//------------------------------//
// 8 - Strange Ties 
// Story: Legends Of Ponyville 
// by mechafone 
//------------------------------//

Ampelus groaned in discomfort. Her eyes shot open as she heard that damned voice again. Her mother's voice. It spoke of ages past, accused her of failing to protect her sister. Failed to honor family, failed to be a good daughter of the trees. I don't care about the trees! I don't care about you! Die for all I care! Your words are harsh, Ampelus. Do you truly wish for my death?

Of course I do! Ampelus' words were sharp and true, spoken without hesitation. You have always favored Orea over me! For two hundred years I watched you fawn over her, bestow all your love on her, and never for me. You always treated me like a...a monster. Are we not all monsters? ...A mother should know the difference... 



Ampelus sat up with a gasp, tears running down her face. She hated those dreams, always the same. Her mother, or something that seemed to be her mother, guilting her for not being a nymph her mother could be proud of. Not that it mattered much nowadays, anyway. Her mother had died last year, alone and weak. Was it betrayal to think of herself first, to have abandoned the forest so she wouldn't perish when the Changelings came?

The nymph sat up with a groan. She hurt all over. Where was she? She was in some kind of dark room. Spotting light behind her, she stood on her grassy hooves and looked out of the only vent-like window that her room sported. Was she stuck in here? Was this a cell or some sort that she'd heard that the ponies of 'civilization' often put other ponies into?

Ampelus frowned as she touched her face. Her beautiful, lovely face...scarred by fire. She hissed angrily as she could feel the scar tissue. This wouldn't heal for days! She didn't have days, not if she wanted to be pleasing to the eye. How else would she find food? She turned back to the darkness of her cell, facing the bars keeping her in. She approached the thin metal columns and poked at them. No leeway. She pressed harder, testing her superior strength against the bars.

Usually, iron and stone gave way to her impressive strength, but not now, and she remembered why. In a bid to escape a firey death at the hooves of that ticklish, pretty mare, she had abandoned a great deal of her mass. It had resulted in her being greatly weakened, to the point where she couldn't deal with one lousy pegasus. It was embarrassing, to say the least. And then...

And then, the Storm Bringer. The very pegasus that she had come to town to get revenge on. He had bested her once again and denied her food and revenge all in one blow. Well, two. She had been foolish enough to think she could take him off guard, not like the last time. She nearly had him, but her mother had interfered. Now, even though her mother and Orea were both gone, she still couldn't overpower him. Granted, she had been desperate, but that was no excuse.

Suddenly, the darkness that Ampelus had been getting used to flooded with light. She covered her eyes, pulling her grassy bangs over her face to cover it. She didn't want anyone to see her face when she was so weak and vulnerable. The nymph's ears tilted this way and that, scanning for sounds and picking up voices, whispering, taunting. It sounded like Orea, she smelled Orea. But this same scent carried wafts of the Storm Bringer, intermingled and mixed together. Disgusting.

Ampelus dared to open her eyes as she heard diminutive steps descending on wooden floor, hard thick steps that eventually gave way to softer plodding, the sounds approaching her cell. Slowly, the nymph's curiosity got the better of her. She opened her eyes, and saw what had confused her senses.

It looked like Orea. It smelled like Orea. Hell, it even moved like Orea. But this seeming incarnation of her younger sister was at least one hundred and ninety nine years younger than the Orea she knew.

Ampelus stared at the little creature, standing before her with such fear and trepidation. The older nymph looked around for a guardian; she severely doubted that the Storm Bringer would allow for the little freak to come near her alone. Of course, there he was, at the top of the stairs in this strange, underground room. She smirked and looked down at the tiny newborn before her, her head pressing against the bars menacingly. "Look at you, Storm Bringer. You must be so proud; Not even reached proper puberty and you have already laid with my sister and produced this little morsel!"

Ampelus' cruel tone made the tiny nymph back away from her, her haunches raised and mane rattling, a sound created from a mixture of self-preservation and anger. "Father has never touched Mother in such a way! Why are you so cruel, O family?"

