Evergreen
Fan fiction by Grey McBoyd
Chapter X
Reassurance
The skies were a mixture of a dark, night sky violet in the east, fading into a warm, creamy, sunset-drenched orange in the west. Each lapsed into each other, equally sharing half of the beautiful evening sky in a short twilight respite. Clouds dotted the expanse, bearing shadows, colors and shapes that made each one an individual, artistic miracle. Their pace was slow, coming to a gentle pull as they and the earth below began sinking into the natural state of repose that approached the end of every day. The sunset was, as most, a vibrant orange that draped the once azure expanse like a grand curtain. Everything in sight was beginning to settle just as they should, everything was going according to the natural plan, everything was just right.
*FFFFSHOOOOOM*
Dash suddenly burst from one of the clouds at an upward angle, a small splash of rainbow energy blaring outwards behind her like a miniature sonic rainboom. She flew across the heavenly plane at dashing speeds, cutting thin tunnels through cumulus, sliding across the soft tops of cirrus, evading through asteroid field-like patches of altocumulus and finally landing on a patch of altostratus with a plushy, welcoming thump. She happily rolled and bumped against the surface, laughing as she came into a joyful bounce against a slightly tall mound of condensation, slowly easing back into it like an oversized pillow as she gazed off to the distant sunset. Her body eased, giving an internal sigh as she admired the grey patches of cloud that masked the sunlight so it would not blind her while she slothfully enjoyed this one of the few moments of peace she rarely had.
Her eyelids began fluttering and her breath slowed to comfy sighs as she began drifting off to a beautiful sleep, hooves resting on her chest and neck barely tilted up as she lied on her back. But before she could dose off, she heard a voice, one she recognized.
“Hey Dash…” it said in a calm, whispering tone.
It brought her back to consciousness as she opened her eyes, seeing one of her icons, her Wonderbolt friend Soarin, standing at her side with his trademark suit on, the head section off and laying on his back and his goggles propped up on his forehead. Any other circumstances, and she would have instantly jumped up and bounced around in delight, seeing one of her top childhood heroes next to her and knowing her name. But now, all she could do is look up to him and smile, having already spent great times with him several days ago and being in one of the most tranquil states of her life. She heard Soarin say again in a more sing song tone, one of implying.
“Oh Da-ash?”
She wondered why he was speaking like that, if he was making it sound like she shouldn’t be resting or if she had forgotten something he wanted her to do. But then, just in the very midst of her inquiry…
she woke up.
“Dash!”
She awoke, startled by a sudden shake of her shoulder. She looked around quickly, scanning her surroundings as she said several “what”s in close succession. She was not on a paradise spot in the sky overlooking a perfect sunset, she was just in her own bedroom, lying on her plushy, Wonderbolts themed bed. It was just a dream. After understanding her situation, she looked to who was shaking her, seeing Soarin standing by her side, just where he was in the dream, suit and all, gently grabbing her shoulder. She was going to ask why he was in her house in the first place, but before she could, both of them turned their attention behind Soarin as they heard Spitfire speak.
“Wake up, buttercup.”
Dash looked to her, seeing the golden mare holding a thermos of coffee in her hoof, a small plume of steam rising from its top. She wore the same attire as Soarin, trademark suit with goggles at her neck as she spoke happily, but slightly tired.
“Your gonna be late for morning drills.”
Dash furrowed her eyebrows, checked the overhead skylights of cloud space to see it was about five in the morning and looked back to her.
“What?” she asked.
Spitfire responded while trotting towards her leisurely.
“Sorry we didn’t come and get you yesterday.”
“Yeah,” said Soarin, continuing her apology, “we just figured you needed a day to cool down after that…interesting display of strength by Doc.”
Dash did not react to the retelling of a once bad subject, but simply pushed herself up to sit in a criss-cross fashion under her sheets.
“Wait,” she asked, “what’s going on here?”
Soarin sat on the side of the bed just in front of her, speaking calmly and happily.
“We’re talking about the deal we made. Remember?”
Dash thought, but only for a moment before she recalled the pact they made with a surprised expression.
“Oh yeah,” she said, “now I remember!...Wait a minute, you guys are still up for that?”
“’Course.” Soarin replied with a shrug and a smile, “Granted, after seeing Doc like he was two days ago, we had to think a little. But after thinking of that little speech he gave” he lightly brushed her shoulder with his hoof, showing a gentle resemblance to a friendly sock on the arm, “and the support you and your friends gave him, we came to the conclusion that he can’t be that bad of a guy.”
“Yeah,” Spitfire responded, now standing at the end of the bed before she took a sip of her thermos and continued with a smile, “he has to be if he has friends like you.”
Dash blushed and scratched the back of her neck.
“*heh* Shucks.” she replied bashfully, “Look at you two, making me feel all special.”
“You are special.” Spitfire reassured, “If you weren’t, we wouldn’t be here. Now put this on.”
She lobbed what looked like a folded stack of blue clothes, but as Dash caught and looked at it, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. It was a folded Wonderbolts uniform, a yellow thunderbolt running up and down the side of the breathing cobalt cloth and the trademark goggles neatly resting on top. This was Dash’s dream, to hold one of these in her hooves and know that she would soon wear it, to know what it feels like to be a real Wonderbolt. She continued looking in young, aspiring astonishment as Spitfire continued.
“We sort of guessed what size you were so it may be a little tight, but it should be fine.”
“Yeah,” Soarin added, “and who knows, you might be able to tell us a little more about Doc, your friends, or yourself while we practice. A little small talk here and there never hurt nopony.”
“Yeah, but not if it takes up the whole day.” Spitfire said as she socked Soarin in the bicep playfully, then continued, “Now come on, kid. It’s time to show us just how much of a Wonderbolt you can really be.”
***
*TWHUMP*
AJ let a burlap sack of apples hit an old table as it flung off her shoulders, the fifth one she had unloaded since Big Mac brought in the last of today’s harvest. She hopped up slightly near the table’s edge, resting her fore-elbows on the sack as she wiped her brow with a *phew*. She stood there, leaning with both elbows as she took a moment to think. She thought of what had happened the last two days, how her thoughts on the world had changed dramatically in such a short time. She now knew that immortality was possible and present, that there were now physical embodiments of the very Apocalypse chasing after one of her good friends and that he is one of those embodiments himself.
