CHAPTER 11
The nauseating sensation. The slightly tangy smell of singed fur. The wave of colors and sensations that washed over her as she landed. She had experienced these symptoms far too often for her liking.
Usually, teleportation was a cinch. A quick spell and she could be miles away. However, lately, her magic had been a bit off. She’d been meaning to contact Princess Celestia about that, but due to recent events most of her plans were drastically delayed. And based on how things were going, they’d probably stay delayed for quite some time.
Once her eyes had readjusted themselves to the lights and colors all around her, she saw that she’d run into a slight miscalculation. She was about a mile away from Ponyville, and almost two miles away from the library.
With a sigh, she walked solemnly towards the inevitable. The certain torment from frightened citizens and angered ponies who surely wouldn’t be of any help at all. Did she deserve it? Probably not. But did she really think that? No. At that precise moment, she felt she deserved the worst of punishments. She felt absolutely horrible. Not only had she lost the one person she’d ever really loved, but she’d condemned her friends, her livelihood, her reputation, her very life to a world of judgmental eyes and harsh words. And why? Because she simply couldn’t stop being Twilight for even one second. Dumb. Emotionless. Logical. Stupid Twilight.
As she walked into town, she was met with a scene that she hadn't expected, nor did she want to expect. Most ponies, her friends and neighbors, kept a safe distance, respecting her. But more than once, they drifted towards her, in groups, or by themselves. They'd offer a sad look, or an insincere smile, accompanied with a few hollow words of comfort.
Nevertheless, in her mind, a whole different scenario played out in her mind. The ponies would come to her to scream vile curses in her ears, and hiss their poisonous threats. They hated her. And they hated her from bringing Spike, and causing all of this.
Though her eyes and ears were witness to quite the opposite, her mind had gone to a darker place. A place filled with fear and paranoia, buried deep within her own soul, where she kept her darkest secrets.
She hurried through the town square, ignoring the hushed whispers and occasional comments.
"Twilight? Are you alright?"
"Hey Twi, how are you? Feeling better? Don't worry, he'll turn up eventually!"
"Chin up, Miss Sparkle! If you need anything, don't hesitate to knock on my door."
Though the words sounded nice on the surface, she could hear their voices twisted, and ugly truths revealed.
“Nice job with that dragon pet, Twilight,”
“What? What’d you bring this time? A hydra? A Chimera perhaps?”
“Hate to say I told you so, but… Wait, no I don’t! I told you so!”
Tears fell carelessly unto an uncaring path below her hooves. She ran towards the library, leaving behind a crowd of confused and somewhat distraught citizens. It wasn't their fault that she felt this way, and she knew that they were being much more supportive than they had to be, but... part of her wished that they’d simply blamed her directly. That they’d thrown things at her, that they’d kicked her out of town and banished her in a dungeon. Actually, most of her felt that way. But…
There was still that tiny little spark of light in her heart. That small, almost insignificant speck of hope, of friendship, of magic, that hid beneath layers of muddled thoughts. A tiny spark, that she now realized, was nothing less than an emotion. An emotion that had been so strange and rare to her until recently. An emotion she’d always found overrated, but that now overtook her, and caused a bittersweet medley of joy and grief within her. An emotion called love.
It was love that drove her forwards. It was love, she realized, that drew everypony forwards. And it was love that made her persevere. She couldn’t give up, even if she had to fight all of Ponyville. Hay, even if she had to fight all of Canterlot! She wouldn’t give up, simply because of love. And it was love that told her that she had to do everything in her power to help Spike. For it was Spike, her best and closest friend and the one she’d shared practically all of her life with, that provoked that love within her. Spike, the noble dragon. It was always Spike, even though she hadn’t known it; at least, not until it was too late.
As she crossed over the threshold into her safe haven, her home, her library, she felt a sudden wave of energy crash over her. Perhaps it was something to do with being in a friendly environment at last, safe from everything going on outside. Whatever the reason, Twilight knew that she’d make full use of her newfound vitality. Locking the doors and windows with a surge of magic, she set her sights on the desk on the opposite side of the main room, and began planning her next steps.
