Tiger Bloom
Part Seven: The Reverse of the Medal
And so we come to the final part of this story. The final few hours, and the days afterwards.
Apple Bloom, I am sorry for what happened. I am sorry for my betrayal. I believed I was in the right. I believed what I was doing was justified.
I lost a dear friend. I lost a potential home. I lost you. I have regretted what happened every day since.
Heart hammering in my chest I slipped through the ruins and out onto the ledge of a deep chasm, probably the same one I had leapt my first day in the forest. A rotten old bridge hung precariously over the foggy depth, offering passage to the far side. Testing the air, I followed the scent of Apple Bloom and the two mares to the bridge.
Cringing I tested one of the wet boards, the ropes groaning under the slight pressure.
Looking left and right along the gorge I tried to spot another way across. Maybe a path the lead down and up the other side, or a place narrow enough I could leap across.
Then I heard a sharp crack like two rocks smashing together.
The echo had barely started to ring in my ears when I surged across the rotten wood bridge. Stumbling a few times as boards broke beneath my weight, and with the old corded rope groaning under the sudden pressure I made it across the bridge. It continued to sway and creak as I hurried into the damp underbrush.
Keeping my body low to the ground I slipped like an oily shadow through the forest. My nose was filled with the scents of the three ponies and the creatures that had killed Selena. Fighting a desire to run faster and crash through the brush I continued my slow methodical approach.
I heard them before I saw them. Four voices raised in a heated argument. I detected the drawl of Apple Bloom's sister, and more frantic jabbering of Twilight, being rebuffed by two deep voices. Moving slower than I ever had before I tenderly slunk through a salmon berry bush barely rustling the wet leaves. Finding a small exit I peered out onto the path the ponies had been taking back to their home.
Applejack still leaned on Twilight for support, and, to my relief, Apple Bloom hid behind the two adults. I couldn't see the creatures from my position and slowly began to disappear back into the bush to find a better vantage point.
"Look, little unicorn. We ain't asking much, just that you help us out. If not, then, well..."
I heard a threat in the voice that quickened my pulse.
After all, I knew exactly what these creatures did to those that got in the way of what they wanted.
Keeping to the shadows I moved slowly, but surely. I was like, well, a hunter on the prowl. Leaves barely rustled through my garish blue fur or under my massive paws. Poking my head out from beneath another bush I got a good look at the creatures.
There were three of them. The two who had taken me from my home and killed Selena, as well as one with a white coat who stood behind the others. One had a Sleeping-Stick resting on his shoulder, the other had an odd L-shaped thing in its hand. More concerned with the Sleeping-Stick I began to test the air.
It was going to be a long pounce, and the white one was partially in the way. I wasn't worried about that one, he was small and grey haired. No threat.
"Well, I guess we could take you to Ponyville," Twilight said, but her voice clearly held reservations.
Applejack, however, vehemently shook her head.
"I don't like it, Twi'. You saw what they did to scare that Timber Wolf. Weren't natural."
Twilight chewed on her lower lip looking from between her friend, the three creatures, and a cluster of bushes on the other side of the path.
"Ah think they kind of deserved it," Apple Bloom grumbled from behind the adult mares, head poking around to stare curiously up at the three new and interesting creatures.
"So, we have a deal? You take us to this Ponyville and we'll be on our best behaviours. Upstanding even. We promise."
My ears flattened as I waited for Twilight to respond. She still seemed a little hesitant, and Applejack looked down right angry. That could have been more due to the pain from her wound though. Apple Bloom, however, stepped around the two mares and approached the three creatures.
My blood ran cold at the sight of her approaching them, my breaths becoming quick and ragged. I was certain that at any moment they would kill Apple Bloom like they had killed Selena. Apple Bloom said something to the creatures, her face shining with hope and delight. But she didn't know what I knew. She didn't know to run away or to be afraid.
"Here, why don't you let my friend here carry you and-"
The moment the creature with the L-shaped thing took a step towards Apple Bloom I burst from the bushes. There was no roaring or growl, just the double thump of my paws churning up loose earth before I was in the air.
I impacted on Sleeping-Stick, wrapping my forelegs around his torso and bearing him to the ground as my teeth found his neck. Blood; hot, wet and sickly sweet flooded my mouth. The next several seconds were a confusing blur of shouts, screams, and a single loud pop followed by a sharp burning sensation in my shoulder. There wasn't time to really maul and rake the creature like every fiber of my being was screaming.
Two more pops echoed through the forest, followed by more pain in my other shoulder and flank. Ideas and conceptions more than words flooded through me on a sea of adrenalin.
Move. Kill. Danger. Protect.
I let them guide me into the air as more of those popping sounds reached my ears.
