//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Forbidden Fruit // by NocturneD85 //------------------------------// Forbidden Fruit By NocturneD Caramel was rushed off to the hospital for his wounds. The children only suffered some scraps and bruises. Thank Celestia for nothing too serious. I had help from granny Smith with the bandaging. Its been hours already. Apple Bloom was grounded until further notice. I eyed the saddened little filly, granny Smith ordered her to apologize to the other children and as soon as Caramel came home she had to apologize to him too. Summarized, the tractor that I lifted was not only the problem with a bad gear shift. It was where the tractor was supposed to go, as explained it was supposed to go through a trail around the farm. But upon closer inspection there were some over sized rocks that could have helped tip over the tractor. The Apple family told Caramel he should have known better for testing the limits of the farm vehicle when he was not sure himself. Apple Bloom walked inside the farm house slowly after granny Smith told her; "I'm going to tan your hide for this stunt!" She turned to me and excused herself to make some calls to notify the children's parents. I stayed with them and moved them to the front porch. Some of them still moaned form the bruises they tried to pick at. I told them not to pick at their wounds and thanks to the freezer, I gathered ice in a bag and told the children to put them on their bruises. Spike thankfully was not hurt. I stayed with the children until they felt a little better. Snacks were provided of mostly just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and along with apple juice. Not too long after snack time, parents started showing up and taking their children home. One after another the parent would ask their child if they were seriously hurt. They each would shake their heads and say, "No. I'm fine mama and papa." And would show their colorful bandaid I put on them. Finally the last child went home. I think her name was Dinky hoping on her mom's back and waved bye to me. I waved back and smiled. I sighed in relief. But secretly I missed the feeling of little pattering hoofs and squeaky voices. Minds filled with questions and can be very persistent to find out for themselves. *Sigh* What a day... Just what a day. I thanked granny Smith for her hospitality. Even if an emergency popped up. Before I turned to leave with Spike sitting on my back, I looked up at one of the windows. Apple Bloom was peering out sadly. I slowly waved good bye to her. Those eyes she put on, were of questionable guilt. The girl wanted to have fun, but did not listen to her family saying that it was unsafe. Worse of all she convinced Caramel into doing so and it landed him in the hospital. Poor girl. But if you did something wrong, then you're in for a punishment. I'm sorry. That face she put on made me awe. By at this time, I stopped waving and turned to go back to the library. The lunar night was drawing near, the twilight hours were just about to end. Spike was unusually quiet. I turned my head, "Spike?" "Mm... Yeah?" He replied back softly. "You're not hurt are you?" Again I asked. Concerned for his safety as now I was taking care of him being his guardian and all. "No..." He answered quietly. He seemed to be distracted. "Is something the matter?" If I was going to be his guardian I needed to know what was up. "N...no. Just fine." He then laid his little head on my back. Rubbing his chubby face into my fur and breathed slowly. I decided to let it go. But I knew he was upset. He told me he was in the wagon when it tipped over, I guess it just shocked him. A heart racing situation. He was small and young yes, but he is pretty mature for his age. I'm proud. Twilight helped raise a fine dragon. But maybe he was still upset about Rarity? Or Twilight even? We reached the library finally. I unlocked the door and turned on the lights as soon as I entered. "You want to play video games while I get dinner ready?" I asked. "I don't feel like it..." He groaned softly. A boy not wanting to play video games? That's a first. To me that is. "How about getting washed then?" My wings nudged his little head. He slowly let himself off from my back and walked up stairs to the bathroom. I went into the kitchen to scrounge up something. I only did a little light shopping before I went to Sweet Apple Acres so there was not much. Basic stuff. Apples. Carrots. Salad in a bag. Milk. Baking soda. I opened the freezer to find a frozen pizza. What luck it's four cheese. I popped it in the oven and went about my business putting some more things away that were still in the boxes from earlier. Clothes. Jewelry. Knick knacks. Silver ware. Oh Celestia there was so much crap. Let alone finding a place to put it all. I went up to check on Spike to find him sitting in the tub. Keeping to himself. The toy boat floating in front of him as he ignored it. "Everything okay in here?" I peeked my head in through the doorway. "Fine... Just... Fine..." He muttered quietly, sadness was in his voice. I stepped in and sat beside him. There was no doubt, something was bothering him. But he did not want