Before she could finish brainstorming the materials she’d need for her checklist, she was ruthlessly pinned to the floor by an unknown assailant. Just as she was about to launch a spell to knock off her attacker, the brutal mugger spoke in an eerily familiar tone.
“Twilight! Thank goodness, you’re finally back! I’ve been waiting here all morning!”
Looking upwards, Twilight spotted the telltale mark of Ponyville’s resident mailpony and klutz.
“Derpy! What are you doing here?”
“I heard about what happened last night, and I was worried about Spike. And this morning I overheard Carrot Top and Lyra talking about how you guys had all gone after Spike into the Everfree forest! And I know it’s really scary in there, so…”
“Derpy!”
“Yes, Twilight?”
“Could you get off of me, and then talk?”
“Oh… Right… Sorry.”
As the deeply embarrassed Pegasus stood back to let her stand, she continued her lengthy tale.
“So I was really worried, and I know if anypony knew how to help it would be you, so here I am! What can I do to help?”
Twilight straightened herself up, and composed herself before replying. But as she thought about it, she found Derpy’s proposal more and more suspicious…
“Wait, why would you want to help Spike?”
“Well, I… Umm…”
“If you heard about what happened last night, why would you want to help get a dangerous feral dragon back to Ponyville?”
Twilight suddenly recoiled as she noticed the hurt expression on Derpy’s face. The gray Pegasus drooped her head and shut her eyes, a single tear dropping onto the hardwood floor. Twilight suddenly felt horrible. She had attacked Derpy when she’d only meant to help. Twilight reached out a hoof to try to apologize, but she froze as Derpy started speaking. Without looking up or opening her eyes, Derpy spoke just loud enough for Twilight to hear.
“Ever since I was a little filly, I was made fun of by the other ponies because my eyes were weird, and I was always bumping into things and making a mess. That hasn’t changed much, but I’ve learned to accept who I am, even if some ponies haven’t.”
Derpy sniffled and paused, wiping her eyes.
“My mother was really the only one who ever really thought of me as equal. And when she died, I… I knew… I knew I’d lost the only pony who’d ever really seen me as something more than just a clumsy, wall-eyed Pegasus.”
Derpy looked up at twilight, her bright yellow eyes glistening with tears, but a sad smile still adorning her face. Twilight couldn’t help but smile, despite the sob stuck in her throat.
“And then,” Derpy continued, “You and Spike came to Ponyville. I didn’t make much of it, but it was the first time I’d ever seen a dragon before. I was curious. And one day, while I was delivering letters, I bumped into Spike. He was running some errands, for you, I guess, but he still stopped to help me pick up the letters I’d dropped. Even though it had been my fault, he was nice enough to apologize and help me.”
Twilight wasn’t even thinking about anything anymore. She was just so caught up in the mailmare’s story that she’d forgotten about all of her own troubles; at least, temporarily. Although, a fleeting thought of how interesting Derpy’s story would be in the form of a book did cross her mind.
“After that, we became good friends. We hung out together occasionally, and he even helped me out with my deliveries sometimes. He never treated me any different, I could tell. And I didn’t treat him any different either. We were friends not because of how we were on the outside, but of how we were on the inside. Truth is, Spike is kind of one of my only friends. I should guess it’s no surprise that I have a hard time making friends.”
Derpy choked back a sob, and began to tear up yet again. Twilight wanted nothing more than to tell her not to cry, but she remained silent out of respect, and curiosity for what she was about to say.
“And now… I… I can’t lose Spike, Twilight. I can’t lose him like I lost my mother. Not again… Please, just tell me there’s something I can do. Anything! I’ll fly into the Everfree Forest if I have to, just…!”
“Derpy, calm down, it’s okay! I’m so sorry Derpy. I had no idea that… I didn’t know that you and Spike were so close.”
Twilight embraced Derpy in a tight hug, not just for comforting Derpy, but herself as well. She thought hard about what she could possibly do. The first challenge was getting Spike back. But Applejack had promised her. Safe and sound. And then there was the matter of defending him against the crowds that would surely want him banished…. Or worse. But how could somepony like Derpy help?