Her expression began turning sour as she continued her thoughts, thinking of how emotionally dead Mac was today during harvesting. She knew that Doc was practically his only male friend he’s had in such a long time, that Mac always looked forward to the day Doc would come back again. She could tell that Mac was thinking of all the times he had raced, drank and had good times with him. But now that he knows the truth, there’s just too much to think about at once, too much stress that anypony AJ knew could handle in one sitting. AJ knew that Doc was the kind of pony to realize that, yet she hadn’t seen a sign of him caring since the whole ordeal occurred. How could Doc be so ignorant of his friends, so caught up in his own business to not be selfish for one darn second and talk with the people who care for him, even if they know all their stress is entirely Doc’s fault.
She quickly shunned her thoughts, trying to think more on a lighter note, to bring her emotions back to normal so that her anger wouldn’t show on her face. Everything she didn’t want anypony knowing about always showed on her face. She began thinking of the other members of her family, about how their blissful ignorance of all that’s happened made her feel a little more glad. AB and Granny Smith weren’t at the square two days ago, so they still have no idea that anything even happened. Along with that, the army of a family she has is usually out of the loop from her and her family’s business. They haven’t a clue of who Doc really is, only the knowledge from a single story AJ told to a group of cousins at one of her family reunions. Of course, Doc might take his travels to Appleoosa from time to time, the town of abode for quite a chunk of her family and possibly one from the group she spoke to that one time.
AJ shook her head, not dwelling on the thought for too long as another one entered her head about family matters. Where was Applebloom anyway? AJ hadn’t seen her in a while, and the filly usually loves to help during harvesting routines despite her young age and inexperience. AJ continued wondering, but only for another moment before she heard a slight shuffle from the pile of sacks behind her that were left to be loaded onto the table.
AJ spun around in surprise, looked around her to see if anypony was near, then began creeping up on the pile of sacks like a lurking predator. What could be shuffling through the harvest that AJ would have to specially clean or throw out the apples for this time? She crept closer and closer, hearing and seeing another shuffle of the bags as one in the center lightly moved. She slowly put her hooves up to the sack, then yanked it away quickly, only to be tackled lovingly by her once missing, excited, cream colored little sister as she sounded,
“Surprise!”
AJ was startled at first as she fell backwards from the charging hug, grunting as her back hit the dirt with a thud and some unexpected blunt pain. She looked up, slightly frustrated before she heard her sister’s giggles and saw the smile on her face, bringing one to her own as she gave a chuckle from her hard working voice.
“*heheheh* Now what ‘n tarnation d’ya think you’re doin’?”
“Ya looked a little sad, so Ah chose ta surprise ya so ya maht feel better.” the pleasant filly replied.
AJ’s happy smile grew to a flattered simper of admiration at this. Such caring and devotion to keeping her sister happy. It was hooves down, the sweetest thing AJ had seen in quite a long time.
“*heheh*…Thanks little sis.” she said as AB and her got back onto their hooves, “Very kind of ya.”
“It’s just that Ah can’t stand ta see ya all sad n’ stuff.”
AB hugged her sister’s foreleg with a close-eyed smile.
“Ah just want ya ta be happy.”
AJ smiled reminiscently and replied as she hugged her back.
“Same here sis…same here.”
Just then, they could hear hoofsteps off to there side, very slow and coming to a stop just within audible range. They turned their attention to the noise, seeing the seemingly unusual, white stallion that the mare and filly both knew and “loved”. He stood with a reminiscent smile on his face for seeing such a touching moment, but it quickly vanished as he realized his detection and spoke modestly with an innocent hoof close to his muzzle.
“Oh, sorry…am I interrupting?”
AJ stared back, blankly at first, but as her thoughts of the past events being all Doc’s fault resurfaced, her expression turned to a scornful one and her tone shifted to an irritated tolerance.
“No.” she said as she released her grip on AB, “Just finishin’ up.”
“Doctor!” AB shouted as she ran up to him, already smiling widely once she spotted the kind colt.
She quickly galloped up and squeezed his left foreleg, making him take a slightly surprised step back. But it only lasted for a moment as she squeezed tighter with a closed eyed simper and a cute noise, making him bring his expression to a fatherly smile as he hugged her back.
“Hey Applebloom.” he said lightly.
She noticed his tone, sounding tired or deep in thought, so she asked while releasing her grip and looking up to him worriedly.
“You okay? Ya sound…troubled.”
“I’m fine…” he dismissed, “…just thinking is all.”
“Okay.” she said happily, not dwelling on the subject, “What’cha doin’?”
“I actually came by to talk to your sister, if she’s available.”
“Oh yeah, she’s raht over there.”
AB pointed over her shoulder and to AJ, who was standing with slightly crossed forelegs and a reasonably sour look on her face.
“Yeah…hmm.” he said.
“Hmm?” AB sounded inquisitively.
“Your sister seems a little…”
AB looked to her sibling for a second, then turned back and suggested confidently with a spunky smile.
“Grouchy?”
“Meh…that works.” Doc replied while shrugging, then added some positivity to his voice as he lightly placed one hoof on AB’s back and said, “Anyway, come on, let’s go cheer her up.”
They approached, seeing AJ turn back to the pile of sacks and sling another onto her back. She was turning back to the table as the stallion and filly came closer.
“What’s shakin’, bacon?” Doc asked happily.
AJ, in response, just continued towards the table until she reached its edge, slung the sack off her spine and turned back around to the pile, trotting back for another sack as she responded bluntly.
“Nothin’. Whad’you want?”
“Just coming by to see how a good friend is doing.” Doc replied, smiling and not noticing the slight irritation in AJ’s voice.
“Well ya don’t need to,” AJ replied as she grabbed another sack and walked to the table, “I’m fahn.”
Doc began to notice her mood, asking in a still friendly tone.
“You sure? You sound a little…”
AJ slung the sack that she carried with a slightly noticeable amount of force, letting it slam as it relieved some of her pent up anger.
“…frustrated.”
“Well I assure ya,” AJ said as she walked back to the pile once more, slinging a sack over her spine with a small grunt and continuing with a pressured tone, “I’m just peachy keen. Anythin’ else ya need?”
Doc put his hoof to his chin, tapping it twice in thought.
“Yeah, but…” he said before turning his attention to AB, “I’m sorry Bloom. May we talk in private?”
AB appeared slightly surprised, looking from one corner of her eyes to the other.
“Uhh sure. But…Bloom?”
Doc scratched his hair and responded innocently.
“I’m kind of a sucker for nicknames. Sorry.”
