For the next four hours, Skalos put Ray through rigorous training, in the form of teaching him two different grips for his spear, and having him jab it into a straw figure repeatedly, until his hands were sore and burning. Despite the simplicity of the actual action, there was much more complexity to the performance of the skill. There was no break in between the jabbing and gripping, and in spite of his relative endurance, Ray found himself tired with his whole body. There were blisters forming on his fingers and palms by the time Skalos let him off to eat lunch.
“You’re free to go now, lordling,” the Fallen suddenly stated, causing Ray to double take on his thrust. “You do have a job here, I believe, and we don’t want to overwork your hands at this moment. Those forming blisters are large enough as is. Try to find some moleskin to put on those, and if you can’t find any, wrap it in aloe and grass juices.”
“Is this freedom real,” Ray joked in a wistful tone, looking to the sky.
“No,” Skalos declined with the slightest hint of amusement in his voice. “This is freeing you to a slightly better step of Tartarus.”
“Home sweet home,” Ray muttered, audible enough that he knew his instructor would hear. A slight smile brushed his face as Ray carefully set his weapon aside, using the opportunity to stretch out his aching arms. Thanks for the advice.”
From the exercise he’d done yesterday, holding the heavy spear, combined with today’s more active practice with thrust and gripping, his arms were burning furiously. Despite this, he found himself smiling. Sometimes he forgot how good it felt to be working, the stress of life temporarily evaporated by the freedom of physical workout. There was a great sense of accomplishment to the day, as despite his many screw ups and nearly skewering his own foot, he’d learned.
Or at least, he’d bettered his use, though he was still confused by the more conceptive theories and tradition behind Skalos’ instructions. There was also a great deal of confusion on how the pony knew how to instruct a bipedal on the art of the spear. Otolo had vanished sometime during the whole training session, leaving Ray to wonder exactly where the bird was located now. Ray chuckled to himself softly, realizing that already he was beginning to mentally sound like, and most likely think, like his Fallen instructor. It didn’t matter, however, seeing as the instructions felt right, but maybe Ray was just being too oblivious to feel anything wrong. The only weapon he’d wielded before was…
“A knife,” he finished solemnly as he started stretching his other arm. Ray saw Skalos glance at him, most likely having caught the statement with his uncanny hearing. Instead of letting the dark thought drag him down, he instantly focused on the first bright spot that popped into his mind. Troublingly enough, though, an image of Fluttershy entered his head, followed closely by a flashing image of Discord. “Game on, my good man. Game on.”
Ray shook his head, finishing his stretching out by folding over, gripping his toes through the sneakers the draconequus had given him. The motion stretched out his calves and biceps, graciously easing the tension and burning in them. Standing back straight up, Ray found himself alone beside the lake, Skalos having vanished completely, the straw dummy with him. The only sign of their presence here, had someone looked, was the dried bits of straw scattered on the ground, and even that was sparse.
Taking his leave, Ray began walking up the hillside, trying to use the incline to warm his legs up. Schools had kept him in a stiff stance, his legs ninety degree angles, standing on only the balls of his feet. It had stretched out his legs, and now he needed to get the blood flowing again. He sighed in relief as his legs went from feeling like planks of wood to a sort of eased up Jello.
Luxuriously climbing up the hill, he began hearing the sounds of farm work. Already, it felt calming and somewhat memorable, if not nostalgic. The sound of hooves striking the wood, the heavy panting of hard work, all the sounds of work. Kind of strange, though, considering that, quite clearly, he could tell the source of it was Apple Bloom. Perhaps she was attempting to work some of the frustration or stress from yesterday out? Or maybe she was just being punished by having to work harder. Either seemed logical, so when Ray crested the hill and into the first line of trees, he was caught completely off guard by the truth.
Pressing each other against the tree immediately in front of Ray, Apple Bloom and the colt from before were unabashedly making out. Ray stared with wide eyes, and only a slightly gawking mouth, at the sight of the two younger ponies. Apple Bloom seemed to have taken lead, her hooves pressed, and occasionally stomping, on the trunk, her head leaning down so her mouth could connect with the colt’s. Both of their eyes were screwed shut, the only thing they seemed bothered with was controlling their partner’s mouth. Their kissing was hungry, even lustful, but funnily enough, they kept the entire exchange rather calm.