Suddenly, it hit her. Derpy. The Mailmare!
Abandoning the hug, Twilight ran towards the desk, leaving a confused and somewhat disappointed Derpy behind, clutching air. With a whisk, a small jar of ink and several rolls of parchment clambered forth from their hiding places. What surprised Twilight was that several of them already had a wax seal. She paid them no mind, although she’d definitely have to check them out later. They were probably letters that Spike had forgotten to send. Although it was highly unusual for Spike to forget mail duty.
“Twilight?”
Derpy’s innocent mumbling brought her back to reality, and without turning back to acknowledge her, Twilight dipped a quill in ink, and set to writing.
“Derpy, now that Spike’s… absent, I have no way of sending instant letters like I used to. I’m going to need you to deliver an urgent letter to the Princess! I’m going to ask for her help and guidance in this situation. Maybe she’ll know what to do, and help us get Spike back safe and sound!”
Seemingly out of thin air, Derpy appeared besides Twilight, saluting her while neither one of her eyes looked straight at her.
“I’ll get that letter to the Princess in a jiffy!”
Twilight nodded awkwardly, and continued to scribble on the parchment. There was no time to waste on fancy
hoofwriting or punctuation.
Ok, maybe there was time for punctuation. But no fancy hoofwriting.
After a few seconds or splashing ink and scratching quills, Twilight was finally done. She picked up a loose piece of string from one of the drawers and wrapped it hurriedly in a makeshift seal for the message. There was no time for the royal insignia or heating the wax or anything really. As she hoofed the letter over to Derpy, she looked at her solemnly.
“Whatever you do, don't. lose. this. Get it to the princess right away. Tell her its form me, and that it is extremely urgent. If she asks any questions, just tell her all the answers are in the scroll.”
“Got it. Don’t worry Twilight, you can count on me!”
With confidence that actually surprised Twilight a bit, Derpy launched herself out the window. What was really surprising was that she didn’t try flying out of a closed window, or bump into any of the bookshelves. Her exit was worthy of one of Rainbow Dash’s compliments. Twilight just hoped the rest of her journey would be as speedy.
******************A******************
Her eyes shot open, and the blinding sunlight coming in through the narrow passage was more than enough to alert her. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what she’d done. She'd fallen asleep! Again!
Whether it was the fact that she’d barely gotten a couple hours of sleep the previous night, or simply the fatigue in her bones, Applejack knew that there was no room for excuses. She'd fallen asleep, and let everypony down. Again.
With the head start she´d clumsily given Spike, he could be miles away by now. He'd probably have made it halfway to the southern shores. Of course, everypony knew that the Southern wastes just outside the Southern stretch of the Everfree Forest was one of the most dangerous and unpredictable regions of Equestria. If she was lucky, and if she put hoof to ground right away, she might possibly catch up with Spike before he got there. But she'd have to be very, very fast.
Applejack ran outside of the makeshift shelter only to find her heart stop as she realized her foolish mistake. The blinding sunlight that caught her eye wasn't coming from the eastern sunrise. It was coming from the West. It was sunset. And she'd just strutted out into the open, leaving herself vulnerable to whatever nocturnal predators lurked in the shadows.
Panic struck. Her muscles were unresponsive. She was Applejack. She could take anypony, and any creature on, one on one, anywhere, anytime. But for some reason, she found herself filled with doubt and fear. Lost and alone in the darkest parts of Equestria, surrounded by bloodthirsty fangs and savage claws and jaws yearning to chomp on her hide. All of a sudden, she wasn’t as brave as she’d made herself out to be.
Sweat dripping from her forehead, she looked around, surveying the nearby area with wide, frightened eyes. She couldn’t be sure, but the shadows played tricks on her mind. A snap of a twig and she immediately feared the worst. A high-pitched squeak and the almost jumped up a tree. Suddenly, as she scanned the branched above her, she noticed one of the lower ones had a peculiar foliage. The sun was only a few minutes away from being completely swallowed by the horizon, and so she couldn’t make out many details. Still, the strange thing was that the leaves almost seemed to reflect some of the light from the fading sun. And… Was that a tail hanging down? No… Could it…?