“Oh, it’s alraht.” she dismissed, “Ah’ll give ya two some tahm ta talk. If ya need me, Ah’ll be at the clubhouse. Bah Doc!”
She hugged him lovingly, then began cantering away, but she stopped halfway through her path from the two ponies to a space of open fence just ahead of her, the makeshift entrance to the section of farm that held AB and her friends’ headquarters. She stopped to quickly turn back, wave at her sister, say, “Bah sis!” and turn back once more to continue trotting away.
They watched for a moment as she departed, Doc looking to her contently and waiting until she was out of sight before he began turning his head to AJ.
“Well she seems…” he completed the rotation of his neck towards her, smiling and finishing gladly, “happy.”
AJ replied with a simple “hmph” and a disrespectful raising of her chin as she turned back to the pile of sacks.
Doc approached, not letting the insulting gesture faze him as he asked in a still friendly tone.
“I’m…assuming she doesn’t know about me?”
“No,” she replied bluntly while picking up another sack, “she doesn’t.”
“Well that’s good,” Doc said, “but now that she’s gone, will you please tell me what’s wrong?”
“For the last tahm,” AJ agitatedly started before she practically threw the sack she was carrying against the wood of the table, causing it to creak loudly before she slightly bellowed while trotting back to the pile, “Ah’m fahn!”
“Please AJ.” Doc persistently begged, catching AJ’s attention and stopping her directly in front of him on her track to the pile. She looked to her side at him as he continued.
“You know I can tell when your angry about something.” he said, “All I want to do is help, but I can’t do that if you don’t let me. Just tell me the truth.”
AJ looked away from him and to the ground in front of her. As she planned out several ways to start this conversation that she knew she shouldn’t be having, her lips began pressing together and her head began swiveling lightly until she closed her eyes for a moment, then swung her head at him and began angrily.
“Why?!”
Doc tilted his head to the side and sounded, “Hm?” while showing a confused face.
She seemed like she had finally given in and begun to tell him what’s wrong, but now she’s asking why he wants to help…or at least he assumed that until she continued harshly.
“Why did’ja have ta go n’ do this ta us?!”
Doc grew slightly distressed, asking calmly but with a hint of discipline.
“Excuse me?”
“Shut up and listen!” she bellowed, now fully catching his attention before she continued, “Everythin’ was just fine and dandy ‘round these parts, just nahce an’ normal ‘til you had ta come along and bring your freaky, nutjob, outta-this-world friends! Why‘d ya have ta go and bring your problems with ya wherever ya travel, leave them on the shoulders of ponies like us ta deal with?! Do ya even know how upset Big Macintosh has been since the fight? He’s felt like he’s lost his one n’ onleh friend in the world, an’ all you been doin’ is goin’ ‘round and sayin’, ‘How do ya do?’ ta everypony else that doesn’ need it! Ponies lahke Applebloom don’ know what you are, they don’t need comfertin’, or ta be told that your still you on the inside! Ponies lahke Big Mac n’ Ah do need it, but you’re just too twitterpated in your own need fer personal comfort ta even care! You don’t even care, do ya?! You’ll never care ya spider-legged, evil-eyed, in-con-siderate monster!!”
Doc had stood still throughout the rant, listening with a still expression, surprised gaze and slightly gaped mouth as he absorbed every word of her anger-induced banter. After several seconds of silence, and of Doc staring down at AJ with the same innocent and victimized face, he began slowly shutting his muzzle as he appeared to be piecing together every spoken syllable. AJ kept an implying lean a few inches from his face after finishing, just waiting for a response and only receiving the actions of Doc looking farther down from her and into his own alleged “guilt”, as AJ’s assumptions told her. After looking slightly to the left and right, Doc began pressing his lips together before he turned away and began trotting from the scene slowly. AJ watched as he walked away, noticing his head to be hung low and scanning the ground for an answer to his confusion. It’s not quite the response she wanted, but it appeared to leave him baffled and kept him far away from her. He’s gone. It worked. So she honestly didn’t care how he reacted.
She saw him stop in the middle of his path away from her, appearing to be breathing harder and harder after stopping dead in his tracks. Good riddance was all she could think of before she turned around in defiance of him, doing so just after seeing Doc raise a hoof to the level of his head in what could have been agitation, along with his heavy, now furious looking breathing. She was turned the other way, eyes closed and forelegs crossed like a spoiled brat only for a moment longer, then she heard it. The booming sound behind her made the ground quake and her heart skip a beat, like a bomb just went off right behind her back, so she turned around to see the cause and noticed Doc strolling up to her. Her mouth just began to speak his name in question as Doc’s dark fingers locked around her throat.
AJ felt Doc lift her high into the air a second after he got a grip on her neck, not so much choking her, but dangling her up to the level of his face, which practically radiated spite and fury in the now infamous, demonic and deathly gaze everypony in town has been terrified of since two days prior to then. Doc’s glare was just as it was those two days ago, crimson iris and raven sclera with dark lines running up his face and into his eyes, the same vile beam Doc gave his foes when all this started and everything changed. AJ instinctively grabbed Doc’s foreleg with both of her own as it lifted her up, her hind legs hanging limply below her like a ragdoll as she went into a slight panic. She was frozen in momentary fear and was only able to stare into Doc’s eyes as she heard him hiss deeply through his clenched teeth.
"Just who the hell do you think you are?"
***
The tone in his voice was constructed of pure anger, spoken in a feral growl that terrifyingly pierced AJ’s ears and rang out through her head. That kind tone, coupled with the fact that she thought she was being choked, made her think he was going to kill her without hesitation, stopping any of her oncoming words of reply in their tracks. In that second of terror, AJ could understand her surroundings and just how deep of a mess she had gotten herself into. Doc actually looked exactly as horrifying as he did two days ago in the town square. His eyes were black and red, his hooves replaced by grotesque hands, which explains the fingers around AJ’s gullet, and his skin, tattooed and lined by the darkness that laced over his crooked bloodstream. He stood on his hind legs, practically doubling his height and reinforcing his superiority in the situation. The only difference from the first time AJ saw this look he had was that he did not have his monstrous legs protruding from his back. He simply stood, shockingly angry, unearthly tall and murderously interactive with his once caring friend, but only coming close to the level of intimidation of what AJ spotted just over his shoulder.
