Applejack dodged a deluge of fruit, smiling lightly at her kick and turning to look over at the woman in black across the row. “Your turn, now. Just hit it with the sole of your foot like I showed ya. Uh...ya sure kickin' barefooted don't hurt?”
Fuyu shook her head, bouncing on one foot as she sized up the trunk that was her target. “I'll be fine.” She launched her attack, and almost without thinking spun in the process. Her right sole slammed into the side of the tree with a loud noise, and a shower of apples was her reward. Unlike the last time she'd gone harvesting, however, her bones didn't break. In fact, despite having worked for the two days since Stormy's delivery, she wasn't nearly as hungry. She was matching the blonde's pace instead of trying to set her own, and found it to be extremely reasonable. After shaking the bark off her sole, she drew her leg back, balancing on her left foot and surveying the scene. “Like this?”
“Dang, y'all look like that karate instructor Rainbow Dash tried ta get me ta see once,” Applejack said, dabbing at the sweat on her forehead as she walked over. “Looks fine ta me!”
Fuyu returned to standing on both feet again and nodded. “Kicking is better,” she admitted quietly. Her lower limbs were much more capable of withstanding the impact, and the black sludge brushed off the splinters in her flesh with ease. They left the fruit on the ground for the moment, as help would be on the way soon in the form of Twilight and Fluttershy. The blonde squinted up at the bright sun for a moment as she walked to the next tree in line, doffing her hat and readjusting it on her head.
“Dang weather. Wish it would get cloudy without stormin',” she complained, dropping her gaze to line up a fresh kick. Fuyu was ready with her own attack, and lashed out at the trunk while Applejack was still aiming. After the apples fell, that electric spark of something appeared in her mind, causing her to stop mid-stride while she contemplated it. After a moment, she turned to look and saw Twilight waving a hand and smiling as she approached.
“Good morning!” she said happily. The librarian was clad in a simple purple tee with a pink and white star on the chest, tan shorts and running shoes. “How are things going?”
“Just fine,” Applejack nodded, tipping her hat in greeting. “Uh, where's Fluttershy?”
Twilight blinked and looked around for a moment, her eyes finally settling in the direction she'd come from as she scratched her head. “I'm not sure, she was right beside me. Fluttershy? Where'd you go?” she called, cupping her hands around her mouth. When no reply came, she placed her hands on her hips and sighed. “I'm sure she'll be here in a second.” She walked closer to the other two women, carefully avoiding the apples on the grass as she went. “Do you need me to pull any of the fruit down?”
“Nah, we just have a couple of trees left ta do,” the blonde said, walking over to one of the targets as she spoke. “Hey, Fu, can ya hit the other one for me?”
“Yes,” she nodded, moving over to the final tree designated for clearing.
Twilight walked over as she was preparing her kick, standing to the side and watching curiously. When Fuyu loosed it, she jumped a little and stepped back. “Wow. You're pretty good,” she said, magically shielding herself as the apples fell. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
Fuyu stared at her briefly, but shrugged approval and stepped closer. “Yes?”
She started moving back toward Applejack, and the woman in black pursued her. “I think I might have an idea about how to get around your memory loss. When we're done here, I'd like you to come back to the library with me. Is that okay?”
The prospect of having that impenetrable curtain pulled back was exciting and terrifying all at once, but her main concern was the method by which it was going to be attempted. She folded her arms and gazed at Twilight, coming to a stop. “What's your idea?”
Twilight turned back to face Fuyu and blinked, clasping her hands in front of her. “There are some memories amnesia doesn't always affect, like things you enjoy. If you're reminded of those things, sometimes they can jog your memory,” she explained. “I wanted to let you look at my book collection and see if anything caught your interest.”
That didn't seem like a dangerous prospect, but the idea of knowing more about herself still caused her an ambivalent, yet nervous mixture of emotion. In a moment more she decided that knowing was better than not, and she nodded her agreement. “Very well.”
“Great!” Twilight smiled, glancing over as Applejack arrived. “By the way, what happened to that truck Rainbow told me about? Did the police pick it up?” she asked the blonde as the three of them began walking together, away from the trees that had been cleared.
“It got stolen night 'fore last,” the blonde grumbled, removing her hat entirely and running a hand through her hair. “Durin' the storm. I'm 'bout tired of these folks runnin' on our land like they own it.”
“Can't the police do anything?” Twilight asked, glancing ahead at something in the distance.
“Say they ain't got enough manpower ta patrol this much area, so we're on our own,” she replied, putting her hat back on and scowling. Her eyes fell on the same thing Twilight was looking at, and she squinted at it for a moment. “Is that...?”