They moved in tandem with each other, their heads rocking back and forth, the colt’s orange forelegs wrapped around Apple Bloom’s head, stroking her strawberry mane lovingly. One of Apple Bloom’s hooves sporadically left the trunk, stroking his own jawline gently. The both of them seemed so peaceful, and despite the hunger in their kissing, there was control, the movements speedy, but not sloppy. Ray covered his mouth to keep from chortling too loudly upon realizing just how brazen the move was.
Ray had mistook the panting and knocking as working, and seeing their surroundings, he could tell that Apple Bloom had set it up to look like she was working. A passing glance from the right angle would make it look like she was merely resting, and obviously the whole ordeal sounded like she was working. The little filly had somehow set it all up to make out with her colt while simultaneously reducing the chance of being caught.
At the same time however, Ray saw all of the little flaws in her plan. Anyone on this side of the orchard would see it, and someone coming from the barnhouse to where they were would see. Besides climbing the tree, which Ray doubted the colt could do quickly, let alone quietly, there was no hiding place. And despite all of Apple Bloom’s precautions, she’d been caught in the act. Or more, in the act of making out.
It brought up a question for Ray, though. At what point did he intervene with the two’s passion? Probably now that he’d caught the two of them making out, he decided, slowly approaching the two of them. They didn’t even unconsciously notice him, and Ray had to restrain his laughter once again. Was he a bad older sibling for this? Ah screw it, this was too funny for him, and too adorable for them. It wasn't often that he saw foot tall, multicolor teen horses making out.
He continued to walk towards them until he practically stepped on Apple Bloom’s tail. Holding down a smirk, he coughed gruffly, trying to look as serious as he could. The two’s faces shot appart, looking at him with fearful, panicked eyes as they realized they’d been caught. They struggled to separate, the young colt stumbling as he tried to stand up to run away, Apple Bloom tripping slightly over her tail. The colt attempted to take off, but Ray’s arm shot out, miraculously catching his purple tail as he began to speed away from the condemning scene. The motion caused the colt to fall flat on his face, the sudden jerk of being stopped mid stride making him lose his footing.
Apple Bloom’s eyes shot between her colt and Ray, panicked eyes pinpricks of gilded red as she beheld the situation. There were tears already there, threatening to crumble Ray’s amusement at the whole ordeal. Looking down, he saw that similarly, the colt was staring up at Ray with an almost defeated gaze. He seemed to have accepted that he was caught, and was probably considering that the much taller human would eat him.
Slowly, Ray’s grim expression faded away into a soft smile. He let go of the colt’s tail and reached out instead for his hoof to help him stand back up. The smaller pony gave Ray a confused gape, slowly accepting the hand and standing up cautiously. His eyes darted to Apple Bloom as if to ask what was happening, but she seemed just as perplexed with Ray’s notion. The human stepped back, and with a slow sigh to keep himself from bursting into hysterical laughter. The three stared at each other for a long moment in solemn silence as Ray contemplated how exactly to take the situation.
“Tender Taps, is it,” Ray asked, remembering the colt’s name from the evening before, catching the colt by surprise.
“Ye-yes,” Tender Taps answered unsurely with another glance at Apple Bloom. Clearing his throat, he began to try to amend his position. “I know Applejack told me to never enter the farm again, and I know you were there too, but please, don’t kill me. I just wanted to see Apple Bloom again, to-”
“Kiss her,” Ray finished with a raised eyebrow. Both of the ponies blushed, looking away from him and each other and at the ground. Ray let himself chuckle a little, showing them slightly how amusing the situation was to him. The two looked up at him hopefully, as if that laugh had saved their lives. Probably did, come to think of it, he contemplated.
“Well, um, yes,” Tender Taps answered boldly, daring to look over to Apple Bloom. Then, almost brazenly, he smiled dreamily, and without glancing at Ray, he exclaimed, “And sneak onto the farm to do it again!”
“Aw,” Apple Bloom gushed, reaching out and taking one of Tender’s hooves, speaking for the first time.
Ray rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “You two would be dead if Applejack were around.” The statement seemed to wake the both of them up from their starstruck obliviousness, sending them back to the reality of their actions. They held each other’s hooves, though, even as their gazes turned back to the ground shamefully.
“Are ya gonna tell Applejack,” Apple Bloom asked, being the first to brave eye contact with him.
“I should,” Ray started, making them both cringe, “but I’m not going to.” Two sets of wide, curious, thankful eyes glanced up at him, and he stared back at the amethyst and gilded red with an equal measure of understanding and patience. “I can see that the two of you are, at the very least, good for each other. You’re going to want that with the both of you getting older and life becoming more challenging. A shoulder to lean on is one of the best foundations you can create for each other, as friends or as a couple, and I’m not gonna disrupt that.”