The spot where he had been standing just before AJ turned around now had a crater, five feet in diameter and about one foot in depth, busting through the ground like a cracked and jagged pock mark on worn-in steel. The once solid dirt was now broken into full slabs like fractured concrete, a form soil should never take under any normal circumstances. After she was lifted into the air and allowed to notice these things in the matter of seconds it took Doc to ask his furious question, AJ could feel the intense heat radiating from the dark hand around her throat. She instantly knew that Doc had punched the ground in fury just before stomping over to her and showing his displeasure over her foolish outburst. With a feat like that performed in his anger, it was all the more reason to be intimidated by Doc, a once kind and modest friend of a stallion, now possessed and completely directed by his own blinding rage. He continued in the same furious tone of his previous question, starting his own rant in a boiling counter to AJ’s.
“Do you have any idea just how stupid you are for saying crap like that?” he asked.
AJ could only squirm in response to Doc’s vile but true words, merely showing her discomfort by rebelliously shifting in his fingers for a fraction of a second.
“You say that I don’t care. That I’ll never care. Remind me again who fixed your brother’s damn leg after a cart of freaking apple sacks fell on top of it?”
She could feel him release the grip on her neck slightly, still making sure that she was in his grasp, but now giving her neck just the room it needs to formulate a sentence. Or just a word in this situation. As she noticed her queue to speak, she deliberately stared up into his intimidating eyes with an angry, unmoved face, defying his request for an answer. After a few seconds of this, Doc severely deepened his already furious glare and shook her hanging body back and forth like a ragdoll.
“ANSWER ME!”
AJ panicked in the slight second she was being slung around in Doc’s dark grasp, thinking he was about to kill her with the gargantuan strength he just displayed. She answered as soon as the shake Doc was giving ceased, speaking in a now extremely shaky voice accompanied by a horrified expression.
“Y-y-you did!”
“Who was the pony that, when you were younger, helped you in the apple bucking seasons that were just too much for you to handle?”
“Y-you.” she replied.
“And just who was that tall, white, idiotic freak that has kept his promise of coming back to you guys every year for the last decade?!”
“Y-…y-…”
AJ exhaled through her nose and relaxed her tense muscles, finally calming down as she closed her eyes and slightly lowered her head in shame.
“You…you did…”
“Exactly!” Doc spouted, completely ignoring AJ’s now shameful actions and just continuing to make his point, “I’ve cared about you all for as long as I’ve known you. Are you really just going to let this little incident, these minor facts about the monster that I am, destroy everything our friendship is?”
He made it sound so much smaller, such less of a problem to coup with than what it really was. You don’t just see your best friend turn into a demon and brush it off five minutes later. AJ knew this, and replied as such.
“How’m Ah supposed ta not let it git destroyed? D’ya have aneh ahdea just how much pain it’s caused us?”
The vocalization of AJ’s excuse pulled Doc’s furious scowl back onto his face after what looked to be a second of unbelieving confusion. He shouted, raising his voice back up after he began calming down in his last question.
“OH! You think you’re in pain?! I’ve had to see more of my friends die than the number of ponies you’ve ever met in your life! I’ve had to walk over the bodies of those who believed in me! Saw me for who I was! They were the only things in the world that made me feel like I belonged, and now their gone! How do you crack under the pressure of just seeing your brother a little sad, when I’ve had to deal with the pressure of having this crap,” as he said that, he pointed directly at his face, giving emphasis to the darkness in his blood and the red in his eyes before continuing, “running through my veins for my entire life?!”
“It’s not the same!” AJ swiftly replied, “I’ve got a family ta think about!”
“Damn it Skyheart! How many times do I have to tell you before you realize that I HAVE NO FAMILY!”
***
The silence that followed left both of them still, Doc standing high but slightly hunched due to his imposing lean on AJ. AJ herself was still hanging limp, completely at the mercy of a friend she turned her back on in his time of need, foolishly believing her own grief superseded his. They stared into each other’s eyes for several seconds, noticing the other’s expression, both confused, but in their own different way and pace that it became apparent. AJ’s expression, after being called by a completely unknown name, came almost instantly, while Doc’s expression slowly shifted from his angry glare, as if he was slowly realizing his own words and what they meant to him. At the end of his transition, he was looking away from AJ and at the ground slightly to his right. His eyes were open and his muzzle was parted, panting as he slowly cooled down from the heated discussion, the expression of guilty realization on his face.
“I…I should go…” he said before promptly freeing her from his grasp.
AJ fell from his fingers and onto her knees against the dirt, clutching her throat with one hoof as the other held her up from the ground. Rather than be concerned for her own well being, AJ instantly looked to Doc after she hit the ground, worried for him more than for herself. As soon as he let her go, Doc began walking in the opposite direction of AJ, forelegs by his sides as he walked away on his hind legs like the mythical humans of legend and fantasy. He looked like so only for a moment longer, before he dropped back down onto his forelegs and let his head hang after the impact. AJ waited a few seconds before responding, watching Doc’s fore-hooves change back to normal and the lines across his body recede before picking herself back up and running up to him.
“Doc wait!” she said hurriedly.
She caught up to him, one of her hooves on his left shoulder as he continued trotting, unaffected by AJ’s concern. She stayed his pace and pleaded to his hung head as they walked.
“Please Doc! Ah’m sorry! Please, just stop n’ talk ta me for one second!”
Doc was still a moving statue, staring at the dirt trail in front of him as his hooves automatically put one in front of the other. AJ continued, sounding increasingly desperate.
“Ya gotta forgive me!” she pleaded, “I didn’t mean any a’ that stuff Ah said. Ah really didn’t!”
She stopped trotting by his side, standing alone on the trail and letting him continue his march without her.
“Ah was jus’…” she said as she started tearing up, pointing her nose to the ground as she admitted, “scared…Ah didn’t know what ta do…”
She could here the hoof steps in front of her stop, but didn’t dare look up out of the shame she knew she deserved for saying such horrible things to a good friend.
“Please Doc…” she said as she closed her eyes, tears dripping off of her naturally beautiful eyelashes and onto the dirt in front of her, “Ah’ve alreadeh lost so much…Ah don’t wanna lose you too…”
She could hear the hoof steps in front of her start up again, beginning to weep as she thought he was continuing to walk away. But she could hear them get closer and closer, stopping when they sounded like they were right in front of her. When AJ realized where Doc was, she opened her eyes and slowly looked up, still crying as her sight ran up Doc’s very near figure and eventually caught sight of his face. She stared up into his blank expression as Doc stared down into the depressed state of hers, both of them looking right in the other’s eyes for a few moments longer in silence, before Doc suddenly wrapped his forelegs around AJ’s shoulders. At first, the sudden hug caught her off guard, but Doc’s following words and the tone about them relieved any of the fears she had of being in his grasp again.