L-shape's scream as I bore him to the ground, those annoying pops still sounding, was the sweetest sound I'd heard since waking in the forest. His screams quickly descended into a final wet gurgle before I released him.
White, I found when I at last released L-shape's limp body, had retrieved the Sleeping-Stick. With careful precise motions he slid back a part of the device, a ratchet audibly clicking in place. We each paused for half a moment, then I pounced and the Sleeping-Stick emitted a crack of thunder. The top left side of my head exploded with pain as I flew, my mouth widening.
It was all over several seconds later, White's leg twitching sporadically.
Surrounded by the three dead creatures, their blood mixing with my own, I finally became aware that I was hurt, badly. My head throbbed and there were sharp stabs of pain all through my body. The corners of my vision grew a little blurry as the adrenaline began to recede. Staggering, I turned to make sure the ponies were alright.
The looks of pure horror and terror on their faces still haunt me.
That was the moment I died for the second time.
I can't close my eyes and not see her face. Her eyes so wide and petrified. The few drops of red that had splattered across her coat. The shaking in her young legs. And the betrayal. The betrayal was the worst.
I'm not certain what happened next, it's all so fuzzy and just blurs together. I believe Apple Bloom or Applejack yelled, screamed, or perhaps both. Maybe I tried to explain myself. Not that it would have mattered.
All I know is I stood there, my chest heaving ragged breaths, and then I was staggering through the forest, bumping from tree to tree, leaving a trail of crimson as I went.
I couldn't go far. I was too hurt, and collapsed on the side of a river.
As I laid there, my life draining into and staining the pristine crystalline water, I thought back on the crazy few days I had shared with Apple Bloom, and the life I had stolen from me in... where ever my prison had been. Two faces filled my fading vision; Selena and Apple Bloom.
A part of me hoped that I would be able to see Selena again. Her laugh would fill me and we'd be able to run and play in the grass like when I was a cub.
Apple Bloom I hoped would come to understand my actions, and maybe forgive me. I smiled as I thought back to when I'd first seen her, crying, alone, and afraid in the forest. Her pink bow tied in her bright red mane.
Something moved, and for a moment I thought I heard a voice. Colours, pink and cream yellow, with two great azure blue disks, entered my field of vision.
I blinked, as the pain reached through me and the colours vanished.
Then there was nothing but the black and the feeling of falling.
* * *
I came too slowly, rising out of the sea of empty dreams and into brown warmth. Carefully, I tried to raise my head and look around at my surroundings.
Wooden walls greeted me, along with peaceful windows trimmed in green curtains. Cages, bird houses, dens, and baskets covered almost every available spot. Many had occupants, all of whom stared at me with large frightened eyes.
My entire body ached when I tried to move my head to get a better view of the room, only to stop when something nearby moved and let out a little gasp.
"Oh my, you're awake? Don't try to move. You were really hurt and lost a lot of blood."
A winged pony, a creamy yellow in colour with soft pink hair and three butterflies on her flank, stepped up in front of me. She had a stethoscope around her neck, and the kindest look in her eyes.
"Where am I?" I tried to ask, only to find it difficult with one ear pressed against my bed and the other seeming not to respond to the necessary twitches of tiger-speak.
"You're in my home," the pony responded, shining a light into my eyes and then moving out of my line of sight. I could feel her small hooves moving over my body. "I found you on the bank of the Everfree River," she continued, and something in her voice made me feel at peace, calm, and secure.
"I was looking for Apple Bloom, but then Twilight gave the signal that the filly had been found so I was flying home with Dash when we saw you, and I just couldn't let you die."
My eyes, half closed as sleep threatened to steal me away, shot back open and I almost leapt from the bed at the mention of Apple Bloom.
"Apple Bloom?! She's okay? Is she safe?" I practically shouted, my legs giving out and sending me crashing onto the wood floor.
"Shh, yes, she's fine. She's in the hospital with Applejack. Poor thing, the Everfree really beat her up." The pony sighed, and then called for a 'Mr. Bear' to help her.
Into the room rumbled and rolled a huge mass of brown fur and two beady black eyes. He gave one look at me half fallen on the floor, and laughed.
"Oh, you such a sight, big fierce tiger, eh?" Mr. Bear chuckled as he ambled over to me and helped me back onto the bed.
"If I was feeling better, I'd swipe that smirk off your face," I grumbled half-heartedly in response.
"Ha-ha, sure you would, cub, sure you would," Mr. Bear said before he sat down in a corner of the room, picking up a golden and red striped pot of honey.
I couldn't help but smile. This was the best conversation I'd had since waking in the Everfree. Me and Mr. Bear have had something of a friendly rivalry ever since.
"You two should stop teasing each other," the pony said as she again began checking me over.
I blinked a little at what she had said, then looked over towards Mr. Bear and asked, "She can understand us?"