“Thank you,” Apple Bloom meekly responded, reaching forward and wrapping a hoof around his leg. Ray kelt down to take the embrace, smiling softly into the little filly’s strawberry red mane, enjoying the occasion. He regretted not hugging his human siblings as much, but he would make it up with his second chance at being a family member. Squeezing her slightly, he pulled away with an almost proud smile. Looking over to Tender, he knew he needed to have the infamous “intentions” discussion with the colt.
Patting Apple Bloom on the head, he stood up. “Go back to the farm and make yourself seen and heard,” he instructed his sister, glancing in the direction of the Apple’s house. “I don’t know how long you’ve been without being seen, but it’s basically lunchtime by my watch, so you’re lucky I found you two and not Applejack or Big Mac. save some lunch for me, if you can. I’ll be eating with you guys today, but I need to make sure Tender gets out of here without being skinned alive.”
Ray didn’t know that ponies could pale until Tender did at his statement, dourly reminded of the circumstance. Before Ray could say anything to encourage the fearful looking colt, Apple Bloom hopped on her hind legs and pulled his head down a little, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. It was a strange feeling, her slightly rubbery, wet lips pressing against his bare skin, but Ray appreciated the sentiment.
“Yer the best non pony older brother I could ever hope fer,” she exclaimed with no small amount of relief and exasperation as she went running off. Ray smiled at her fleeing the scene, responding teasingly, “You aren’t so bad either kid!”
Losing sight of her in the trees, he turned back to the colt in front of him. Tender was still staring wistfully in the direction the red filly had gone, a dopey smile on his face. Jeez, this kid had been hit hard with the love hammer, Ray noted humorously. Tender seemed to realize he’d been staring dreamily at a tree for way too long, blushing and glancing to ground when he caught Ray’s eye. There was a brief moment between the two of them filled with contemplative silence before Ray gestured casually for the orange colt to follow him.
“Thanks for not telling Apple Bloom’s sister,” the younger boy muttered. Ray glanced back at him with a smirk, to which the colt seemed to feel he needed to defend himself. “I mean, it’s scary when your marefriend’s older sister threatens you with your life, but when she’s one of the Elements! Celestia forbid I cross her path again, I might just drop dead from fright.” There was another bout of silence between them until the colt asked, “You’re not mad, are you. I mean, I know you're the weird creature thing that half of the town is confused about, and that Apple Bloom adopted you as her brother. So, you aren’t mad at me for, well…”
“Making out with my sister,” Ray once again finished for him.
Tender Taps sputtered slightly at the finishing statement before taking a deep breath, braving himself for what the human might answer.
“Not particularly,” Ray answered, casually strolling along the path that Skalos had shown him only that morning. He needed practice memorizing the pathing, and this was a good opportunity to use. “To be frank,” he continued, “I was more amused by it all than anything else. I mean, I walk up the hill, hearing what sounds like hard work, only to find my tweenage pony sister making out with the same colt from last night. It was a strange sight, to be sure, but it was still funny. You two were really distracted by each other,” he mentioned with a quirked glance back at Tender.
The orange colt chuckled nervously, answering, “Yeah, we were…”
“So how was it,” Ray asked.
“It was amazing,” Tender bursted, before cringing and glancing away in embarrassment. “I don’t think you could pretend I didn’t answer that so quickly, could you?”
“Not anymore than I could pretend I couldn’t see you enjoying it so much,” Ray shot back.
“Fair enough,” the colt muttered in defeat. After a moment, he continued, “it’s possibly the greatest thing I've ever felt, better than sleep after a hard recital or ice cream on the hottest day. It felt like I was truly with her, that she was mine, and that I was her’s, and that we were nopony else’s. And there’s the more... private… bits of it to be enjoyed.”
Ray raised his eyebrow without looking back, stating, “I’ll have to try it some time.”
“Wait, you’ve never kissed somepony before,” Tender asked in sheer confusion.
Ray glanced back with a slight glare. “Hey, I was on your side, kid. Don’t turn that around.”
“Right right, sorry.”