“No need to worry AJ. Even if it takes every ounce of power from my body, I promise you won’t lose me. As long as I have the strength to fight, the will to go on, I will never leave you…”
This tone was the one AJ thought she had destroyed in her outburst, the one that made Doc the supportive, strong, friendly and loveable guy that he always was. It sounded helpful and flexible to the aftershock of the frightening situation AJ had just experienced, calming the scene and bringing everything back to its natural state. She loved hearing that voice again, knowing that it still exists and that Doc hadn’t left with it. She hugged him back after taking a few moments to soak in his words, squeezing his torso tightly under his forelegs before hearing him continue.
“And you’re not the one who should be sorry in this situation.” he said, “I put you in a choke hold and you’re the one saying you’re-”
He was quickly interrupted midsentence by AJ releasing her wrap around him slowly, backing her torso away from his while waving a hoof in front of his face and saying several “no’s” in quick succession. Before Doc could ask what she was doing, she imposingly spoke after finishing her last two no’s with emphasis.
“You don’t get ta be sorry after all the stuff Ah said.”
“Aw, come on AJ-”
“Doc, in that outburst, Ah sounded lahke Ah was the most important mare in Equestria. That mah problems stood above everypony else. Ah didn’t even stop for a second ta think a’ what the others must be goin’ through. And on top a that, just look at, above anypony else, who Ah chose ta yell to! There is not a doubt in mah mahnd that you’re goin’ through the worst of all this and you need as much help as you c’n get. An’ yet, there Ah was, too damn stupid ta even bring the options up before makin’ mah decision.”
Doc smiled at her honesty about herself, that she knew the degree of her mistake, even if Doc didn’t think of it that way himself.
“Eh, accidents happen I guess.” he casually said with a shrug and a relaxed smirk.
He stuck out his hoof and proposed questioningly.
“Bygones?”
AJ looked at his hoof and smiled quickly before looking up to him, slapping her hoof into the grasp of his like the brash, young farm girl that she was and gladly saying, “Bahgones.” before firmly shaking it in agreement with her recovered friendship.
“Anyway,” Doc said, changing the subject, “now that we’re square on the whole immortality thing, you think we should go and talk to your brother?”
AJ was surprised that he remembered that part of the outburst. He saw a problem that one of his friends was having, even when he had it screamed into his face. AJ gave a slightly surprised, “Oh” before smiling at his concern.
“Yeah,” she replied, “that’d probleh be for the best raht about now. Don’t want him gettin’ jealous of you talkin’ ta me and leavin’ him outta the loop.”
“My thoughts exactly!” Doc responded with a closed-eyed smile before motioning his hoof in the general direction of AJ’s house, “Shall we?”
“Let’s.” AJ replied, and they were off to comfort another of Doc’s friends, taking another step in their journey to bring everything in the town back to it’s peaceful ways.
“Bah the way Doc…” AJ said as they were about halfway to her house.
Doc looked to her interestedly.
“That name ya called me, before we stopped yellin’ at each other…who is she?”
“Oh…” Doc said with a smile before turning his gaze forward and answering happily, “…somepony.”
“Well, where is she now?”
Doc looked up slightly from his normal gaze, staring at the sky for a moment before he turned his face back to AJ and casually said with a humble smile,
“She’s dead…”
***
The hardwood floor squeaked a little as Spike’s scaly feet padded across it. He was walking with a silver tray in his hands, laden with a large bowl of lettuce, a small plate of daisies on the side and a tall glass of water. He approached Twi, who was at her desk, still deep in her studies after already having her face in a set books for last three hours. Spike put the plate on her desk without warning, surprising Twi and giving her eyes a moment of rest in the slight small talk they shortly followed with. After some miniscule topics and enjoyable laughs, Spike eventually brings up the topic of Twi going to visit Doc earlier in the day.
“Like I said Spike,” Twi explained, “I checked the caravan and he just wasn’t there.”
“Where do you think he ran off to?”
“Not sure,” answered Twi, “there wasn’t a note or anything to follow, so I guess we just have to wait and find out.”
And before they could change the subject to whatever else may pass the time, they heard a distinct knock at the door.
Twi got up from her seat, stretched her stiff limbs and went to check the door, finding none other than the famous white stallion everypony’s been talking about standing right on her door step. As she saw his smile light up at first sight of her, Twi greeted him happily.
“Well aren’t you right on queue?” she said, “We were just talking about you.”
“Oh really?” Doc replied as he trot inside, “And pray tell, what was being discussed of me?”
“We’ll tell you later.” said Twi as she walked past him after closing the door, “But in the mean time, care to join us for dinner?”
“Uh…sure.” Doc said, surprised by the offer before he responded modestly, “I’d be honored, in fact!”
“Great!” exclaimed Twi before turning her head around and saying to her loyal assistant, “Spike, if you would be so kind as to get Doc a bowl of that wonderful salad you made.”
“My pleasure.” he replied with a salute before he hopped out of his chair and swiftly set course for the kitchen archway.
As Spike ran off, Doc said, “Thanks little guy!” just before he rounded a corner into the kitchen and out of sight. Twi sat back at her desk, and Doc followed by using his strange magic to telekinetically pull a chair to him from clear across the foyer, placing it to face along the desk rather than into it. Twi was about to ask him about his magic abilities, thinking he was a bit more open with his secrets after all that’s happened. But she had to turn her attention to Doc as he kindly asked with a smile, plopping lazily into his seat with a relaxed backwards lean, crossed hind legs and his left foreleg resting on the desk.
“So Twi,” he asked, “you still haven’t said how you two were talking about me.”
As she took her own seat, she replied in the same friendly tone he was using.
“Have some patience, I was just about to tell you. We were just a little concerned about why you weren’t at your caravan all day.”
“Ah yes!” Doc sounded, “Sorry about that. I was busy going around town and having a talk with all our friends. Just a chat about everything that’s happened lately.”
Twi tilted her head to the side and changed her expression to show her slight confusion.
“Out of all the ponies in town,” she mentioned, “I’d have thought that our friends would be the best off in dealing with it. I mean, we did stand up for you when you were giving your speech.”