"Of course I can, speaking and helping animals is my special talent."
"Fluttershy? You're Fluttershy?"
"Yes, h-have you heard of me?"
A cold chill swept my body as I thought back to Apple Bloom and when she had mentioned Fluttershy. How the filly had looked so happy to have deciphered my meaning, and how she had checked her flank for a 'cutie mark'. Fluttershy was a friend of Apple Bloom. I wondered for a moment what she'd think if I told her what I had done in front of the filly.
"A... friend mentioned you, once." I looked away, shame making my face burn, and descended into a sullen silence that was rarely broken over the next few weeks.
"Oh, that's good, I suppose," she murmured as she continued her examination.
If Fluttershy learned about what I had done, I don't know. She never once gave any indication that she was upset or mad with me, always the opposite in fact. Never have I met any pony as gentle and brave as her. It takes a certain character to treat and heal an animal that typically hunts your kind.
Twice a day she would bring me a large fish to eat. Not my usual meal, but I knew she wouldn't have approved of me eating any of her animals. Not that I could have caught them in my condition. Especially the White Terror that was Angel. Nothing that small and cute looking should be that frightening.
Eventually my strength returned and I learned to full extent of my injuries.
The worst had been the loss of my left ear along with a lot of the skin around it. I have some hearing on that side, but it's not great. Fluttershy had also pulled out more than half a dozen pieces of metal from various places. For a little while she was worried some new metal spitting monster had taken up home in the forest. Then one day she stopped mentioning her fears. I suppose she learned from the others about the creatures. I don't think they mentioned my involvement.
Healed, but feeling weak and depressed, I left Fluttershy's cottage in the dead of night as she slept. I didn't want her to worry about me, and I was terrified that one of the other ponies would find me in her home.
I returned to the Everfree, and it has been my home and my prison these past twelve years.
I've done my best to keep the forest's dangers away from the town of Ponyville or the nearby farms. Especially Apple Bloom's farm.
Often I'd see her, playing with two other fillies. From afar I watched her grow and earn her cutie mark. But I never managed to speak to her and apologize for what I'd done. I couldn't do it. A couple times I started to make my way through the endless rows of apple trees. But my nerve always failed me and I returned to the Everfree.
The Wood Wolves no longer roam my part of the forest. They know better than to challenge me. Every few years I'd have to pick one or two off to remind them to stay away, but otherwise, we leave each other alone.
As for the other monsters in the forest; I've learned what places to avoid.
Fluttershy found me, eventually, living in the ruins of the Everfree castle. I suspect Mr. Bear played some role in her finding me. His heart is always in the right place, but he's not the brightest tool in the shed.
It was Fluttershy that taught me to read and write, something she was astounded I was capable of learning. Apparently I'm something of the Neighonardo of animals. He was some Renaissance era pony. Famous painter, sculptor, engineer, and magician.
One day Fluttershy arrived with Twilight beside her, and saddlebags filled with books. Twilight watched me warily, her eyes showing a mix of distrust and anger. She had figured out that Fluttershy was up to something when the pegasus kept checking out odd or unusual books. On a hunch, Twilight had followed Fluttershy until she saw the pegasus meet me in an open field. She'd almost rushed out straight away to protect her friend, but had stopped when Fluttershy had laid down beside me, opened a book and started reading it to me.
Twilight didn't visit me much, once or twice with Fluttershy. Both times were when Fluttershy was heavy with her first foal. Fluttershy would laugh and say that Twilight was afraid that I'd go back to my natural ways. It had been many years even by that point since I'd felt the call of my instincts strongly. Twilight's fears were perhaps natural given what she knew I had done.
Then there is Zecora.
If I have a friend other than Fluttershy and Mr. Bear, it's Zecora. I've had to be careful over the years visiting her, mostly as Apple Bloom was her apprentice for a while. Since Apple Bloom 'graduated' it's been easier to visit the zebra herbalist. There were a few close calls where Apple Bloom almost walked in on my and Zecora having a discussion about the forest, or the weather, or one of many sundry topics.
Her rhymes and stories never failed to brighten my day, and I did my best to keep the real threats of the forest she called home at bay.
This story is rambling, I know. I get like this when I am nervous. I suppose I should finish this before I start recounting the adventures Mr. Bear and I have had over the years. The idea's that get into that bear's head...
I'm dying. I'm old, very old, and I know that I won't see another spring. My vision has become poor, my hearing is failing, and it's been months since I stalked anything other than the fish Fluttershy brings.
I've asked Fluttershy to bring Apple Bloom this journal after I have passed on. Maybe, with it, she'll understand why I did what I did.
If you're reading this, Apple Bloom, I hope that you can forgive me.
~Mr. Cat