Silence once again permeated the air, but this time, Ray was too immersed within his own internal conflict to notice. He hadn’t ever kissed anyone before, pony or human. That wasn’t a bad thing, considering he was only going on fifteen, but still, he felt so much older, more than usual. He felt like he knew his life was ending, as now that reality was solidifying, the fact that he was here, he was fighting in a war, and that the chance he would ever have at being happy with anybody would be taken with the war. There was little he felt he could do other than watch the time slip away, the noose of war closing around his throat.
He had chances with Fluttershy, both the mare and pretty much everyone else had made that known to him, but there was also more to it than that. Kissing someone wasn’t that important to him, but it was the context behind it. Kissing someone, really liking someone and having them like him enough back to kiss him, meant that now he had become something more. He’d become someone who had the love of a person, or well, pony, to drive him on, to increase his fighting to the best he could personally be.
It also showed his still relative youth. It was a coming-of-age sort of thing, sure, but coming of age just meant he was older, but still young. If he skipped out on that, was he even a real sentience of concern. He couldn’t be soulless in fighting, and he couldn’t be too friendly with it either. But when did having heart and emotion play into either of those, feed either of the two wolves too much? Darned ponies, why did they have to bring this up for him, even with their own livelihood?
Trudging across the dry dirt path along the crest of a small bluff obscured by apple trees, they continued on, each seemingly lost to their own thoughts until Tender Taps quietly asked genuinely, “Why are you here?”
Ray looked behind him for a brief second, glancing at the orange coated colt, with a slightly raised eyebrow. Now how to answer that. Same way as before, he presumed. “I got lost,” he lied. “My people live far away to the east, in a large archipelago. I was learning to sail a trireme with a few of my clanmates, but a storm blew our sails awry and we drifted across the sea to here. The rest… died. I lived off of crabs after crashing. I healed my wounds, and crossed the forest I saw. I stumbled onto the Elements, and Twilight charged them with helping me adjust to Equestria.”
Tender scrunched up his snout, exclaiming, “That’s a lie! If you really were from another place, it’d have to be in the east. The west has too many hippogriff scouts patrolling it. They would’ve found your civilization a long time ago. Besides, if you really were a completely unheard of species, Princess Twilight and all the other unicorns in Canterlot would have snacthed you up for experimenting and seeing what you were. There’s no way that she’d let you go if she didn’t know anything about you to start with.”
This caught Ray off-guard. He didn’t realize how much the common, much less younger, ponies knew about their own world and Princess, nor would they find the continuity errors in his story. After a brief pause, Tender continued, almost embarrassed, “I also heard you behind the hill, well, before Apple Bloom and I…”
“Started making out,” Ray found himself once again finishing, unamused.
“Yes,” Tender responded rather drably, seeing through his guise of distraction. “Anyways, I could hear somepony and you exchanging words. The other one spoke loudly, like he was yelling at you or something.” The young colt stopped altogether and gave him a suspicious glare. “So what are you doing behind the Apples’ farm?”
Giving Tender a hard stare, he finally answered, “Something you wouldn’t understand.”
Ray turned briskly, attempting to cut off any further comment with finality, but Tender wasn’t about to be silenced, as he cried out, “If it’s anything to do with that spear Apple Bloom saw you with yesterday, then I need to know why you’re here. Princess Twilight wouldn’t need somepony that’s not a pony unless they could do something that a pony, dragon, hippogriff, or Celestia knows what else in this world couldn’t. So what’s going on?”
“Like I said,” Ray shot harshly, “you wouldn’t understand!”
“But why not?”
“Because even your Princess doesn’t understand,” Ray huffed. They had stopped right where the trail veered off into the edge of the Everfree, and seeing so, he pointed to the brush covered trail. “Follow that trail home, kid.”
Tender’s eyes widened at the prospect of entering the haunting forest, seeming to temporarily forget their argument. Glancing back and forth between the human and the trees, the orange colt asked, “Are you trying to get me killed? Nopony goes in there without some sort of protection. Too many Timberwolves!”
“Relax,” Ray assured, not completely able to rid his voice of hardness. “It follows the very edge of the forest. You’ll be able to look out well enough to see where you’re going, but not be able to be seen leaving here. The critters won’t come near here. They don’t want to come across you anymore than you do. You’ll be fine if you stick to the trail.”
Ray turned sharply to leave, but Tender quickly called out, “Wait.”
The human stopped and looked over his shoulder at the colt, preparing for another short lecture, but instead found him kicking the dirt with chagrin. Meeting Ray’s gaze, he muttered, “Thanks for covering my flank today. Sorry I was so nosy. You’re business is your’s, and mine’s mine.”
