The next day, Ray found the hut to be completely empty yet again, the note remaining pinned to the door. Frowning at it, he left the lakeside, unsure what exactly to do with the time he now found himself with. Without much thought, he walked through the grove of apple trees to the front of the barn. He looked around the homestead for any signs of other Apples, but was unable to find them until he heard the distant, unmistakable sound of yelling. Quirking an eyebrow, he resisted the oncoming flash and paranoia that came alongside it, instead listening intently to the sound’s source. His eyebrows set in concern, and he decided that whatever the yelling was about was worth checking out.
Taking off running in the direction the yelling came from, he found himself running behind the homestead, where he’d never been before. In spite of the fact, it was still simple rows of apple trees for dozens of acres, if not on a hillier terrain. As he neared the source, he was able to recognize the voice of Apple Bloom hysterically yelling, though he couldn’t pick up exactly why. Whatever it was, however, the argument was fierce, as it was the loudest he’d ever heard his equine sister yelling.
Stepping carefully around the few trees that remained between him and listening range, he found himself cresting the hill, looking right down on both the offending yeller and his other sister. He paused once again, considering his options carefully. The two seemed to be in one of their common venomous yelling bouts, though in this case, Apple Bloom was easily winning. She was so effective in her words, that already AJ was shamefully holding a hoof against her chest, not daring to meet the younger filly’s eyes.
“Apple Bloom, ya know it’s not like that,” she attempted to respond.
“Of course it is! I’m not allowed to even see the colt I love without him havin’ to run away fearfully fer his life, but you can just sleep with any mare that happens by! You’re not even married! You can just shirk off a couple hours a’ harvest to have a rowdy time, while Celestia forbid I spend a few minutes alone with my coltfriend.”
The words seemed to snap on Applejack like a whip, causing her embarrassment to turn into anger in the blink of an eye. “Fer starters,” she began angrily, “Rainbow isn’t just ‘any other mare’, an’ ya know that. Secondly, I’m a mare. I’m responsible and-”
“And I’m not,” Apple Bloom interrupted angrily.
“Yes,” she sharply retorted. “I’m responsible and can make adult choices, like sleeping with somepony. An’ thirdly, I can… uh, be responsible.”
“Um, am I interrupting something,” Ray questioned, knowing he was, but unable to butt in any other way that he knew. The two ponies’ heads snapped straight to him, glares accompanying them. Instantly, he felt as if he should be anywhere but there, and took a step back under the pressure of his adopted siblings’ gaze. “Uh, nevermind, I’ll come back a little later.”
“No, Ray, we need yer input,” Applejack rejected sharply. “What do you think? Should our sister be allowed ta make out with her ‘coltfriend’? Is it okay fer me ta engage with Rainbow Dash if she’s not allowed to with Tender Taps? And what about you? Do ya think you should be allowed ta have a marefriend, even though yer only a year or two older?”
“What do I have to do with this,” Ray asked, slowly backing away. “I was just trying to find out what job you needed me to do today! Besides, I’m not even romancing anybody right now, nor do I intend to!”
At that, both mares gave each other a shared look of disbelief, before turning their bland, questioning gaze to the human.
“Ray, we’re just gonna ignore that last comment, and politely request ya answer us,” Apple Bloom responded with a knowing and even tone. Ray gulped and nodded. Geez, he hadn’t realized that his love life was so public, and so strenuously present in his family life.
“Um, well, I think that Apple Bloom should be allowed to date Tender Taps,” Ray started cautiously, eyes on Applejack the entire time. Her jaw tightened, and Ray quickly added, “Hey, he’s a good kid. Quite respectful, and personally, I think that he, at the very least, care’s for her, if not heavily in love. Now, um, about what happened between you and Rainbow, I, uh, think I’m to blame there.”
“Whaddya mean,” Applejack questioned suspiciously, eyebrows raised slightly. Apple Bloom looked just as interested as her sister, so apparently Rainbow hadn’t told either of them why she’d randomly appeared in the evening.
