosh who inspired respect and awe with his height. At first sight, he was not scary. Sometimes she even thought he looked rather silly. Oh well. She had made her choice. “What did you want to tell me about?”, he asked as soon as her hooves touched the floor. “Shall I sit down?” “Don’t think that’ll be necessary, sugar cube.” There was nothing really intimate with the nickname. Applejack gave it to almost anypony. He had heard her say it a thousand times before to any kind of ponies. He wished this nickname could sound differently tonight. It obviously was a deception to notice that it was not being the case. Maybe he got carried away for nothing in the end. “Ah been thinkin’ a lot when I did my pilgrimage.” “You’ve been thinking…” “Eeyup. That’s what Ah said. Ah been thinkin’ bout many things and among the many things there were ya and me.” His heart quivered. With just one sentence, she had been able to reverse the trend. This could not be just a trite conversation between two foalhood friends, and there was no doubt he did not get carried away for nothing. There it was, within his reach. The moment he never dared dreaming about although he dreamed about it all the time. “Me and you? I mean… You and me.” She put a hoof against his lips, her eyes low as if she was embarrassed. Applejack embarrassed was a rare thing. A gorgeous rare thing, in Caramel’s opinion. “Shut up or we’ll never go through dis.” “I’m quiet.” This time, she looked up, frowning. “I promise”, he affirmed with a solemn voice. “Ah been thinkin’ and so… Have to stop lyin’ to mahself. And Ah think ya should do it so. Sure yar rather silly and am rather uncouth, not the lady kind with the perfect shining mane but Ah think ya and me could be… not so bad.” Caramel felt like laughing and erupting with joy at the same time. Laughing because this was laughable, without a doubt. One of the worst declaration of love of all Equestria. Erupting with joy because what he had believed and hoped for was now a reality. It was actually happening to him. After all those years. However, when he noticed that if her eyes were staring at the floor, it was to conceal tears of her own, both his desires were stopped in their tracks. Why was she feeling sad? She should had been happy, for this day was wonderful. It could not be from the emotion of her confession – the clumsiest confession ever, admittedly, but it was the thought that counted. Applejack was not the sentimental type, no more than Rainbow Dash, though they both possessed a part of sensitiveness they were good at concealing. He put a hoof under her muzzle and pulled her face up. The tears in her eyes were quiet and understated, far from the flood of some nights… At first, it was hard for her to look into his eyes then she gave in. A weak smile appeared. It was shaky and not assertive yet it was a smile. “Don’t worry, AJ… I’m sure he’s very proud of you from the Cloth.” “D’ya really think so?”, she asked in a quaking voice. “Sure I do. Frankly, who wouldn’t be proud of a daughter such as you?” “Now ya mention it…” He knew there would never be other tears from her tonight. Not from him, either. Conversely, his joy was enormous, it made him want to gallop across the fields while screaming from happiness. He just could not since the city needed them. All of them. Lives would be risked tonight. Maybe some would even be taken. Destitution never afforded to rest, not even to those who finally could breathe bliss in. To seal the deal and because there was nothing left to say, he leaned over – not that much – and put his lips against those of the mare in front of him. She accepted his kiss and answered it immediately, a hoof against his neck. The chilling air of the wind no longer existed. Instead, the sun probably was shining at the most since they both felt warmed up from inside, like in front of a fire in a fireplace. With butterflies in their stomachs in addition. ------------------------- “Daddy… I’d like to believe in it so much. This beautiful world we’re promised if we do everything the right way. This world with no tears, no fears, no blood shed for pleasure, for money or to make sure the debts are paid… Sometimes I could almost lose faith. I’m holding onto branches, meanwhile. I don’t know what I’m waiting for yet I’m waiting anyway. The answer will eventually be on my way if I keep on believing, won’t it?” ---------------------------- The fact that this castle had been built away from prying eyes, at the rim of Ponyville where The Militia rarely ventured, convinced that nothing dangerous would shape from here, he had to admit it – it was one of the advantages of this performance. To be obliged to live concealed from any eyes, him. The True King, the one in front of who they all should be creeping. Here was the deepest humiliation ever. To be boiled down to live in these damp basements, begging food to whom were supposed to be his subjects. It had been long enough. His time would come. No pony suspected what was about to be prepared, sheltered from distrust, protected by the respectable name of Ponyville’s wealthiest family. Their surprise would be especially poisonous for the others yet delightful for him. The purple unicorn in front of him lowered her only visible eye, of the same color than her fur. She always sported this red coat that could be mistaken with The Militia’s cloaks. It was just perfect. Of course, he knew she did not believe in his cause. The reason why she had agreed to come here was something more personal. So be it. It was much of a muchness. She was an essential pawn in his plan. She was the one with whom everything would begin. He wanted her not to have the choice, anyway. It was agreeing or paying the price of her life. If it all had happened in the past, too honorable, she would have chosen death. Of this he was sure. Today things were rather different. Lucky himself. Just a little bit of patience and he would be able to be in plain sight again. And to take his revenge.