Attempting to break the ice a little, Ray cracked a wry grin and asked, “You’re not just saying that so you can get another freebee with my sister, are you?”
Instead of blushing, Tender laughed and clipped, “Maybe.” The two of them shared a short laugh before the younger colt took his leave, trudging away through the shadows of the forest. Ray watched him go for a moment before he too walked off, towards the farmhouse. Hopping the small wooden fence that served as the only barrier between the acres of apple trees and the wild growth of the Everfree, he began to hum softly to himself a nameless but familiar tune.
As he walked, he found his thoughts drifting trivially, stretching his arms as he did so. They ached from the labor he’d put them through, and despite his continued stretching, he knew they wouldn’t loosen up for at least the next couple days. There was a strange sensation on his arms, though. A sort of good warmth to them, tingling up and down his arms, legs, and abdomen, as if they’d just been reawoken from a sort of slumber. Besides the inner warmth, he could feel the remaining glow of the sun on his skin, and surprisingly enough, instead of them being red, they were slightly tanned, a light shade of coffee brown.
Smiling at the fact that he wouldn’t have to deal with an irritating burn, he came to the main gate that separated home from trees. He followed it until he found the main entrance of the homestead, seeing that the other Apples had already set up a picnic in front of their home. Ducking under the gateway, he accepted the verbal greetings of Applejack and Sugar Belle, sitting down between Apple Bloom and Big Mac, where the two had left an exceptionally large gap, and a plate filled with more food than the latter’s.
“Glad ya finally joined us, Ray,” Sugar Belle stated, her head resting slightly against her husband's broad shoulder. “I made some sandwiches today. Nothing fancy, just some peanut butter and grape jelly.”
“Darned traitor,” Apple Bloom muttered through her teeth as her plastic knife broke from the force she was putting into it. She glanced at him as she said so, some slight fright in her eyes, as if he was worried he was going to blurt out what he’d found her and Tender Taps doing. “Howdy, bro.”
“Howdy,” he responded in kind, taking a sandwich and biting off nearly half of it at once. The bread slices the ponies used were, much like most everything else here, smaller than on Earth, and as such, he weighed down the idea of taking an entire sandwich at once. They tasted good, the white bread soft and warm, the jelly sweet and the peanut butter smooth, but there weren't any beverages out. Ray was about to ask if someone could get them, but another idea got into his head.
“Hey Apple Bloom, could you show me where the beverages are,” Ray asked, trying to keep anything but curiosity out of his voice. The red maned filly jumped at his voice and the direct mention of her name, dropping the broken plastic knife out of her mouth.
“Uh-huh, sure,” she exclaimed quickly, catching the other three ponies by surprise with her suddenness.
“Oh no,” Sugar Belle exclaimed with dismay, sitting upright. “I’m sorry, I forgot. I left some strawberry lemonade in the kitchen. Must’ve forgotten it while trying to carry out the sandwiches and plates. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Ray assured, standing up with his younger sister. “I was just a bit thirsty. Applejack’s been having us work hard, right Apple Bloom?”
“Yeah,” the youngest Apple agreed without hesitation, hiding her slight panic surprisingly well. “Harvest season’s on th’ corner, and it ain’t gonna wait on us.” Ambidly, she turned and trotted into the house, Ray trailing behind. He had to duck through the doorway, and the ceiling inside was low enough that he crouched slightly in response to it.
Once the door had shut behind them, Apple Bloom turned on her heel and hissed sharply, “What th’ hay was all of that?”
“Teasing,” Ray responded, looking around the inside of the little house. The wooden planks that built up the house were hidden by a cream colored wallpaper. The floorboards were still wood, and despite the age of the building, it looked like they were quite new. A soft rug covered the floor slightly, though there were mud spots and some stains in it proving it was much older than its fresh appearance first impressed. There was an old, worn rocking chair in one of the corners, and another, newer cushioned single seater in the other corner. Overall, it was homy, and Ray loved it.
Apple Bloom half-heartedly kicked him in the shin, though the rough chitin of her hooves hurt more than he let on. She walked into one of the two rooms this one led to, which was evidently the kitchen, with its stove and oven. There was a wooden table in the middle of it, already set for four, though it didn’t look like it had been used for a while. Strange.
On one of the counters by the stove, a pitcher barely to scale with the ones at Ray’s old home, filled with a crystalline pink fluid, ice floating in it. Five glasses were stacked beside it, but instead of grabbing either of the items, Apple Bloom planted herself into a sitting position, cocking her head as she asked, “So are ya gonna spit out what ya wanna say, or can I?”
