//------------------------------// // Dragon's Wisdom // Story: My Little Heartbreak: Meanwhile, Back at the Farm // by Jet_Black1980 //------------------------------// Chapter 24 Dragon’s Wisdom. Applejack walked into the library. “Ah don’t know how ya did it Twi’.” “Did what?” Twilight asked. “Dealt with that pony for the whole of a month. Ah haven’t been with her for but half a day an’ already ah want ta just,” Applejack paused. She bit her lip and ground her hoof to the ground. “Ah’m finding maself wantin’ ta do things that I felt ah should have done ta a pony like Trixie!” She looked panicked and rather upset with herself. “I warned you that she knows how to push your buttons while we were at the spa, AJ,” Twilight said, sympathetically. “Ah know ya did, and ah didn’t realize just how gosh darn weird it was ta have pony who isn’t really a pony know all about yer life! Ah mean, ah might handle it more if she didn’t toss all them embarrassing and rather unpleasant moments in ma face,” Applejack exclaimed, pacing back and forth. “Ah just can’t wrap ma mind around how ya done it!” Spike cleared his throat before Twilight could get a word edgewise. She let out a slight chuckle and bit her lip. “Actually, if I could be honest with you..” “That would be a sight for sore eyes! Getting Heartbreak-” Applejack started. “H.B.,” Spike corrected. “Ah refuse ta call her that till she sures up. Ah know that it nearly sent her into a frenzy the first time Rarity was using it, but really, she’s gotta earn her own,” Applejack replied. “But ah’d rather try ta buck the whole of Sweet Apple Acres again then try ta get that pony ta open up again!” “That bad, huh?” Twilight asked. Applejack nodded. “What makes it worse is that she goes and berates us for being us in the whole of the conversation.” Spike elbowed Twilight before she could interject something else. “Right, well, like I was saying, Applejack, the only reason that I didn’t actually end up tying her up and either sending her back to Celestia or at the very least doing tests on her in my basement,” Twilight sighed, ““Was because Spike helped me.” Applejack looked a bit horrified at the thought of what could have happened in Twilight’s basement. Annoyance or not, Twilight could get a bit too involved in her experimentation. “Say what?” “Spike did most of the work, most of the listening and even most of the helping. He even got her to open up more than I did,” Twilight said, looking ashamed. “This morning when he wasn’t there, we just blew up at one another and...” Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry to say that you’re the one that’s taking the fallout.” She looked at her long time friend-the first pony to shake her hoof when coming to Ponyville. She felt awful just dumping a problem like this on her. “Can you forgive me?” Applejack smiled. It felt good to have a pony just be honest with her about all this. Heartbreak was fighting her tooth and hoof on a good number of subjects. It was mighty refreshing to get actual truth from another pony. “Of course ah can, Sugar Cube. Now, ah got ta know, what’s yer secret there, Spike?” ============================================================== I loath myself right now. How stupid could I be!? I feel like such a...such a...”Bitch?” my brain interjects. Fuck you brain. Fuck you, you’re fucking right. I could have stopped myself at any time and asked what the fuck Applejack’s problem was. Why she kept pushing the subject, what she had said under her breath. I swear it was something that I know I don’t like. And now? Now I am stuck in an even more uncomfortable position. With Big Mac. Right, I don’t have any problems with Big Mac, other than in fanon, he is the, ‘Ponyville Bicycle.’ I mean, what do you expect from a show that has next to no main male characters and that eight out of ten of the characters featured are mares? The token male characters become subservient to the rest of the cast and work to, ‘satisfy’ their needs. The good news is that I am not feeling any, ‘needs,’ or desires around him. The bad news is that I don’t know if the feeling is mutual and the situation is just awkward. Shut up, H.B. It doesn’t have to be awkward. Ponies aren’t like humans, they aren’t obsessed with sex. Well not completely, and I am sure that stallions aren’t going around thinking about that all the time. Now I want to tell my brain to shut up. This isn’t productive, and it isn’t helping the situation you’re facing. Trying to patch things over with Applejack is what you should be focusing on. The last teacher you had that you annoyed this badly failed you out of her class, and that was just for a letterhead. I sigh and kick hard on the tree. Big Mac is sitting on the