Fuyu was looking at it too, and the three of them stopped walking in order to gaze at it. It was approaching them, but took ages to get close. By the time it finally did, it revealed itself to be Fluttershy, very gingerly walking forward as she hugged herself. She was wearing much the same outfit as when Fuyu had first seen her, and looked to be suffering immensely in the heat because of it.
“Um, I'm sorry. I saw a baby bird that fell out of its nest, so I stopped to put it back,” she whispered, face flushed red with embarrassment. She look at Fuyu and squeaked, recognizing her from their brief encounter at the store, but this time she stayed put.
“Sugarcube, you're gonna fry in that skirt!” Applejack chastised her gently, walking over and giving her a hug. “Fu, this is Fluttershy.”
The two of them regarded each other for a small eternity, their awkward silences almost mirror images of each other. The farmer and the librarian blinked at each other as they watched the not-greeting, and only after a minute had gone by did Applejack nudge Fluttershy gently in the side, causing her to emit an adorable noise.
“H-hello,” the shy woman stuttered, displaying a shaky, raised hand that substituted for a wave. “It's...it's nice to meet y-you.”
Fuyu could not figure out why the woman was so nervous, and she mentally checked herself to see if she was being threatening in any way. When that query resulted in no obvious answer, she blinked once and slowly approached. “Are you...all right?” When she spoke, Applejack and Twilight shared another surprised glance at how similar the two women sounded.
“Ya wanna come with me ta get the truck?” the blonde asked the librarian, nodding back in the direction of the farmhouse and making an expression that confused Twilight for a moment.
“Oh! Sure,” she blurted out in reply, finally getting the hint. Before Fluttershy could protest, they were off, leaving her and Fuyu to wait there for them to return.
“Oh my,” the shy woman whispered to herself, looking down at the grass before returning her eyes to the woman in black. “Um...”
Neither of them had any idea what to do, so they did nothing at all, blankly staring at each other and remaining quiet as the seconds ticked by. Fluttershy was the first to budge. She wilted under the oppressive sun and had to move under the nearest tree for shade. Fuyu followed her, but stood a short distance away and tried to figure out why the woman was acting so odd.
“Are you afraid of me?” she finally asked, looking down at the seated woman.
“Um, no. Yes. I mean, no,” she said, pinning a squeak onto the end of her statement and shrinking back a little. When she only got a blank look in response, she returned to her mostly relaxed position and attempted a smile. “I'm sorry. I'm just shy.” When there was no reply to that, she began to frown. “A-are you all right?”
Fuyu just shrugged, hearing the old truck starting up in the distance. Ten minutes passed before it finally arrived, and neither of them said another word to each other during that entire period. Twilight was the first to get out, using her magic to retrieve the crates from the truck bed – all eight of them – and splitting them up. Fuyu silently went to work, while Fluttershy skittered over to her friends and hid behind them.
“She's scary,” the shy woman whispered, hugging herself tightly and shaking.
“Aw, she ain't scary,” Applejack countered, clapping her on the back and smiling. “Heck, I thought y'all would get along real good. Neither of ya are women of many words, heh.” She hefted her two crates up and went to a different tree. Twilight went over to Fuyu, so the nervous Fluttershy stuck with the blonde.
“But...but she looks scary,” the shy woman retorted weakly, squeaking and cringing when Applejack shot her a sour look.
“Y'all oughta know better than that, Shy. Fu ain't had it easy, all right? She ain't tryin' ta be scary-lookin', she's just been through a lot.” The blonde stopped snatching apples off the grass to glance over at Twilight and Fuyu, who were in a one-sided conversation with the former doing all the talking. “Didn't anyone tell ya what she did?”
“N-no,” Fluttershy admitted, feeling a bit ashamed of herself. She gently tiptoed about as she picked up fruit, glancing nervously at almost everything that moved. “What happened?”
“She ran off some of those damn thieves,” Applejack replied, standing up fully and stopping for a rest as she filled her first crate. “I kinda owe her one, ya know?”
Fluttershy also stood up, placed a hand on her chest, and gasped. “Oh my!”
“Heh. She's about as brave as you are,” the blonde winked, picking up her loaded crate and shuffling back to the truck. Fluttershy watched her go for a moment before darting over to Twilight and Fuyu.
“Um, excuse me,” she said, tapping the woman on her shoulder and withdrawing reflexively when she turned around. “Thank you for helping Applejack. I, um...she has so much trouble with people stealing her crop.”