Eeyup. It was. There was no doubt about it. As her eyes focused and adapted to the dimming light, she finally made out her unknown bystander. It was a reptile. A big old, purple-scaled, green-spiked, cupcake-baking lizard.
Applejack crouched down as low as possible, simply out of instinct. If it was Spike, and she had no doubt that it WAS Spike, then she had to make a choice, and quick. She was fairly certain that he was either asleep or that he had not seen her. Otherwise, he would've done something. Right? Unless…
Unless he was toying with her. Which might have made her furious, if she didn’t feel like a mouse being watched by a hungry cat. In any case, he was bound to react eventually, so she had to act fast. Leaving things to chance, and hoping that he actually was asleep, Applejack thought quickly.
First, she’d have to get him down from there, and somehow restrain him. First his mouth, then his claws, then his tail. She’d need a lasso. Which she’d conveniently left at home. She’d have to remember to thank Twilight for the impromptu trip when she got back.
Improvising, as she didn’t have much of a choice, she spotted a rather sturdy vine hanging from a not-too-far-off tree, and promptly tied it into a lasso. Satisfied with her handiwork, she grasped the vine tight in her mouth, and started spinning.
She focused. She only had one shot at this. If she missed, the best that could happen was that she would miss by a mile, and Spike would never know. But if the lasso didn’t wrap around his jaws, she’d wake him up, and she sure as hay wasn’t too keen on seeing his reaction. Aiming carefully, and hoping for the best, she threw the lasso up into the branches… and waited.
The seconds felt like hours, and her heart pounded against her chest. She watched the loop go up… up… up… And hook onto the dragon’s closed mouth. Jackpot! With a silent cheer, Applejack tugged with all her might. A second or two later, she figured that probably hadn’t been the best idea.
Spike fell face first from the branch, which was easily 15 hooves high, into the leaf-padded ground below. Sure, he was a dragon, and that probably hadn’t hurt as much as it looked, but he’d woken up during the fall and with all the fright and flailing…
Applejack ran to the squirming Spike, trying to hold him down. With more vines clutched tightly in her jaw, she jumped on top of the wild dragon, and tried to tie his claws together.
Suddenly, she felt a stabbing pain shoot up her hind leg as Spike’s claw made contact with her soft flesh. She felt the razor sharp claw tear through her hide as though it were butter, and immediately shivered at the sensation of warm blood trickling down her hoof.
She let out a yell of pain that probably frightened every animal in the Everfree Forest, and jumped off Spike. She landed in a slump, her hind leg no longer able to support her weight. Letting out involuntary sobs, she crawled as fast as she could away from Spike, away from the wild dragon. Away from the monster she’d known for so long. From the monster she thought she’d loved. From the dragon that had now betrayed her.
“Applejack?!” She heard Spike say in a frightened tone. “Oh my… Applejack, I didn’t…! How could…?! It was an accident, I didn’t…! Applejack, please, come back!”
She kept on crawling, leaving a bloody trail of dirt and leaves behind. Her tears were not only from the pain in her leg, but from the betrayal she felt in her heart. From the foolishness she felt at ever having hope.
“What for? So you can finish what you started?” She cried out in a hurt tone.
She kept on dragging herself, trying to get into the cover of the trees, but Spike was faster. He easily caught up to her, and with a simple flick of his claws, he turned her belly-side up and pinned her to the ground. No matter how much she screamed and struggled, it was no use. She had lost.
“Applejack please, I… I never meant to hurt you!” Spike said.
As she lay panting, face up on the dirt, she looked into his face and saw him clearly for the first time in what seemed like years. His face seemed so much older and hardened that before. The scales on his face were already battered and muddied, but still maintained the angular shape of his head. And what a noble head it was. With his spikes forming much sharper and fearsome shapes, he seemed so much more… adult. And yet, his eyes. His eyes, filled with tears, spoke nothing but the truth. They called out to her, those swirling pools of green. The begged her for forgiveness. They looked to be more hurt than she was.