Ampelus winced harshly at the tone the little one was using. Her! A newborn, and so condescending! She bashed herself against the bars of her prison, causing the newborn to shriek with fear and run up the steps to hide under the dark pegasi's legs. "Little leech!" she cried after her, bashing herself once more on the bars, causing a horrible rocking sound. "Stay away from me, you are no family of mine! My sister lusted after your Father and created you in a moment of disgusting passion! Never refer to me as Family again!"



Little Orea cried, her tears born of both fear and of rejection from the only real biological family she knew. Of course she was connected with Spark Storm in that he made her grow months earlier than she should have and carried his life energy within her, but Ampelus was her mother's sister. directly related by blood. To be denied warmth and affection from her only family was heartbreaking.

Spark reached down and wrapped the dismayed nymph in his arms, cradling her like a newborn. Technically, she was a newborn. A nymph would live for thousands of years, and at less than a year old, little Orea would still be a baby by the time Spark's life had come to an end.

He turned and walked up the stairs to the first floor of the library, closing the door behind him. "Shh, shh," he murmured to Orea. She wept a little quieter and clung a little tighter to Spark, her body relaxing and untensing. After a moment, she crawled from Spark's forelegs and up onto his neck, her forelegs clutching the back of his head.

"You ok?" he asked, brushing his wings along Orea's back. She practically purred and snuggled closer against her 'father's' head.

"I'm better now," she answered, breaking out of the old speech she had adopted to speak to Ampelus. Spark figured it had something to do with race memory.

When Spark opened the door to the first floor, he and orea both stood face to waist with a very angry harpy. Sohl made to pass the two down the stairs, but Spark's suddenly outstretched wing blocked her path. The tall biped glared at the wing first, then at Spark. "Move it, Sparky," she growled. "I'm gonna teach that overgrown fern a lesson in manners!"

Spark, a completely flat look on his face, reached up and held Orea out to Sohl. Orea squealed happily and held her hooves out, begging to be picked up. Sohl reacted to the mental connection that she and Orea shared by groaning in annoyance, then finally grabbed the nymph in her clawed hands and cradled her to her chest. "...Fine...you're lucky you're so cute," she said as Orea nuzzled her head under Sohl's chin. "But I swear, I don't care if that witch down there is your aunt. If she scares you again, your cuteness will not prevail."

Spark could only grin at how close the two were. It was a strange situation, but then so was his relationship to Orea. His friendship with Sohl was also questionable. She was so aggressive and brutish that sometimes it seemed the only way to keep her from regressing into a pony predator was beating her down once a week, although this was happening less and less thanks to Orea.

As the pair of mismatched friends slipped over to sit on the stairs, Spark snapped to attention as Fluttershy, who had been waiting patiently at the center of the room, cantered up to him, a worried and motherly expression on her face. "Oh, Spark, I just heard. Is she ok? Is Rainbow Dash all right?"

"Yeah, Flutters. She'll be all right," he said, giving the mare a comforting nuzzle. "She hurt her throat a little bit and she has a couple snapped ribs, but she'll be all right for flight before Hearth's Warming, according to her doctor."

Fluttershy smiled with relief, but the look quickly darkened as she looked at the door leading to the basement. "Ohh...w-what I would have given to be there to teach that...that..." Spark watched Fluttershy with surprise as she fumed like he'd never seen her fume before. The mare brought a hoof up to stamp it on the floor, but there was barely more than wiff of air and a nearly inaudible tok when her hoof connected. Spark smiled at the adorable mare and stroked her back to calm her down.

"It's a good thing you weren't, Fluttershy, or she might be in even worse shape than she is now."

Fluttershy blushed at the thought of being violent and squeaked, excusing herself to a corner of the room.

Spark Storm sighed as he looked around the library, filled with his friends. Not just his friends; one of his partners. Lemon Pop sat at the center of the room with Emerald Skies, playing a game of cards. He chuckled with amusement as Emerald looked through his hand, then slammed the card down on the desk and announced, "Go fish!"