slope of the hill. His eye is looking at me and then forward. I grumble. There is something off in the way he is looking at me, like he’s unnerved or something. I kinda wish he would stop looking at me, like right now. Stop it, H.B. just kick some more trees. I take that thought’s advice and kick a few more trees. And with my luck, a few more apples fall to the ground. With five or six more kicks I have at least twenty apples. Big Mac keeps staring at me from the corner of his eye. I grimace. “Just pick the apples up off the ground and get as many as you can into the fucking basket.” Fuck, this shouldn’t be this hard. All I have to do is pick them up with my mouth. I am sure that Twilight and company are sick of me complaining about this and now -I’m- sick of me complaining about this. Rolling my eyes, I approach an apple. It has its stem still, that will make it a lot easier. I look it over and size it up. I am trying to figure out how exactly I am going to do this. Well, I know how I am going to do this. It isn’t rocket science, H.B., It’s just picking up an apple with your teeth! There’s a whole game centered around that concept! Big Mac is looking at me with the, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ expression on his face. He lifts a hoof. “Uuuuhm..” “Quality control!” I shout spasticity. “Heh. Yeah. Quality control, you know what they say, one bad apple can spoil the bunch! Right?” “Eeeeyup.” He replies, sagely nodding. I put my face forward and attempt to pick the apple up with my teeth without biting into it. I can hear the slow crunch of the flesh of the fruit through my teeth. I walk over to the basket and drop it in. Success! Sort of. There is a nice set of teeth marks in the apple. I smack my lips. At least I have a nice taste in my mouth. ============================================================== Spike shook his head when looking at these two. Here they were, nearly full grown mares and they didn’t have a clue about how to properly handle the situation that they faced. Granted that it was a bizarre situation and not much in the way of progress had been done. He crossed his arms and looked at the both of them. He rolled his eyes as he spoke. “Hasn’t it occurred to either one of you to just listen to her? ‘Cause that’s all I did.” “Ah tried that, Spike, but then when ah try askin’ her questions about things, she shuts down,” Applejack replied. “She doesn’t shut down about everything. For example, I asked her what her favorite flower was. She told me either lilacs or violets. I was going to ask her if she actually liked roses more because of this wonderful drawing she did, but then she got a headache and needed something to drink. And you can’t go wrong with food. She apparently loves garlic! Come to think about it, she opens up more when you talk to her about things that you would normally talk about with other ponies.” He cocked his head at the both of them. “Instead of, you know, some creature from another world that is wearing a pony skin?” Twilight sighed. “Which is why I am trying to come up with a list of things that she is going to need to help her feel a little more welcome.” “Which is a good start. The next thing to do is just let her talk. You’ve seen her chatter on about subjects that she finds interesting. I’ve noticed that once you get her started on a subject that she likes, it’s hard to get her to stop talking about it,” Spike said. “Yeah... Like when she was talkin’ about her job, or when she compared her world and ours to an’ apple orchard!” Applejack replied. She was starting to look a bit less frazzled. Twilight blinked. “Apple orchard?” “It made a lot of sense when she was explaining it.” She looked at Spike. “Then what?” “Nothing. If she feels like talking, she talks about it,” Spiked replied. Both Twilight and Applejack looked at each other. “Beggin’ yer pardon there, Spike, but that sounds like we’re not gonna be able ta learn anythin’ about her. Ah mean, what if ah have a question about her, and it needs answerin’? Somethin’ important like.” “Yeah, there might be things that she herself doesn’t know about that are important things that she should know about, Spike. If we don’t ask, excuse the term, probing questions, how are we going to learn anything about her?” Twilight asked. “I’m not saying don’t ask questions, you two. By all means ask away, but remember to watch for boundaries,” He explained, pacing a bit. “If you ask a question and she isn’t comfortable with the issue, back down. If she isn’t comfortable with it, she might not know how she feels about it and needs time to mull it over. Then maybe, if she feels she can come to you about it, she just might.” Spike rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples. “You know, I’m the, ‘baby’ dragon here.” Applejack rubbed her ankle. “Ah know that, Spike. An’ ah’m awful sorry ta be puttin’ ya through the ringer like this, but sumthin’ happened back at the farm that got me really concerned. So much so that ah needed ta have me a cool off after ah dropped ma granny off at the hospital!” “Hospital?” Twilight asked, concerned. “She’s finally havin’ that hip replaced, but ah needed ta know what happened with her and them Nine so that I could quell that fear that was in the back of ma head.” Applejack explained. “Whoa, that’s a serious hot button issue there, A.J. Even I know better than to press on a subject like that.” Twilight frowned. “Yeah, what Twilight said,” Spike replied. “What could be so important that you would go into dangerous territory like that?” “Well, ya see, ah was trying to teach her ta apple buck, and it being her first time an’ all, ah expected her ta have lousy aim. And boy nelly, was her aim lousy. So lousy that it clocked Big Mac right upside the head!” Applejack exclaimed. Twilight and Spike jumped in fright. “Oh my goodness!” Twilight said. “He is alright, right?” “Oh yeah. Lucky fer’ Heartbreak, not only does she have lousy aim, but she’s also not a working mare. If ya catch ma drift.” Applejack shook her head. “But then she goes over the top with concern about him and making sure that he’s alright an’ that she didn’t knock sumthin’ loose. After which, she gets all flustered and her words got a bit nervous..” “Alright,” Spike began. “And this has to do with, ‘The Nine,’ how?” “Well her name is, ‘Heartbreak!’ Ah need ta know what happened between her and them so that ah can watch out fer any signs of it happening again! Ah don’t want her bringing those same problems here ta Equestria! And ah don’t want her hurting ma brother!” Applejack finally spat out. Twilight and Spike looked at each other. “Wait,” Spike began. “Let me get this straight. You think that,” He coughed and stifled a snicker. “You think that Heartbreak is interested in your brother?” “Well...Yeah!” Applejack replied, dumbfoundedly. There was a small pause in the conversation which was broken with Spike unable to hold back his snickering. Before long he was outright laughing. Soon, even Twilight herself couldn’t help join in the giggle fit. “Hey now! This is serious business! Big Mac is a kind and gentle sort! Ah don’t need somepony whose special talent is breakin’ hearts to put him through some ordeal!” Twilight walked over to Applejack, while Spike continued to snicker and giggle. “We’re both really sorry to laugh at you like that, A.J., B\but we can both assure you that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your brother and H.B. Particularly when it comes to matters of,” Twilight looked as if she was searching for words, “love. And in her current state? I don’t think that H.B. is capable of feeling something like love.” “Ha-ha-aaaah,” Spike gasped, finally calming down enough to get a few words out. His tone turned more serious. “Yeah. She’s pretty scarred from her whole experience. She isn’t going to have any interest in things like love for a long time. “Are ya sure? Cause she’s had a lot of relationships and-” Applejack’s face blanched and her pupils contracted. “Uh-oh.” “Uh-oh, what?” Twilight asked. Applejack looked almost panicked. “Are ya sure there’s nothing ta worry about there, Twilight?” Twilight frowned. “I am very sure that there isn’t anything to worry about here. In fact that’s been one of the most sure things that I have been sure about. I mean after all, she herself panicked, threw up and nearly cried when she thought that she almost raped Pepper Pocket.” Applejack’s face drooped. “She’s a rapist too?!” “Twilight,” Spike face palmed. “Let me handle this.” He put a hand on Applejack’s shoulder. “It was one big misunderstanding that happened when H.B. was high on creativi-tea. She said a few things that, if taken the wrong way, sounded like she, ‘wanted’ Pepper Pocket. She wasn’t thinking at the time and afterwards was really, really, really sorry. So, you have nothing to worry about.” Applejack looked like she was trying to calm herself down. “Alright, Spike. If you both are sure that she’s not after ma brother, I’ll trust ya. But ah’m gunna hurry back ta the farm. Just in case,” Applejack said, heading out the door. “Are ya sure ah have nothin’ ta worry about?” Twilight sighed. “You have my word that you have nothing to worry about.” Applejack nodded and left the library. While she was now a lot less worried, her steps were rather hurried. Spike looked at Twilight. “Uhm, Twi’?” “Yes Spike?” Twilight replied. “What’s a rapist?” the baby dragon asked in absolute innocence.