Finally, she gave up. She stopped struggling, but she couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes. She turned her face away and began crying once again. Spike sat back, freeing her and leaving her to curl up into a ball, as she tried to find some comfort in the cold, dark place she now found herself in. It was useless though, and the pain in her leg kept her anchored in her cruel reality.
After a few minutes of heartbreaking silence, Spike finally spoke up.
“It’s almost nightfall. We’d better take shelter for the night.”
She didn’t respond. She knew he was right, but she just wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. She couldn’t even look at him.
Suddenly, she felt his claws on her body again, and for a second, she feared the worst. However, before she could mutter a syllable of protest, she found herself cradled in his arms, as he carried her back towards the hollow tree where she’d spent the evening.
As she lay in his arms, she felt a kind of peace and tranquility. She felt that she was suddenly safe from harm. That nothing could ever hurt her. She felt protected. The feeling didn’t last long though. Soon enough, they were in the hollow once again. As he set her down, as gently as he could’ve, her leg brushed up against his chest, and she let out an involuntary squeal of pain as her wound opened slightly again.
“I… Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I’ll be more careful, I… Sorry…”
Once she was safely back on the floor of her den, because that was what she would call it now, her den, she curled up into a ball to try and warm herself up. She never realized that the temperatures could drop so low so quickly with the setting of the sun. As she nestled into a corner of the den, she peeked out from her fur, casting a wary glance towards Spike. He’d taken shelter in the opposite side of the den. Although visibility was at a minimum, she could tell that he’d also curled up into a ball, and she couldn’t help but feel that he was watching her. Although it made her heart flutter a bit, under the circumstances, she wished she could at least see her surroundings. See him.
After a short while, Applejack sensed movement from Spike’s area, and opening her eyes wide to try and see clearer in the darkness, she found that Spike was no longer there. Once again, she felt her body tense up in nervousness. Thankfully, the moment of insecurity was short-lived as Spike quickly returned, bearing with him a huge pile of wood. Trunks and branches of all shapes and sizes.
With a soft puff, he’d lit the thickest of the trunks and set it in the middle of the hollow. He stood, and with his claws, dug out a small opening in-between the roots that made up the “roof” of the den, and then sat back down, and began to add smaller pieces of wood to the fire. Applejack just stayed still, and stared at his handiwork. It hadn’t seemed like much, but now the den was entirely illuminated by the green and red flames, and an inviting sensation of warmth filled the atmosphere.
Now much cozier, Applejack allowed herself to stretch a bit more. She gingerly extended her left right hind leg, and inspected the damage. It was worse than what she’d expected. Spike had torn through the first layer of muscle, and she was still bleeding profusely. He hadn’t hit any major veins or arteries, so she was pretty sure she wouldn’t bleed out, but it was still an issue. Applejack looked up at Spike with a blank expression to find him staring at the wound he'd inflicted.
His face was pale, almost white, and he looked just about ready to throw up. He honestly seemed to regret his mistake, and for that, Applejack was thankful. Although she hated to make him feel that way, partly because it had been her fault, kind of, she was at least relieved that Spike was still Spike. That he hadn’t turned feral yet. His eyes never left her leg, and though she felt blood fill her cheeks, she bent over and began to lick her wound, cleaning it and trying to avoid infection.
“I, umm….”
Applejack lifted her glance, not bothering to stop what she was doing, but as her eyes met his, Spike fell silent once more. She returned to the task at hoof, but there was something tugging at her heart. This certainly wasn’t the rescue she’d planned.
“Why did you come, AJ?” Spike asked, in a cold, uninviting whisper.
“You know why, Spike.” She replied flatly. Applejack went back to the task at hoof, watching Spike out of the corner of her eye. He just curled up into a ball once more.
“I’m not going back.” He responded, seemingly speaking to nopony in particular. “You shouldn’t have come after me.”
Applejack stopped and propped herself up so that she could look him straight in his shining green eyes.
