//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Moment Our Eyes Met // by SweetCarol //------------------------------// "So how many wains are we gonna need to go to the museum?" Apple Bloom asked Starlight Glimmer. "Oh, we'll not need wains, the Museum of Technology and Revolution will generously send a means of transport to take the little ones, one of their many incredible inventions!" She answered. Apple Bloom was immensely confused, were there other forms of transport than wains and trains? "What? But what do you mean? What's the name of this thing?" "Apparently it's ... Bus." Spike said, while reading the museum pamphlet. Not long after, the bus arrived and everyone was impressed with something that big that could take 20 ponies and 10 dragons could get around. The students and Spike were very excited, while Apple Bloom would only get on the "bus" if she was 100% sure it was safe. After the driver assured her for the next 10 times, she got on the bus and sat in the front seat. The driver drove to the museum, which wasn't that far away, but it was a little long way. While the students and Spike were sitting in the backseats and singing road trip songs, Apple Bloom leaned on the window to watch the landscape and became thoughtful. She could and would deny it to anyone, but she couldn't hide from herself that seeing Spike again aroused feelings she hadn't felt before. She could hear her own heartbeats when he was close and looking him in the eyes caused a feeling that it felt like there was a fire inside every part of her body. But why only after so many years did it happen? She had known him since she was 8 and despite the teasing and occasional fights, they considered themselves only just good friends. Apple Bloom had very modern ideas about love, she didn't believe that the first pony she'd fall in love with, would be her only love for all the eternity, after all she has had previous relationships and passions, some shorter, others longer, but non of them worked out. Somehow she felt so sure that none of her old passions came close to what she started to feel for Spike. "What? It hasn't been a day since I started feeling this way. It's official Apple Bloom, you went crazy!" She said mentally. Suddenly, she started to feel something sharp, as if it were the thinnest point of a needle poking lightly over her shoulder. She casually turned to talk to whoever was trying to get her attention, but when she saw that it was him, she ended up falling on the floor of the vehicle, her face as red as an apple peel. Spike laughed at her suddenly reaction and reached out to help her up. "Need some help...?" "NO!" She screamed, louder than expected. "I mean, no thanks, I got up alone." She explained herself, laughing nervously. "I wanted to warn you that we're almost there." He said. "OK thank you." She replied while straightening her glasses. "Hey, do you think they like each other?" A little hippogriff named Cathy asked her pony friend in a whisper. "Totally, look at them, they're perfect for each other." Stellar Aura agreed enthusiastically. "Are you thinking the same thing as me?" "For sure." Arriving at the museum, a tour guide was already there waiting and accompanied them to see the things they had and none of them knew there was so many things to see. "What is this thing?" Cathy asked curiously, pointing to a red thing with numbered buttons. "This, little hippogriff, is a phone, it's used to communicate with people who are far from you. Soon everyone in Equestria will have one of these!" After seeing everything on the first floor, the tour guide warned that there was more to see on the second floor. "Does anyone here know how to get around from floor to floor?" "Uhh going up stairs?" Apple Bloom asked, while accompanying the kids so that none of them was lost. "Exactly, but not here at the Museum of Technology and Revolution, one of our brilliant inventors created a way to move from one floor to the next without getting tired up stairs!" Everyone, including the responsible chaperones, was curious, but at the same time marveled at what the griffin said. "Kids, teachers, I present to you, the elevator." He said, right after he pressed a button on the wall next to metal doors and they opened, revealing a place inside. "Who'd like to go first?" Although amazed, the kids were a little afraid. "What if while the elevator is going up, we fall into whatever is down there?" Stellar Aura asked, but it was obviously part of her plan with Cathy. "Why don't our chaperones go first and then we go?" She said, as she gently pushed Spike toward the elevator, while Cathy pushed Apple Bloom. "Yeah, just so we can see that there's nothing to fear." "Well, since the little ones insist." Spike shrugged and got into the elevator. "Go on, teacher!" Cathy said, giving her another little push. "Okay, I'm getting on the elevator." She said, also entering the transport equipment. "Uhh do you guarantee me that this thing will not fall?" "Are you scared kid?" Spike teased, raising an eyebrow at her. "Just press button 2 and you will be sent there." The tour guide gave the instructions. "What? Who the heck are you calling kid? I'm only 3 years younger than you!" Apple Bloom retaliated furiously. "A-ah, 3 years and a half." Spike hummed as he pushed the button. "... It's a good plan." Cathy said, after the metal doors closed as they continued to argue inside it. Inside the elevator, Apple Bloom leaned against one of the walls and she snorted at the end of the discussion, keeping her head down to avoid making eye contact with him. Why the heck was he pestering her so much since they met again? She felt like she wanted so bad to strangle him, but at the same time she wanted so bad to throw him against the wall and kiss his lips until there was no air left in their lungs and what it'd be like to feel her body being wrapped by those strong arms. Suddenly, she was taken out of her own steamy thoughts and was startled when a loud noise cut the silence between them and the thing where they were seemed to have stopped. "What happened?" She asked. "I don't know." Spike said. "Oh acid apples I knew I shouldn't have gotten into this stupid thing, how am I gonna get out of here? How am I supposed to know if the kids are safe outside with...?" Suddenly, she stopped talking when one of his hands slapped her face, leaving her in shock for a few seconds 'cause she didn't knew if she liked it or she hated it. "... Did you just slap me?" "Sorry, I was trying to calm you down." He apologized. "I was trying to calm you down." She mimicked him. "Why the hell would that calm me down?" "Don't you worry okay? I'll talk to someone downstairs and in a little while they'll get us out of here!" He said, being as optimistic as possible. "I hope you're right." Apple Bloom murmured as she sat on the floor. He pushed a button that looked like a communicator. "Hello? What's the emergency?" A male voice from the speaker over the button said. "We're stuck in the elevator and..." "Oh, this is the first time it has happened, but don't worry, we can fix it in the next ... 2 hours." Apple Bloom's eyes widened and she looked even more desperate than before. "I'm stuck with him in a claustrophobic environment ... For 2 hours ???"