“Well, let’s just say I gave her some advice yesterday during the Running, and she acted on it really fast,” Ray answered with a slight blush. This caused all three to pause awkwardly for a moment as they all involuntarily thought what that insinuated. Ray noticed that, instead of looking embarrassed, Applejack was smiling softly at the ground. Reminiscing?
“Well, I guess that does make sense,” Apple Bloom admitted, before harshly continuing, “but that doesn’t give you any excuse.”
Sighing, Applejack finally spoke again. “While I might not agree on yer relationship with this Tender colt, ya do gotta point about me missin’ out on some a’ th’ work. I guess I’ll do the jammin’ this year, an’ let you, Mac, and Sugar take th’ weekend off.”
“Jamming,” Ray asked.
“Ohohoho,” Apple Bloom laughed with equal relief and amusement. “Trust me, it’s th’ worst part a’ the harvest. There’re some folks that really like apple jam, and making it is probably more difficult than anything else here.”
AJ rolled her eyes at the comment, but didn’t disagree. She seemed to have a sudden moment of realization, however, when she looked back at Ray. “Wait, Ray, why are ya here,” she asked with surprise.
“Yeah, aren’t ya supposed to be doin’ spear things,” Apple Bloom added. This earned a horrified and surprised look from Applejack, whose jaw dropped a good few feet. “Oh, uh, yeah, he told me all about the… minotaurs.”
Apple Bloom’s energy faded away as she undoubtedly began to ponder the grim things he’d told her only a few days before. Oh geez, this was going to be hard to handle, this constant look of worry and sadness on the little filly’s face as she thought about the necessity of Ray’s work.
Before she began to dive too deep into the dark pit, Ray spoke up, “No, well, at least, not yet. Skalos, the Fallen training me, isn’t where I usually train with him. He’s been gone for two days now, and-”
“And now I’m back,” the voice of the stallion in question spoke from behind and below Ray. He turned with surprise to the Fallen, who stood at the base of the small hill, looking up at him. The luminescent pony was looking almost impatiently at the human as he continued to ascend the hill to greet Ray. “Ray, I require your assistance. There is... trouble in Tartarus.”
“Um, isn’t that why Tartarus is there,” Apple Bloom asked from right beside Ray. How had he failed to notice the little filly approach him?
“Ah yes, the little one has humor to her,” the Fallen stated with amusement, though it was hard to tell with Skalos sometimes. Frowning, he stopped and muttered, “Well, there isn’t much to be said otherwise anyways.” Picking up his volume, he called, “Ray, we don’t have time to dilly dally about. This is somewhat of an emergency, that may turn into conflict if not prevented soon.”
“What? What’s going on,” Applejack demanded panickily, stepping up beside their sister. “Is it about th’ minotaurs?”
“No, it is nothing that should concern you yet,” Skalos reassured, though there was an undercurrent of fear to it. Ray picked it out distinctly, and he knew that Skalos had let it slip. There was something terrible going on in the deep parts of the prison, something to do with the Fallen. His brows dropped in concern as he nodded curtly to the Fallen, and moved to follow him.
“This does, however, concern us warriors greatly,” he finished decisively, making it clear the two ponies weren’t to question any further. While the exclusion was harsh, Ray could tell that whatever was causing the Fallen to be so reserved and sharp was something to be truly concerned about. With grim determination, he followed his general.
“So how are we going to get to Tartarus quickly,” he asked as they left the Acres and wrapped around towards the lake.
Skalos didn’t look back as he responded, “We use a Sunport, lordling. They’re a one time use item, but luckily I have one installed in the hut. The concept is that it’ll use excessive amounts of sunlight to send us to a place without such light, but still has a rune. Simply put, we’re teleporting to the Hall in the Homeland.”
“Alright. Why?”
“Let’s just say that, before you worry about war with the minotaurs, lordling, you’ll have to worry about a civil war.”