Lemon Pop groaned loudly and threw her cards into the air, sending them everywhere. "For Celestia's sake, Emerald, we were playing poker! Poker!" Emerald and Spark both erupted into laughter as the red pegasus stormed up the stairs to Emerald's room. Upon examining a card on the floor, Spark noticed that the cards were, in fact, Uno cards.

Spark headed up the stairs as Emerald began gathering the cards strewn around the room. This lull in the action had been a long time coming: it was time to talk to Lemon Pop about what happened with the Fighters.



Spark knocked on the closed door. When Lemon Pop opened the door, a look of fear crossed over her features as she saw Spark. She knew as well as he what he had come up for. She sighed and opened the door for him, then cantered over to the guest bed and plopped down on top of it. This was one thing that she really didn't want to talk about, but it had been coming, and she knew it. She gave Spark one last pleading look, hoping he'd let it drop, but the gentle glare in his eyes told her he would not.

She let out a long, soft sigh and trained her eyes to the room's window. Might as well start at the beginning, she supposed. She turned to Spark, and began her tale.




Two days ago


"Come on, now, Lemon Pop," Gunslinger whispered to her, still perched on his back and soaking wet. Her sobs had quieted, but she still clung to the blue unicorn tightly. She had found some small comfort in his presence, but the very act of betrayal still hung heavy on Lemon's shoulders. If only she'd been stronger. If only she'd gone to Sapphire's side without question. Spark Storm told her to do this when she chose him over Sapphire. No, he didn't. He told me to 'do the right thing', she thought, her feelings bitter and angry, and focused inwards on herself.

Gunslinger trudged along the Fighter's common room towards the center. A large, circular table, a couple end tables and three couches were positioned in the center. He brought Lemon Pop to the nearest couch, then helped her to lie down. As he stood there, watching the pegasus pull herself into a fetal position and weep, his heart did terrible things in his chest. He had never seen Lemon Pop cry before. He had to sit down as the most innocent creature he'd ever had the pleasure of working with broke.

It was a terrible time to start falling for the mare he'd known for the last three and a half years. He'd shared with her their triumphs as a team, their failures, their laughter. Why did it take seeing her heart break to realize his feelings? Lemon Pop, seeming to notice something was off, opened her tear-stained eyes and glanced at Gunslinger. The two stared at each other until a blush came over the stallion's cheeks and he had to look away.

After a moment of awkward silence, Gunslinger got up, walked off, and returned a moment later with a warm, dry blanket and covered Lemon Pop with it. Lemon accepted the attention, grabbing the blanket tightly to her and sighed exhaustedly as the day caught up with her. She was asleep in minutes.

Gunslinger sighed heavily as he watched his friend sleep, her long blonde mane, still wet from the rain, stuck to her face and neck. How had not he noticed how pretty she was before now? He ran a hoof through his mane and trotted over to the lights and cut them off, then climbed up on one of the free couches, and closed his eyes.

That night, he had a dream. A most interesting dream. In it, Lemon Pop climbed onto the couch with him. Her mostly dry mane, still cool and a little moist, tickled his face as she leaned over him, her muzzle inches from his. Her breath was hot and smelled sweetly of peppermint as she whispered, "I'm sorry, 'Slinger. I can't be here, or with...n-nevermind. Please forgive me. Tell Sapphire I-"

Gunslinger shot up into a sitting position on the couch. From the light coming in the windows, it was morning, well after nine. He looked around at the empty room, the blanket Lemon slept in had been placed over him. He thought of the feelings he'd discovered last night, or at least thought he had. Were they real? Was it just a spur of the moment kind of thing? Wait...his dream. Starting to panic, he hopped over to the empty couch that she had slept on last night. There was a note sitting there, with two words scribbled on it: I'm sorry.

Ok, now it's time to panic, he told himself. He ran off to find the others. They had a search party to put together.