“Be my guest,” Ray stated with a slight gesture while sitting down in front of her, noting the irony in the statement.
Apple Bloom bit her lip and asked, “I’m gonna ask ya a very important question, and I want ya ta answer me honestly, no matter what th’ truth is. Promise that ya will.”
“Okay, I promise,” Ray said without thought.
“No,” Apple Bloom denied harshly. “I need ya ta Pinkie Promise.”
“Um,” Ray stuttered, giving her an estranged look. “I don’t know what that is.”
“Here,” the filly instructed, lifting his hand with one of her hooves. “Repeat after me: Cross my heart-”
As she said that, she crossed his hand across his heart.
“Cross my heart,” he repeated.
“Hope ta fly.” She raised his hand up.
“Hope to fly.”
“Stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Stick a cup- Ow!”
She pushed his hand into his eye with a slight vengeance. Pulling his hand away, he blinked harshly, trying to make the slight stinging dissipate. This pony was rather viscous, he noted sourly as Apple Bloom giggled slightly, but stopped after a second, returning to the solemnity of before.
“Alright, thanks,” she muttered, before taking a deep breath and asking, “Why were ya holdin’ a spear yesterday, and why were ya practicin’ stabbin’ things with it today? Furthermore, why were ya doin’ so with a ghost? And why are ya makin’ my sister lie about it too?”
Ray felt himself go pale. Quietly, he questioned, “How do you know about that.”
“Don’t dodge my question,” she exploded furiously. “Ya said that ya wouldn’t!”
“I’m not dodging your question,” he explained, cautiously putting his hand on her shoulder in an assuring manner. “I just want to know how so I can explain exactly what you think you saw.”
“Fine, but ya Pinkie Promised,” Apple Bloom reminded. “Ya break that promise, an’ she’s gonna make ya regret it fer the rest of yer life.” Taking another moment to inhale, she began. “Yesterday, I came ta get ya for lunch, but I saw ya talkin’ to that bird friend of yours, and holdin’ this big ol’ metal thing. I got a closer look, an’ I could see that it was some sort a’ spear. At first, I thought I was just bein’ crazy, but then this mornin’ while I was waitin’ for Tender, I heard ya from behind the hill. I checked an’ saw that ya were down there, working away with that same spear! Tender came and saw it too, an’ said we should probably do something, but we couldn’t.
“I’d told him about ya earlier, and about how you’d come to Equestria, and he said that was all a bunch of lies. Told me that there wasn’t any way that ya could a’ come from islands out there. Too many hippogriffs, and it’s too far away for a singular boat to come all th’ way to the coast. He said we probably should wait to see if you’d explain the whole thing ta us, or at least, the family, but after seein’ ya practicin’ with that ghost character, we figured we should tell Applejack and Mac.”
“Wait, Tender and you watched me,” Ray questioned.
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom answered like it was obvious, clearly confused by the question. Ray, however, wasn’t focused on his sister. Instead he was considering the fact that he’d been befuddled by the younger colt. Tender had withheld information, for some reason, and Ray knew it was because he was being tested. And that he’d failed that test massively. He’d lied, then become defensive and threatening. That was probably one of the less wise things he could’ve done, but alas, it was what had happened.
Grimacing, Ray muttered another question. “Well, what do you think I’m doing? Why do you think I’m here, and how do you think I came here? ‘Cause I’m almost positive you have no idea.”
“I don’t,” Apple Bloom confirmed, doubtfully biting her lip. “And I’m not sure I wanna know. I mean, there’s gotta be a good reason yer hidin’ it from us, right? So maybe it’s somethin’ we don’t wanna know, or worse, somethin’ you don’t want us ta know.”
“So why confront me,” Ray began, “unless you want to know the answers to those questions.”
The red maned filly nodded her head in silent affirmation, her little red bow bouncing with the movement. Ray reached out and patted her head gently, running his hand through her mane lovingly, a soft smile sneaking across his face, despite how grim the truth she wanted was. She seemed equally thankful and confused by the movement, giving him a look of unrestrained admiration and love, and of course, befuddlement.
Ray stood slowly, reaching out and grabbing the pitcher and cups at the same time. “I’ll tell you later. Offer to walk home with me, and I’ll tell you then. For now, we’ve been in here too long. Let’s go back to lunch.” Apple Bloom looked dismayed at the apparent brush off, but Ray quickly added, “Pinkie Promise.”