“True.” he replied, “But I’ll have to correct you in saying that you” he pointed his hoof at her and spun slightly in his seat, now correctly facing the table off the side of his chair, “are the only of our friends that has dealt with it at all.”
This began to greatly confuse Twi.
“But what about the speech? They sure seemed okay around you then.”
“So did everypony else in town.” he presented, “Now look, I can understand how it might be confusing, but I’ve accidently revealed myself in enough places to see a decent pattern.”
He straightened his chair to face the desk and shifted in the seat to get comfy, beginning his explanation with appropriate movements of his hooves and a surprisingly experienced tone.
“Should my secret get out, and a group like the populous of Ponyville know, there’s a series of outcomes that tend to follow afterwards. Most of the time, my secret ends up getting me kicked out of the small town, never to return again. I almost lost a lot of good friends because of it, but in that situation, I try to do enough good for the town, remind them of who I try to be so they forgive me and do the other, somewhat-common outcome. That outcome is that the town just accepts me, whether it be out of pity from seeing the crap get beaten out of me like before, through the kind of reassurance you guys helped me give at the speech, or just because I knew all the townsfolk well enough to where they could see the real me past that horrid beast I could so easily become. But even if I knew every single pony just as well as you, or any of our friends for that matter, there was always this one little catch that never seemed to fail.”
“After seeing such horrible things, even if you’ve been reassured that they’re not a problem at all, that they change nothing, you still just want to go straight home, fall asleep, and then wake up. Hope that everything you’ve experienced that day was nothing but a bad dream, a nightmare of seeing your best friend turn into a demonic superpony, capable of snapping anypony in half like a twig should they strike a wrong nerve with him. But when you wake up the next day or two and realize that what you saw was reality, you begin to lose it. Next comes a jumbled mess of doubt, denial, blame, and many other things. All this, and the next thing you know, you’re just as scared as you were the first time you saw the friendly little Doctor for the beast he really was.”
Twi understood it now, how the hope of such a phenomenal horror not being real can drive you into a nervous lapse when not fulfilled. Dash was a perfect example, a strong and resilient athlete turned to a wallowing pile of insecure mush as soon as she put some thought to the matter.
“This has happened every single time I’ve been caught,” Doc continued, “even to those closest to me. That’s why I had to go around and see all of our friends, have a talk with them before they slip any further into that inevitable, paranoid mess most ponies end up in.”
“But I’ve been just fine since the incident.” Twi said, still attempting to see why her friends needed help, “How can they be any worse for wear when we all know what friendship really is?”
“Like I said,” he answered, “you were the only one that really dealt with it. I was simply adding on to your efforts by going and talking to them in person. You were the one who really kept this group together after everything changed. I mean, just think about it. The very next day after what happened, as everyone thought and thought about what to do, you went around and talked to your friends, not losing yourself to it at all. You talked to the ponies that were affected the most by the truth, but helped them discover a way to deal with it, and somehow remain the friend of an old, foolish monster. You’re a problem solver, somepony who won’t leave something like that alone and just hope that it’ll go away. When something needs to get done, you get it done, and that’s what’s made you the smart, resourceful, amazing girl that I know I can always trust.”
Twi blushed a little at such a sweet comment, then thought through some of his words before responding.
“Thanks…but Doc.”
He perked his attention as he usually does.
“After all that’s happened, after all the convincing of the townsfolk that you’re just a normal guy and all the support from all of our friends, why do you still call yourself a monster?”
“‘Cuz I am.” he answered flatly.
“No you’re not, and you know it.”
“Oh come on Twi. Yesterday, you saw crystal clear just what kind of thing I can become. That thing, that beast, is inside me, and can be released at any moment. How can I not be a monster with that kind of power to throw around as I please?”
“You tell me.” Twi assertively ordered, “How is it that somepony with such power hasn’t turned on all of equine kind and declared themselves the ruler of the world? You know why? It’s because it’s you controlling that power. You know why it is that I don’t see a monster sitting here right now? Because that thing that I saw in the square, even if I didn’t know it then, was fighting to protect us.”
The look of slight realization could be seen on Doc’s face, and grew as Twi went on, his smile growing with each thing she said as he stared thoughtfully into the wood of the table before him.
“When you were fighting,” she continued, “the only thing I saw you focusing on was keeping those things, the real monsters in this, away from us. As soon as they left, did you do what a monster would do and start beating everypony in the square into a bloody pulp? No! You kept your distance from everypony as soon as you realized you might be a threat to them! Your intention from the very beginning was the safety of others’ over your own. You cared only about us no matter how badly those freaks beat you up, or of how we thought of you, knowing such incomprehensible facts about your past. To me, that doesn’t sound like a monster at all. That sounds like the kindness and consideration only found in the heart of a valiant stallion, the heart of a true hero.”
In the slight silence that followed, Twi calmed herself by staring at Doc and waiting for a response with her hooves on the table, her own social interactions revved up after her surprisingly assertive side of the “argument” they had. As she waited, Doc stared at the table aimlessly with a content look on his face, relaxed blinking and a nice, wide smile. A moment later, he spoke to Twi with a calm and quiet tone, the table not leaving his sight.
“Thank you, Twi…”
He looked away from the table and at the hardwood library floor just beyond his crossed, relaxed hind hooves before continuing.
“After spending an entire day giving other ponies reassurance…”
He looked at her, his face the same with its wide smile and gentle infliction.
“I never thought I might need some myself.”
***
Twi grinned at him widely with her eyes closed, but then remembered something, retrieving a normal expression.
“Oh, by the way Doc.” she said, “Speaking of your day seeing our friends, how’d it go?”
“Great!” he responded with a smile, “Well, for what it’s worth anyway. I’m at least glad Dashie’s visit was the way it was.”
“What do you mean?” Twi asked.
“Let me explain. I think she was the third or so of our friends I visited today, so it was still a little early. I checked her house, just as I did for everypony else, but found it empty. I had no idea where she was, until I thought of a place we found with some other friends a few days ago.”
Twi interjected in the short pause Doc took.
“Who?”
“You remember how Spitfire and Soarin greeted me at my not-so-farewell party?”
Twi’s eyes suddenly flared open in realization before she spoke with a disbelieving smile.
“No way.”
“Yes way.” he replied with a point of his hoof, “Heck, Dashie was the one who introduced me to them in the first place. But anyway, I digress. This place that we found was a nice bit of clouds over a pretty little pasture with a small forest. But that’s not important. What is important is the fact that when I got there today, what I saw was absolutely phenomenal. It was Dashie, dressed up in a complete Wonderbolt uniform and training with that famous duet. It was crazy enough when I showed up, but then they told me they had been training for the last five hours, and my mind was just blown.”