Twilight grinned at the shy woman, but Fuyu was having a case of deja vu. The last time she'd heard a similar statement was from Rainbow Dash, so her brain took a running start and jumped right to conclusions. “Are you Applejack's girlfriend too?”
The librarian busted out laughing, but Fluttershy made a series of noises and tried desperately to hide in her blouse. Her face was so red, it appeared as though all the blood in her body had rushed to her cheeks. Applejack heard the commotion and came over, blinking.
“What's up?” she asked, looking between the three of them. Twilight couldn't look back without giggling, and Fluttershy was in no condition to speak, so Fuyu was her only option to get a clearer picture. “Fu? What's all this about?”
“I asked if Fluttershy was also your girlfriend,” she replied flatly, her face completely straight. When Applejack became the same shade of red as the shy woman, she blinked with confusion. “What?”
“Oh my goodness,” Twilight pushed out between breaths, hunched over with her hands on her knees. “That was a good one, Fuyu.”
“Where in the world did ya get that from?” Applejack finally exclaimed, trying to collect herself as she got past the shock. She removed her hat, fanning herself with it and shaking her head intermittently.
“Rainbow Dash thanked me as well. I assumed...” she trailed off, silenced for a moment by Applejack's look. “...incorrectly.”
“Shoot, it's all right,” the blonde said, moving to try and help Fluttershy recover before giving Fuyu a grin. “Okay, okay. Can ya stop laughin' long enough to help load this stuff, Twi?”
She continued to chuckle as she raised her arms, enveloping all the fruit around the tree in individual sheathes of glittering raspberry magic. The apples almost flew into the two boxes she had set aside for herself, and with little effort she lifted the full crates and levitated them back to the truck. “There we are, all done.” Fuyu was sufficiently impressed with this display, although she was careful to remain expressionless.
After the apples were all loaded, Applejack volunteered to drive Twilight and Fuyu to the library. She declined, wishing to take her own car back home instead. Fluttershy ended up going with the blonde, and the librarian waved as they departed in the old truck. Fuyu retrieved her sandals and slipped them on, and they were off toward the farmhouse.
“Have you tried to remember anything since I talked to you last?” Twilight asked, brushing off her shoulder as she walked.
Fuyu glanced at her briefly, shoving her hands in her pockets and sighing. “Yes, but it didn't work.”
“That's okay. Hopefully my idea will help you learn a little more about yourself.” A brief, uneasy silence hung between them as they walked. “By the way, I'm still curious about how you knew my name.”
She contemplated this question for a time and found there was no real answer to it. She knew the name as if it were part of the most basic information her mind could contain, akin to her stomach telling her she were hungry, or her nerves transmitting pain. Again, she glanced at the librarian and decided to give her a mostly-truth; after all, she didn't know why she knew it. “I'm still not sure.”
“That's all right, too. You can't force yourself to remember things. We'll just take it one step at a time.”
Fuyu couldn't work out why, but she greatly appreciated the gentleness in Twilight's voice. Perhaps it was the mind-easing quality it had, which helped her feel relaxed and by extension prevented her from stressing out and getting hungry. Not that there wasn't still a wisp of anxiety floating around, however. “If you do learn something about me, what then?”
“Then I'll know what questions to start asking. Have you seen a doctor yet?” Twilight frowned at the negative head shake and folded her arms. “May I take you to one? It's just for a physical. He won't do anything you don't agree to.”
Fuyu questioned why the word 'doctor' again attracted a burst of anxiety, and didn't immediately reply. Twilight's accommodating air made the idea more palatable, however, and she nodded her agreement. “Very well. Today?”
Twilight shook her head slowly, fumbling in her shorts pockets for her car keys. The two of them were back at the farmhouse, and she pointed the fob at her blue compact to unlock it. “No, tomorrow at the earliest. All I'd like to do today is the book test.”
Fuyu nodded again as they got in, frowning lightly at the tight fit as compared to Applejack's massive red barge. Twilight showed her how to adjust the seat, which helped, but otherwise they spent the short trip in silence. When they arrived at the library, she followed Twilight to the front door and inside.
“Spike!” she called, not seeing her assistant in the front room. Fuyu glanced around while Twilight walked away. The small tables each had neatly arranged stacks of books on them. She started to walk over to one such table to examine it more closely, but Twilight intercepted her. “Hold on. I have to make sure he set out everything I asked him to first.”
“Very well,” she replied, taking a step back and folding her arms. She watched Twilight disappear through a doorway, then heard some muffled conversation from beyond it. After a couple of minutes she returned with the teenage boy in tow. He gave her a surprised look, but said nothing.