to talk about it. So I'm just going to have to make him open up. "How about I help wash you?" He did not argue, pretty much did not answer. Slowly he raised his arm as if he were signaling me to just go ahead. I used my magic to lift the wash cloth and soap, mixing the two together. Slowly I scrubbed the little dragon. Hope I was not being to rough I asked him. Again he said no. I continued. Then he suddenly giggled. He told me I hit his ticklish spot. I could not resist hearing the little dragon laugh. I tickled him again and again as he started splashing water outside the tub now. One final splash hit me in the face. We paused. My hair clung to my face. I huffed to blow a piece away from my mouth. "Oops..." He sank his head lower into the water. I chuckled, "No Spike. I should have known. Matter of fact I was in the splash zone." Oh that was so lame. A sea world joke. But Spike laughed despite being under water. The bubbles floating up as his head nodded back and forth. I finished washing him and dried him off. I can tell you one thing, Spike was a lot better than Twilight when she was a filly. That filly never wanted to take a bath then let alone let me scrub her. If I ever tried, Twilight would use her magic to turn the water into some shape to scare me away. Well, was all fun until it landed all over the floor. Mr. Sparkle was not happy about that when the bathroom floor caved in a week later under neath him and landed in the basement below. *DING* "Oh good. The pizza is done." I smiled after I dried Spike off. "We will sit in front of the TV if you want." Spike smiled, "Wow really? Twilight never lets me eat in front of the TV!" He frowned, "But she always wants to do things traditionally." "Well. What's it hurting anyway?" I laughed. "We will watch some movies, eat pizza, tell each other stories. The who she-bang." That was all the encouragement he needed. He waddled down the stairs and patiently waited in front of the oven. I slid the finished pizza onto the table and cut it into eight sections. Oh it looked so good. The gooey cheese all over the place. Yum. We sat in front of the television and watched some movies I managed to find. Pony Rangers: The Movie. Oh this was so bad that it was good. I begged my aunt Celestia to take me to the movie theater when I was a filly just to see this. Seemed a lot longer in length back then. I always wanted to be like the pink pony ranger. She was so awesome. And was the girlfriend of the green pony ranger, who was hot as hell. My first crush on a television character... Shut up... Don't say you never had one. I used take karate because of this show, even took up archery because the pink pony ranger had that as her weapon. Oh those were the days. Back then I tried to make Twilight be the yellow pony ranger and we try to gather some of the other boys to be the other colors. Only problem, every boy wanted to be either the red or green pony ranger. Arguing back and forth who was the best ranger. Twilight was never on board anyway so we walked away letting the boys fight it out. Spike really enjoyed the movie because of the fighting, the monsters and the giant robot in the end. The day was saved. And by Celestia that was one crappy movie... the sequel was worse as I grew out of Pony Rangers around the time it showed up in theaters. "Oh man that was great." Spike threw his arms up in excitement. "Anymore Ranger movies?" I smirked, "Movies probably another. But seasons, there were so many I could not keep up with them when I was little. I was just a fan of the first few seasons." I chuckled, "I just gave up after awhile and concentrated on being a princess." It was already getting late. Spike was getting tired anyway and went up to the bedroom. I took my bath finally and turned off all the lights and made sure everything was locked. I trotted up the stairs and into the bedroom. Then it dawned on me, I never set up the bed I brought over. Oh stupid me. Then I noticed Spike was in a small basket trying to sleep but he tossed and turned. I hovered above him as one eye was still half way open. I lowered my face to his little head, "Trouble sleeping?" "No... Just... hard to get back in the..." He mumbled. "Rather small Spike. Don't you want to sleep on the bed over here?" I asked. "I'm fine with the basket." He grumbled again. He was going to need a big boy bed anyway. I lied down in what I assumed was Twilight's bed. It took me awhile but I finally managed to get some shut eye. Hours later... I woke up to the sounds of whimpering. "Spike?" I lifted my head, still groggy. It was Spike alright. He was crying in his sleep. I got up from my bed and sat on my flank. I used my magic to hover his basket into the bed. He seemed fine a while ago but whatever was bothering him, just struck his nerve. He tried to cover his face with the blanket. But the soft cries the baby dragon let out, he whimpered Twilight's name. I pulled him out of his basket with my arms and slowly cradled him. His little hands slowly clamped onto my forearms. "Shhhh... Spike... It's alright..." He nuzzled his forehead, "I'm here." Rocking the baby dragon back and forth. Back and forth until he quieted down. "I'll be here..."