Twi looked just as surprised as Doc, speaking with the same disbelieving smile and tone she used a moment ago.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am serious!” he confirmed, “But the most surprising thing of all was Dashie herself. She was happy. Not angry, not nervous, not scared. Just…happy. I never thought that she, of all ponies, would recover just as fast as you.”
“Well, to tell you the truth,” Twi mentioned, “she didn’t do it on her own. You remember yesterday, how all of us met up at the caravan just before your ‘friends’ arrived?”
“Not my friends, but yes, I recall.”
“Well, you know how I said I had to convince Dash to show up?”
Doc nodded.
“Well, it may not have seemed like it, but she was in absolute shambles when I found her at her house. Sitting in a corner with all the lights off, crying and telling herself lies just to make herself feel better. I practically had to scream into her ears to get her back, and after that she was still pretty traumatized. It took a few words of encouragement and my story of how I coped with it, but she eventually wizened up and seemed to be just fine with you afterwards. If anything, she was definitely much more enthusiastic to see you than anypony else. I helped her understand that you were nothing to be feared, that you’re not a monster and that you’re just who you are. It may have been difficult for her to get, but I’m just glad that now I’m not the only mare in town that knows it.”
Doc, after listening with a surprised expression, snickered before remarking happily.
“Bra-visimo, Twi! Never thought you would do such a big part of my job for me like that. *heh* Color me impressed.”
“Thanks. Just trying to help.”
“That’a girl.” said Doc with a mentor’s smirk and flicked point of his hoof before he continued, “Attitude like that is certainly a rare gem in this selfish world. But anyways, Dashie aside, it’s time to move on to the others. I remember Pinkie hosting a little party to try and get her spirits up, but she and Gummy were the only attendants and the anxiety in her voice could be heard by the deaf. AJ yelled at me a little, trying to feel strong in such a powerless situation by just…venting all her angry thoughts at me. Flutters was locked up in her house like a nut jar at a squirrel convention, scared out of her mind and just trying to escape from this horrible reality she was stuck in. And Rare was trying to act casual, making clothes and being as regal as she is, but she was shaking so badly she couldn’t even thread a damn needle without any help. Sounds bad at first, but it wasn’t too anything I haven’t seen before.”
“Nothing you haven’t seen before? Really?” Twi asked, not too used to situations of minor psychiatric breakdown.
Doc snickered a little.
“Twi, you have no idea what kind of insanity I’ve dealt with in all my years.”
Twi almost thought about what the worst could possibly be for somepony like him, but stopped before her mind took a turn for the gruesome.
“So…are they okay?” She asked, slightly nervous.
“Oh absolutely! They’ll be just fine.” he said with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “I danced with Pinkie to some of her favorite party music, which definitely got her spirits back up before we shared some really good cake. I yelled back at AJ once she finished, we argued a bit, but eventually made up before we went to go reassure Mac. Flutters just needed a shoulder to cry on for half an hour, then we had a nice picnic a little ways out from her house. It was sort of the same thing for Rare, just minus the picnic. We just sort of sat in a room for a while as I rocked her back and forth and sang to her…”
Doc looked to be remembering a time long ago, a straight expression shrouding sadness displayed on his face.
“…I hadn’t done that in a while…”
He regained his smile and turned his depressing expression to one of good remembrance.
“…it was nice.”
Twi saw the sad expression on Doc, thought of what horrors he must have gone through in all his years, of how that session of comfort he gave to Rarity must have been a perfect moment of peace, one he hasn’t chanced to enjoy in so long. She thought he needed comfort, but when she saw his happiness return, her emotions gladly followed, seeing his amazing ability to cope with whatever sadness he must be experiencing in this eternal life of his.
“*sigh* You know,” she said with a tone of importance, “it’s amazing. After everything you’ve told us, who you are, what you do, and all you’ve been through, there’s still so many things about you that I never see coming. It’s just…”
After a small pause of Twi trying to find the right word, Doc suggested.
“Crazy?”
“Crazy.” agreed Twi with a nod of recognition.
“Eh, I try.” Doc replied with a shrug, “When you’re in my kind of business, it’s best to try and be a walking puzzle box. That, or some sort of mountain hermit.”
They laughed, glad that Doc was the better one of those and not the other. In the midst of their laugh, they could hear the pitter patter of Spike’s feet approaching the kitchen archway. They looked in its direction to see Spike walk into the foyer, a practically identical tray of food as the on he made for Twi in his hands and a smile on his face. Doc’s smile widened as he eyed the plate of greens, followed by him licking his lips and rubbing his hooves together expectantly.
“Thanks Spike, this looks awesome!” Doc said as his eyes remained fixated on the approaching food.
“It’s just some salad recipe I got out of a cookbook.” Spike replied modestly, “I’m not too used to cooking, so I hope it’s alright.”
“Oh come on, it looks delicious!” said Doc reassuringly, “And I bet it’s going to taste five times better.”
“Wow, thanks!” Spike replied with a wide smile.
“That’s so sweet of you.” Twi added before Doc simply laughed a little through a wide grin with closed eyes, same as he always does while Spike pulled a chair up to the desk and joined the conversation.
“So, what’cha guys been talking about?” Spike asked as Doc began happily digging into the salad.
“Oh,” Twi answered, “Doc’s just been telling me how he went around today and visited all our friends.”
“Ah, so that’s why he wasn’t at his caravan in the morning.”
Doc interjected for a moment, replying with a mouthful of leaves, “Yeppers.” before taking a bite into one of the small tomatoes caringly placed into the salad.
“Yes, and for good reason.” Twi said, “When he visited everypony, he talked to them about everything that’s happened recently, helping them if there was anything wrong.”
Spike appeared to grow more attentive as she finished, asking her with a smile.
“Oh, you mean like how you did for me last night?”
Doc perked his attention away from his food again, listening as Twi replied.
“Yes Spike, exactly like that.”
Doc asked after he quickly swallowed his mouthful of veggies and dabbed his face with a napkin.
“What’s up?”
“Last night, after I talked with Spike about everything that happened yesterday, he couldn’t sleep. He told me he was scared, that bad thoughts he didn’t want to think kept swimming in his head and he just wanted to stop thinking. Now granted, it didn’t sound as bad as Dash’s thoughts, but the poor guy was just distraught.”