“This is the woman I told you about, Fuyu. Fuyu, this is Spike,” Twilight explained as she brought him over, then stepped aside for them to greet each other. She offered a light wave, and he returned it.
“Amnesia, huh? If anyone can help you, it's Twilight,” he said, looking over at her. “She knows everything about everything.”
“Oh, stop it,” she said, smiling and flicking a dismissive hand. “Come on, let's start over here.”
They both followed the librarian to the other side of the room. Fuyu looked down at the books neatly stacked on the table and blinked, before sitting down at Twilight's urging and examining the book on top. This was a greenish hardcover tome, whose title was emblazoned in gold-colored lettering across the cover.
“The Art Of Butterfly Collecting,” Fuyu read out loud, staring blankly at the cover. She looked over at an expectant Twilight and shook her head. “Nothing.”
“It's okay. Try the next one,” she encouraged, taking a seat in a nearby chair and pointing to the stack.
She did just that, setting the first book aside and taking up the next one on the table. This was a smaller paperback with a colorful illustration on the front, featuring a black-haired woman in an explorer's outfit swinging over a canyon on a vine. “Daring Do and the Emerald Eagle?” she asked out loud, setting the book aside as quickly as she'd picked it up.
Twilight flashed her a reassuring smile as she shifted in her chair. “Don't worry about it, keep going.”
She continued, picking up and rejecting as meaningless every book on that table. Twilight directed Spike to go get books from the other tables. She was provided with books about every subject Twilight could think of, from animals and astronomy to politics and proper etiquette. Not once did Fuyu get past the covers, however, and each book was turned away with a light frown.
“Well, cross off politics,” Twilight sighed, rubbing her forehead and looking around the library. “There has to be something here that triggers your memory.”
“Twilight, I think she might wanna take a break,” Spike said, noting how uncomfortable Fuyu looked as he brought yet another stack of books from a distant table.
“Of course, I'm sorry,” she said, glancing at her watch and blinking. “Wow. I really lost track of time. We can grab something to eat, if you wa--...Fuyu?”
He had barely gotten the books set down when she took the top one from the stack and gazed at it, head tilted and eyes shining. She opened the red leather cover and began reading it, turning the pages at a pace only Twilight was familiar with.
“I think she likes this one,” Spike grinned, leaning back against one of the wooden supports and watching her scan the text. “A lot.”
“Wonderful! Which one is it?” Twilight exclaimed, grinning as she tried to bend over and look at the cover while Fuyu read. It took a few moments to get the woman to raise the book up, but once she did, the smile on her face ran away.
“What?” he asked, standing up fully and frowning at Twilight's change of demeanor. “What's the matter?”
“Spike, why did you get that one?” she growled, standing and unleashing an icy glare. He followed her as she stalked out of the room, shutting the door behind him as he went.
“You told me to cover every subject matter I could, so I went digging in the back while you were at Applejack's,” he explained, tone uneasy. He watched as she sat down at the small kitchen table and inhaled deeply, placing her elbows on the top and hiding her face with her hands. “I don't even remember which one that was!”
“It was How To Kill Without Joy,” she said, dropping her hands and looking at him with no small amount of anxiety. “My brother got me that as a joke.”
“Some joke. I thought it was just one of those sleazy crime novels you like to read sometimes,” he said, grinning, although that smile was shot down by the icy daggers that flew from Twilight's eyes. “What? Why are you so freaked out?”
“It's a book about assassination techniques,” she said, again covering her eyes. “I made a bet with him that he couldn't find a book I wouldn't read all the way through. He won.”
Spike felt his stomach twist itself into a cold knot as the gravity of the situation hit him. He sat at the table across from Twilight, staring at the closed door. “So, what does that mean?”
“I don't know,” was her curt reply. She was far too busy trying to prevent a snowball of panic from flattening her thoughts. “I don't...I don't know.”
Both of them nearly jumped out of their skins when the knock came. The door opened slowly, and Fuyu peeked in, a questioning look on her face. “I like this one. Are there any more?” she asked, presenting the book and pointing to it. Twilight stood up and started to walk over, but hesitated. Fuyu caught the anxiety and instantly addressed it. “Why are you nervous?”
She swallowed hard, but resolved to see if something truly was wrong before going off on one of her patented mental breakdowns. She remained standing at the table, put on her most gentle face, and took a breath before speaking. “Why do you like it?”