“Don’t abuse that,” his little sister warned with a quick smile, picking herself up and walking out of the kitchen with him.
They left the house smiling, immediately greeted by the sound of all three of the adults laughing. They sat down at the same spots as before, and enjoyed the rest of the lunch leisurely. Ray ended up drinking a good half of the pitcher, and eating six sandwiches to sate his body’s much larger appetite. It was only after his last sandwich that he recognized the telltale signs of a growth spurt. It was strange to think that he could become any larger, but reminded himself that he was still only fourteen here, and his body barely met the height requirement for it at five six.
After the lunch, Applejack gave him a real assignment, that of collecting broken branches off of trees in the sectioned off space of trees closest to the farmhouse. He did so happily, finding himself pleasantly alone for several hours as he worked in relative silence.
He found it rather relaxing in general, after the subtle stress of training with Skalos, and the work itself helped to ease the aching in his arms. There was also a certain grotesque satisfaction in snapping off the decayed and dead branches, as if the snap itself marked a success. There was very little Ray focused on as he worked, other than formulating a sort of rhythm to his work. Snap, pull, crunch. Snap, pull crunch. Over and over, until the sun was setting. He smiled at the orange tinted sky, seeing the encroaching darkness from the east and welcoming the cold of night.
Ray hadn’t even had the time to begin to walk back to the farmhouse when Apple Bloom came hopping towards him, bow ever bobbing. He smiled at the approaching filly, stuffing hands into the pockets in his jeans. He hadn’t even told Rarity about such things, but it seemed that the fashionista knew any form of her craft, even foreign kinds.
“What’s got you into such high spirits,” Ray asked, ignoring a nagging truth in the back of his mind that what he was going to tell her would ruin the mood. “Did Tender show up without anyone else noticing again?”
The little filly was flushed red already, but the blush didn’t seem to be from any embarrassment. “Nope. Applejack just apologized ta me about being so hoity toity yesterday, and said that Tender could still come around the Acres. Without kissin’, a’ course, but hey, better than him havin’ ta fear for his life whenever he wants ta see me.” Apple Bloom became a little dejected as she added, “Still grounded, though.”
“Better than nothing,” Ray reminded her, though he knew she probably didn’t need it. He had stopped walking when the two had become side by side, both standing in silence they didn’t quite know how to fill.
“Don’t worry ‘bout havin’ ta turn in to Applejack. I already told her I’d be walkin’ with ya home. She said you’d be gettin’ yer paycheck soon. Since tomorrow’s a Saturday, ya don’t have ta come ta work, but work’s welcome. Or ya could just come visit family.” Apple Bloom informed him of the situation with a hearty smile and big eyes. She was certainly cheerful, though the true reason was still unknown to Ray. If it was that he was being let in on some fancy secret…
Sighing softly, Ray turned and began to walk towards the now familiar exit to the Acres. As he ducked under the structure, he raised a hand and tapped it playfully. Apple Bloom continued to try and stand on her hind legs, reaching up with her front hooves. After a few seconds of straining her reach, she realized she was a good foot short, and gave up. Smiling at the slight dejection on her face, Ray bent down and lifted her slightly, and trying again, she glanced the bottom of the gateway with her hoof.
Sharing a quick, short-lived smile, he set Apple Bloom down and moved on, the soft clicks of the pony’s hooves on the slightly cobbled path following him. After a few minutes of walking towards the sunset, Apple Bloom spoke up.
“Alright, we’re far enough away from th’ Acres,” she stated. “Now what is all this secrecy and lyin’ about?”
Ray closed his eyes and took a edep breath, preparing to shatter this poor filly’s perfect world. “We’re at war,” he said softly. He waited for a response from the little filly, but none came. He was about to say it louder, believing he’d been too quiet, but Apple Bloom spoke up once again.
“Whaddya mean,” she asked with confusion. “Are we at war with th’ dragons or griffons? ‘Cause the last time that happened, we all made friends with each other again.” After a brief, painful moment of considerate silence, she mentioned, “It has been a long time. Before Granny was born, I think. I don’t know why that’s a big deal, though. Nopony gets hurt. At most, we lose trade stuffs with ‘em, and we’re mad at each other fer a couple a’ years.”
“We’re not at war with anyone on this continent, Apple Bloom,” Ray stated with sorrow. “And people -ponies- will get hurt. Killed, if we don’t fight it.” Ray turned around and crouched down beside his pony sister.