“Ya’ll didn’t leave us much of a choice, Spike. We were all worried sick for ya. You’re the one who shouldn’t have run off I the first place. We would’ve worked something out.”
All she got for a reply was a sarcastic puff of smoke from his nostrils as he rested his head on his claws. Silence dominated the night as Applejack watched him silently ponder about Luna-knew what. She felt pity for him. That wasn’t all she felt for him, of course, she realized that now, but pity was on the list, and at that moment, it was pretty high up there. Poor Spike had been down on his luck since he’d first arrived in Ponyville. It had always seemed that he was destined to be the comic relief of sorts, never catching a break. Of course, it was usually something minor, and easily repaired. This time around, however, it seemed like a greater force had conspired to turn his life into a wreck once and for all. She wanted nothing more than to comfort him. To warm his broken, stone-cold heart once more… But she couldn’t. She knew deep down inside it was wrong. Pleasing her own desires would simply end up hurting more ponies than she cared to count.
Spike’s voice broke her through into her thoughts, and brought her back to that cruel reality.
“Does it still hurt?” he asked, genuinely concerned. He rose to stand on all four legs, and slowly paced over to her side of the den. Her heart fluttered, and she wasn’t sure why. He loomed over her, like a predator casting it’s triumphant shadow over its prey. She’d never admit it, but it was kind of… exciting. Swallowing nothing but dry air, she nodded, and tried stretching her leg, which just made her wince in pain. She watched curiously, as Spike leaned down and inspected her leg. His warm breath tickled her fur, and she let out a tiny moan. Whether it was of pain or pleasure, she wasn’t sure she knew.
What was happening to her? She’d suddenly become so… So… flustered? That made no sense. She’d kept her feelings for Spike a secret for so long… Even from herself! And she’d always kept herself in check and under control. But now, lost, wounded and alone in the middle of a strange dark forest, with only Spike to protect the two of them… It was her favorite fantasy come true. Or her second favorite. The danger, the thrills, the fireplace, and the ragon she’d coveted for so long? But no, she couldn’t let herself be so… well, normal. She’d have to control her urges, and avoid hinting at anything at
all.
Suddenly, Spike lifted one of his hands, and looked up at her. She understood. She gave him a simple gesture to grant him consent, which Spike returned, and she watched him carefully run one of his claws down the side of the wound, and up the other side. It hurt, quite a bit more than she’d ever admit, but she remained silent, unsure of just what exactly Spike was doing. A few quick thoughts filled her mind. Thoughts of a voracious Spike, tasting her blood, and from one minute to the next, tearing her to shreds. But no, he’d never. She’d caught up to him before could become feral. If Spike could actually ever become feral. Slowly, his hand began feeling the area of flesh that remained unharmed around the wound, down her leg on one side, then up toward her flank…
Goshdarnnit girl, snap outta it!!!
In one quick motion, he lifted his other hand, and with one quick downward motion, he slashed. His face was one of pure regret as his claws made contact with flesh. Applejack braced herself for the imminent, yet unexpected pain… but none came. She looked up at him to see a sad smile that seemed to say, “I'm sorry”, and him holding his other hand, which was now bleeding profusely through a deep, self-inflicted gash in the middle of his palm.
“Spike, are you crazy?! What are you doing?! How’s that…?!”
“Relax. Dragon blood has… Wait, what did Twilight call it? Scarring properties or something like that? Well, anyways, it should help. Twi always keeps a bit in case of emergencies… Well, emergencies like this I suppose.”
Applejack just looked up at him dumbfounded. She still wasn’t sure she could believe her eyes.
“May I?” Spike asked innocently.
It took a few seconds before she could react, but she finally gave a simple, hushed, “uh-huh”, at which point Spike began to lower his bloody claw onto her leg.
She shivered, unsure of what to expect. It was somewhat gross, since, after all, it was blood, and she half-expected it to be warm and sticky. However, when Spike’s claw made contact with her leg, she felt something she’d never felt before. It was ice cold, as if someone had just poured a bucket of ice cubes on her leg, and the ice cubes were now dancing around inside of her wound. It stung like Tartarus at first, but after a few minutes, the pain subsided, although the strange sensation remained, accompanied by the constant massaging of her leg. Courtesy of Spike, of course.