Fuyu stared at her for a while, not really having considered the reasoning herself until that moment. She looked back down at the book and blinked. In fractions of seconds, she had run through the implications of saying she liked this book, which was wholly concerned with the killing of people. She quickly tried to determine whether or not it could be attributed to something she genuinely enjoyed, such as the feeling attracted by those happy words, or something she knew and was used to, like having to eat, or picking out black and blue when Rarity showed her the fabric.
It was the latter.
Relieved though she was, in an odd, warped sort of way, it would still not present well and she knew it. What she didn't know was how to lie herself out of the situation, and by the time she again laid eyes on Twilight her helpless anxiety was apparent on her face. “Should I not like it?” she asked, her tone asking subtly for some sort of guidance in the matter.
Twilight was a bit stunned at the question, and finally walked over. “I'm not saying that, I'm just asking why.”
Because I spend many of my waking moments doing some of these things.
That thought very nearly reached her vocal cords, but her mind slammed down on it like a boot squashing a cockroach. This was far too close to the truth for comfort, and it was causing a swell of something in her chest that made her extremely unhappy. For once, this was not sensation she needed to attach a label to; it was as basic as eating or breathing.
She was afraid.
Twilight saw it leaking out through her eyes, and physically, as well as metaphorically, backed off. “Do you remember something new?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Spike walked over to stand with her, sensing the tension in the room.
For all the cold knowledge that her mind held, Fuyu had no idea how to defuse the situation so she could get out of there and go back to the place she felt safest. Instead, her racing mind decided to focus on the one question she could answer; that which had just been asked. “No, I didn't,” she said, her flat voice incongruous with the faint unease on her face. “I just liked the book. I've never read one before.”
Twilight stared at her as though she'd just caught on fire, but a relieved smile spread across her face as she lightly slapped her forehead. “I never considered that! Wait, if you've never read a book since you lost your memory...” She trailed off, folding her arms and glancing at the ceiling as she tried to resolve the amount of time with the failure to have ever picked up a book. “You haven't read a book in five years? What were you doing out there?”
The question was approaching dangerous territory again, but look in Twilight's eyes said she would not be dissuaded from getting an answer. Fuyu had to distill her killing spree into its basest form, and that only required uttering one word. “Surviving,” she said, her eyes steely and voice hollow. She twitched a little when Twilight placed her hands on her shoulders and frowned.
“I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to dredge things up,” she apologized, embracing Fuyu and patting her on the back gently. “You said that before, I just...I didn't know it was that bad. What happened to you?”
“I don't want to talk about it,” she replied unhappily, hugging the librarian in return and glancing at Spike. He wasn't quite sure what to do, so he put on his best smile and grinned up at her.
Twilight pulled away and also smiled, glancing down at the red book. “You can keep it, if you want. Do you want to go home?”
Fuyu could not help but smile at the word and nodded. “Yes.”
“The heck are ya readin', Fu?”
She glanced up out of her book and across the kitchen table at the other three people across the way. Rainbow Dash was over once again, having dinner, and the Apple sisters seemed to be amazed at how fast Fuyu was turning pages as she took bites out of her own meal. She raised the book so they could see the title, and all three of them blinked.
“Crime novel?” Rainbow guessed around the whole chunk of potato she'd just stuffed in her mouth.
“Sounds awesome, can I read it?” Apple Bloom asked, her mouth just as full of pot roast.
“Forget it, Bloom,” her older sister warned, frowning and shaking her head. “Interestin' title. How is it?”
“Nice,” Fuyu replied simply, already back to reading as she dropped her fork on the now-empty plate. “I like books.”
The conversation again turned away from her, so she ignored it. The more she read, the more she enjoyed the sensation of having information fill her mind. It was like a muscle being stretched, and it made her smile at intervals. She kept on reading even after dinner was over, and excused herself to go upstairs alongside Bloom while the couple settled in on the couch in the living room. She wandered into her quarters and sat on the bed, balancing the thick tome in her lap as she consumed its text. As the minutes drifted by, she realized how applicable most of the book's words were her daily life; contained in its pages were ways she could kill without being so messy and without having to rely on luck to hide or ruin the evidence. The book even had diagrams and images of weapons used in early assassinations. Some of these she knew, to her surprise, but others were fresh and alien. She used the black goo to recreate them in three dimensions as she read. As the sun set, she reached over and turned on the lamp to keep reading.
“Poisons,” she breathed, reading the title of the next section out loud. “Hmm.” Before she got started on it, she looked down at her stomach. “How are things?”
It reported back full. She still had time to dawdle, and that made her smile again.
“I should eat the whole body more often.”