Back To The Present


"...And that's pretty much it," Lemon Pop told Spark Storm. "I left before the sun came up, and I came straight here." Spark frowned and rested a hoof on Lemon's shoulder. She wordlessly nuzzled closer, and he wrapped his arms around her, her head rested on his shoulder, tears stinging her eyes again. "I just don't know what to do, Sparky," she whispered, her voice hitching as she tried not to cry again. She'd been doing way too much of it in the last two days. "I took my best friend's trust and threw it in her face, and now, I think things are about to change between Gunslinger and me. I-I don't want things to change, I don't even know how I feel about him, I've never had to think about it."

She pulled back and looked in Spark's eyes, sniffling softly. "You and Sapphire knew for years that you were supposed to be together. Gunslinger and I have barely known each other for more than three years. Is that even enough time to get to know someone?" Spark frowned gently. How could he answer this? He was about to try when a knock came at the door and Emerald poked his head through the crack as it opened.

"Uh, Spark? You have a guest downstairs..." he said, throwing a meaningful look between Lemon and Spark, who looked between each other in a knowing glance, the same thought passing between them. Sapphire Snow.

Lemon and Spark peeped out the door way. Lemon let out a squeak as she saw Sapphire there in the library, talking with Emerald. Lemon panicked and got behind Spark and pushed him out of the door, where he slid on his butt as the door slammed shut behind him. The loud noise got Sapphire's attention, who turned and looked up at Spark standing alone at the top of the stairs in an awkward position, his hind legs raised up in the air with his front hooves in front. She'd rarely seen him so discombobulated, so for a moment she forgot they were fighting and she let out a giggle.

Spark smiled at the sound of her voice, but he was quickly reminded of her words earlier that day, drawing a scowl to replace any light-hearted expression he might've been wearing before. He stood, and came down the stairs slowly, stiff-legged to express his distaste of the situation. His body language not lost on the new leader, Sapphire sighed and stepped forward to face the pony whose situation with her was currently ambiguous.

The silence in the room was deafening as old friends and new witnessed the thick awkward tension between the two. Finally, Spark spoke up. "Lemon Pop isn't-"

Just as soon as he'd began, Sapphire brought a hoof up to his lips. The touch was soft and intimate, and did funny things to Spark's heart. The pleading look in Sapphire's eyes quickly melted his resolve to stay angry at her. "Spark...I'm not here to bring her back," Spark's surprised look urged her to continue. "You're right...I was angry about losing two of my closest friends, and I lashed out at you unfairly when I should've been considering Lemon Pop's feelings. And you..." she said, stepping closer, her forehead pressing against his, "I am so sorry for what I said. I-I didn't mean it, I never would've-"

"Oh just kiss her already!" Lemon Pop's voice rang out from the room upstairs.

Laughter erupted from the entire room in reaction to Lemon's pouty shout. Sapphire Snow eyed the door at the top of the stairs, then lowered her eyes to stare into Spark's. The two of them blushed as they brought their mouths together, kissing delicately at first, then more deeply. "Oooh," Orea coo'd before Sohl held a hand over her eyes.

Spark and Sapphire parted, both reluctantly. Sapphire reached up and brushed a hoof over his cheek before she started backing away towards the door. "I have to go, we have some things to report to the Princess. You guys just...take your time, think about what you guys want to do. I miss you...both of you!" she said, shouting the last bit so Lemon wouldn't miss it.

When she got no answer from Lemon Pop, she sighed and turned to go. Pausing at the door frame on her way out, she turned to Spark, an inquisitive look in her eyes. "What about the nymph? What did you do with it?"

Spark gestured to the door leading to the basement. "We've got her locked up. She's weak, she won't be getting out anytime soon." He paused, a light blush cresting his face as he avoided eye contact with his girlfriend. "So. How's Fl-"

"She's fine," she said forcefully, aiming a glare at her boyfriend. "Now stop thinking about that before I knock your block off."

Spark took a deep breath, then let it go. He coughed once and nodded at Sapphire, making eye contact. Head clear, his eyes told her. She rolled her eyes at him and left, closing the door behind her.