“I was acting out on self-defense. You scared me AJ, I thought… I thought I was being trapped”
“What? Who’d trap you in the middle of the Everfree Forest?”
Spike looked at her seriously, a solemn look on his face, yet sad at the same time. Always sad.
“Haven’t you heard the rumors? There’s been word of poachers in the Everfree… And now I’m inclined to believe them. If there are any living creatures in the Everfree Forest, they’re all hiding from something.”
“I’ve heard the stories, but I thought it was nonsense. Who’d go poaching in the middle of the Everfree?”
“I don’t know, but whoever it is, they’re obviously not kidding around.”
Applejack pondered that. She had heard stories of bands of renegade poachers and hunters lurked in the shadows of the Everfree lately, but she honestly thought it was crazy. Nopony would ever dare go into the Everfree after hearing the tales of the dangerous creatures that call the forest their hunting grounds. But if there was someone out there who could actually hunt down these legendary beasts… Well… Then that was a force to be reckoned with.
Suddenly, the odd feeling in her leg began to give way to a new feeling. A blazing heat rose from the depths of her own wound, and it seemed to engulf her entire leg. She felt as though she’d just dipped her leg inside a volcano. Still, the feeling wasn’t entirely, unpleasant. It was actually kind of enjoyable. Like a sauna of sorts. The process continued for about an hour or so, until finally, a pale and tired Spike sat back to admire his work, clutching his wounded, and now surely cramped, hand.
Taking care not to move her leg too much, she bent her body so as to inspect the wound. Much to her amazement, all that was left of that gory opening in her leg was a thin white scar running the length of where the wound used to be. She tried moving her leg, but she found that it was still sore, and it pained her to do so. Still, not as much as it had previously.
“Spike, that’s amazing! How’d you…? Thank you, I…”
“No, don’t thank me. It was my fault. I gave you that scar. You shouldn’t be thanking me, you should hate my guts.”
Applejack was taken aback.
“Spike! How could you say that! Ah could never possibly hate you! You’re my friend, Ah love you…” Her voice diminished considerably as she uttered the last words of her statement, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Spike. Now she wished she could go unnoticed by Spike as the blood rushed to her cheeks.
“I saw you guys, when you… When you first teleported here… I overheard the two of you talking.”
Her ears flopped down in embarrassment, and she tilted her head downwards to look up at Spike with the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster.
“Oh… You heard all that…? I…”
“I had no idea Twilight felt that way for me. That she’d be willing to teleport into the middle of the Everfree Forest just to come and find me. To be honest I… I don’t really know what to make of the situation… She’s always been like a big sister to me…”
Spike sniffed and paused his speech as AJ watched hypnotized as a single crystalline tear fell from his eye and soaked the ground below. Pangs of jealousy ran the course of her body, despite her desires to quell them. No matter how much she wanted him, no matter how much he meant to her, no matter how much she wished for that tear to have been meant for her… she couldn’t act. She valued Twilight’s friendship above… above even her own passion.
“You know…” Spike continued, “I saw you the morning before I left.”
“You what? When? How…?”
“At the library, early this morning. You were the last pony I thought I’d ever see. I wasn’t planning on going back. I didn’t think I would ever see any of my friends again. But out of all the ponies I could’ve spotted last… I was glad that it was you.”
At that statement, Applejack blushed profusely, and pawed at the dirt beneath her hooves. She couldn’t look him in the eyes, partly out of embarrassment, and partly because of the sly smile slowly forming on her lips.
“I thought I mentioned that in the letter…”
Now that, of all things, was unexpected.
“Letter? What letter?”
Spike’s turn to act surprised.
“Wha…? But how… Why’d you come after me then, if you didn’t read the letter?”
If her leg hadn’t been killing her, she would’ve stood at full height just to bonk him on his thick skull. She was still sorely tempted to do so despite the pain.