Apple Bloom stared at him in confused horror, asking, “Wh-whaddya mean? We’ve been ta war, and nopony ever, ever gets hurt. An’ if it’s not on this continent, then where? Th’ moon?”
“I don’t know where exactly,” Ray admitted, adding, “but it’s somewhere out west, I think. This isn’t like those little conflicts you call wars, either. This is country against country, each fighting for something valuable. For us, it’s to keep living normally, happily, to keep from being completely eliminated from history. There will be death, and lots of it.”
“And yer th’ one to initiate it all,” she intelligently concluded, raising a hoof to her lip thoughtfully. With a start, she asked, “Are there more a’ ya, then? A whole army of humans to fight against… What are ya even fighting against?”
Ray could hear the panic creeping into her voice, as she finally began to realize the rabbit hole she had voluntarily lept down. He placed his hands firmly on her soft shoulders, causing her to make eye contact with him once again. Conveying all of the strength he could, he explained, “Yes, I am the one to lead the fight. There isn't an army of humans, just me leading a different army. That ‘ghost’ you and Tender saw? He was no ghost. He’s a pony from hundreds of years ago, one of thousands of Fallen. They’re the army that will help save Equestria from the minotaurs.”
“Minotaurs,” Apple Bloom questioned hushly.
“Yes,” he answered just as quietly, nodding his head. “These things are monsters that will kill you and everyone else without hesitation, emotion, or reason. I don’t know why, and neither does Twilight, but we think it has something to do with one of the villains you had to deal with previously.”
“W-wait,” she insisted, looking up at him fearfully. “You’re going to fight them? You’re going to kill them?”
“Yes,” he grimly affirmed. “I’m going to kill as many as I can. I’m going to fight them for as long as it takes for us to win… or for them to kill me.”
Ray watched Apple Bloom visibly deflate as a silent tear rolled down her cheek. Another soon followed as she hiccuped out a quick, “Die?” Ray barely nodded before the little red maned filly shot forward and wrapped her hooves around him tightly. He gulped down a tight lump in his throat, attempting to keep himself from tearing up as his younger sister cried silently into his neck.
After several minutes of him attempting to calm her with soothing hushes and softly rubbing her back, she pulled back, slightly recomposed. With a teary, forceful gaze, she told him, “Don’t fight. Ya don’t hafta. Can’t ya just… stay with us… on th’ farm?” Even as she asked him, he could hear the shallow confidence in her voice. She already knew the answer to that question.
“I have a purpose here,” Ray uttered. “I have to fulfil it.”
Screwing her eyes shut to prevent further crying, Apple Bloom bit her lip and nodded in understanding. Reembracing her, Ray tried to forget the whole conversation whilst rubbing his fingers through her hair. Anything to try and make his new sister feel better, feel less worse for the things that had to happen. To save Equestria. “Please, don’t tell anyone else,” he requested softly.
“I need to tell Tender before he finds out th’ truth on his own and goes haywire,” Apple Bloom answered without withdrawing from the hug. “The girls need ta know, too. They like ya, and if ya did… not come back home from whatever’s goin’ on and wherever yer goin’, then they’d be heartbroken. Death… it isn’t somethin’ we deal with often, not so sudden and disastrous and wrong like war. The last time a pny died in a war was…”
“Fifteen hundred years ago,” he finished, pulling away. Smiling pitifully at Apple Bloom, he stated, “There’s a little hope. In fifteen hundred years, we’ve had a force that the minotaurs have no idea about. Even Twilight didn’t know about it until after she became a Princess, and there’s nobody else but the Princesses and a select few ponies who know about it. It’s our secret weapon.”
Apple Bloom returned the smile hopefully. “Yeah, it’s not that bad, is it?”
“Not too bad at all,” Ray lied with a slow smile.
Apple Bloom wiped her eyes and looked around the sky. Ray looked up too. It had become night sometime, leaving the human to wonder how long they’d been talking. At least an hour, because the sun was completely set, the stars and a waning moon lighting the sky. He gave them both an appreciative smile. It seemed almost right that their discussion had finished at night, the most dark and peaceful part of a day, much like the secrets Ray kept, and the truths spoken.
“When are ya goin’ ta fight,” Apple Bloom inquired, almost fearfully.
“Not for a year,” Ray answered after a moment for remembrance.
“Then let’s make it the best year.”
“Precisely.”