“Ah came after your sorry hide ‘cause that’s what friends do!... Now… About that letter that you mentioned…”
Spike sighed, looking defeated. It was his turn to blush.
“Before I left, I… I wrote a letter to each of my closest friends. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. In your letter, I wrote about how much… How much I’d miss you and your apple pies… especially the pies… Ouch! Fine, I deserved that. I also wrote that whatever you did, you shouldn’t come after me. I emphasized that in your letter because I knew out of all the ponies I knew, you’d probably be the first to try and mount up a search party to bring me back.”
“Then why would you think that I’d read the letter and then come to find you?”
“Because I knew you would come after me, especially if I told you not to.”
“And how’d you figure that?” She asked quietly. She already knew the answer, or at least she knew the answer she wanted to hear. Now she hoped and prayed that his answer was the same as the one she expected.
“Because, AJ…. Because… Because you’re you, Applejack. You’re the most honest, dependable, friendliest, most beautiful, hardworking pony anyone could ever hope to have as a friend. And I knew I could always count on you to try and save a friend…”
She froze. Her heart was beating madly against her chest, trying to escape its bony prison and declare its feelings to Spike. She could’ve sworn that her face was entirely red by now.
“Spike, Ah… Ah don’t know what to say… No, actually Ah do, it’s just… For a while now, Ah’ve… Ah’ve kind of had…”
"Yeah?"
Applejack cursed herself. Why was she being so weak? Was she really going to speak the truth? Even though she knew it could very well her friendship with both Twilight and Spike? Yes. Because despite everything else, she was the holder of the element of truth. And if there was a lie she detested, it was the kind of lie she told herself. She had feelings for Spike, and no matter how much she wanted to deny them, she knew it was wrong of her to do so. She had to speak the truth and face the consequences.
"Spike, there's somethin' Ah've got to confess..."
"What is it, AJ?"
"Come closer..."
Spike leaned closer, his wide innocent eyes beholding her figure. She could see her own reflection in his dark, gentle pupils. She was struggling to contain herself.
"Closer..."
Now she could literally feel his breath, his warm, robust breath on her face and chest. It smelled of fire and magic, something unlike anything she'd encountered, and it produced an effect like no other.
Applejack opened her lips ever so slightly, ready to part with her long-kept secret Yet at the decisive moment, her body betrayed her, and she thrust forward, kissing Spike full on the lips. She was caught in the moment of passion, and only a few seconds later, Spike pulled them apart. Oddly enough, Applejack hadn't been the first to come to her senses.
"AJ, what...?! What are you doing?!"
"Spike, for a long time Ah've wanted nothing more than to do just that..."
She leant forward, her wild desires already gnawing at her heart to finish what she had started, but a claw at her chest paused her just long enough for Spike to protest.
"Applejack, I... I like you too, but, we can't do this! I mean..."
"What? Am I not as pretty as Rarity? Or smart like Twilight? Am I not good enough for you?" She said, without thinking it through. She instantly regretted it, marked by the teardrop that fell to the floor. She wasn't sure if it was the way she'd said it that caused her so much grief, or the amount of unexpected truth in her words. She had said it. She could never measure up to her competition.
"No, not at all... It's just..."
"Please Spike... Ah want this to happen... Nopony will ever have to know... Ah promise."
With a small smile, she leant forward once again to kiss him, and this time, met with no objection. In fact, she found that her gesture was returned, and forgetting the pain in her leg and the thorn in her conscience, she let herself loose in the heated throes of passion.
Regardless of the betrayal she was partaking in, she allowed her emotions to take over her mind and body, and forget the rest. She’d been bottling up her feelings, keeping quiet best as she could for so long… And now, in that one opportunity, she opened the bottle, and allowed herself to partake in one night of passion, to finally satisfy the desire her heart had tried to ignore for so long. There was no longer any silence in the Everfree Forest, and all the darkness seemed to be gone. In it’s place, like a blazing flame, stood only Love and passion, intertwined endlessly, feeding and illuminating the hearts of a young drake and a young mare, caught in the bouts of love.