She rubbed his scaly scalp from halfway across the table caringly before she continued.
“But I told him how I was able to deal with it and he understood just like Dash did. Since then, he’s actually been anxious to see you.”
“Yeah.” Spike commented before saying to Doc, “I guess I was just interested to see how I’d look at you now that my thoughts are cleared up. And so far, I feel like those leg things of yours don’t even matter anymore.”
“Well that’s good.” replied Doc with a kind smile, “At least now I have my closest friends covered in the list of ponies I need to talk to in town. So I guess, for now, my job is done.”
He stuck his hoof out to Spike.
“And now,” Spike got the message and met his scaly fist to Doc’s gentle hoof with a respectful bump before Doc picked his glass of water up off the tray and proposed a toast to Twi, “I truly know that I’m here to stay!”
Twi grinned quickly and accepted his toast with a chink of her glass against his, followed by them both gladly chugging like the great friends they were.
And that’s when they heard something knock at the door.
***
Doc offered with a smile after quickly gulping down the water in his mouth and wiping his muzzle.
“I got it.”
He hopped out of his chair and jogged to the door, stopping just before it to check the peephole and see who it was. Twi watched as he did, and his reaction a second later was absolutely unmistakable. He froze up in the exact same way he did when everypony in the square first heard Finality talk, like a choked second of surprise that tightened every muscle in his body. He stood there for several more seconds, frozen as if stung by some paralyzing insect before Twi asked in great concern.
“Doc?...”
The next words out of Doc’s mouth were not the words he would use if it were the stallions, Twi knew that much. Yesterday, when they arrived to the regrouping of Twi’s friends, he used his aggressive and orderly tone to shout at them. His next tone was of urgent fear, you know, that kind of tone somepony uses when a gargantuan Ursa Major is charging right at them. He used that tone as he loudly whispered the words, “Oh sweet Celestia!” before instantly turning around and sprinting towards Twi.
As Doc approached, Twi could tell something was very very wrong.
“What’s wrong?” she asked nervously.
He slid to a stop just before the table and spoke with severe urgency in his voice and in his tightened expression.
“Hide me!”
“What?”
“I need somewhere to hide!”
There was another triplet of knocks at the door, and Doc swiveled his head to it quickly as he continued.
“A closet, a cupboard, anything!”
Spike stuttered quickly as he looked around the room.
“Uh…uh…”
His eyes spotted a large chest laying at the base of a book shelf a very small ways away from the table.
“In there!” Spike lightly yelled to Doc as he pointed to the chest.
Doc nodded before sprinting towards it, Spike following in his swift wake.
“What’s going on?!” Twi asked as he hopped in hind hooves first.
Doc, hunched over with his left hoof over his head and on the open lid of the chest, answered quickly.
“Just answer the door and pretend that you don’t even know me. You’ll be fine, just don’t panic.”
“But I don’t even know-”
Before Twi could finish her sentence, Doc was already beginning to ball up into the chest, saying in reminder to her just before Spike helped close the lid on top of him.
“Don’t panic!”
Now with Twi’s only means of explanation secluded in a box, she was in a nervous rush as she heard the next three knocks at the door. They sounded much louder, harder and had a longer pause in between them. Whatever was at the door was beginning to grow impatient. Twi calmed it by yelling to the door nervously.
“J-just a minute!”
She jogged her way towards the door, hesitating a moment before opening and fearing what she may find. But she knew this was not the time to think, but to act. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and took a deep breath before grasping the door handle. Then, with a final mental discarding of any nervous precaution, she swung the door open, hopefully ready for whatever lie beyond. And what lie beyond was nothing like what she expected. Standing just beyond the doorstep were three, very large stallions. Not the three that have been tormenting Doc, Twi could easily tell that. These were bigger…much bigger, at least a few inches or so shorter than the red one, and he was already practically matching Celestia in terms of height. These stallions were all wearing a matching outfit, a full tan suit under an identically colored trench coat. The upwards collars of their trench coats, combined with the tan fedoras they all were wearing, completely shrouded their faces in shadows, leaving them unidentifiable. The formation they stood in could be compared to the one used by Finality, Famine and War on the day of their arrival, a small V formation with who appeared to be the leader at the front. They all peered down from their shaded, unreadable expressions to look at Twi as she opened the door. Twi looked up to them in surprise of their size and remained still, anxiously uncertain of what their next move would be. Just a moment later, the stallion spearheading this trio spoke in an extremely deep voice.
“Ah. Good evening ma’am. We would like to ask you a few questions, if you have the time.”
Twi, already beginning to panic like Doc told her not to, stuttered.
“Uh…s-sure. Wo-would you like to come in?”
She stepped aside and motioned a hoof over her chest, inviting them in, only to receive the response of the center one lifting his gloved hoof in decline.
“Thank you, but we are very busy and do not have the time.”
Twi nervously nodded and stepped back in the doorway to face them.
“Have you seen any strange events in the past few days?” The center one asked her.
Twi now panicked, receiving her first question. She stammered “Um…” several times with a hoof on her muzzle, thinking of what she could say to seem like an innocent, little, uninformed librarian that has no idea of what’s going on.
“N-no. At least not that I can recall.”
“Are you sure?” calmly pressured the center one, “Nothing since say…oh I don’t know, two days ago?”
He knows. All three of them know. Twi could tell that and that her little innocent act wouldn’t work on whoever or whatever these stallions were. She decided lying would get no better results, so she recovered.
“Um…Oh! I think something may have happened then.”
She tapped her hoof to her head and whispered utter nonsense to herself, pretending to try and recall what happened that day, even though she knew she would never truly forget it. She spoke after several more seconds of fake remembrance.
“Yes! I…think I remember seeing something awfully strange in the square that long ago.”
“Good.” responded the center one, “So you were there?”
“Yes. Should I tell you what I saw?”
The center one replied calmly with a light shake of his head.
“That won’t be necessary ma’am.”
He motioned an upwards flick of his chin to the accomplice on his right, queuing that stallion to reach into his trench coat and pull out a clipboard, offering it to the center one. Twi was confused of what it could be until the center one took the clipboard from his accomplice, pulled a pen out of his own trench coat and spoke to Twi calmly as he offered both the items to her.
“All we need is for you to sign this paper, stating that you never saw anything that day, shall never speak of it to anypony and that you believe it never happened.”
Who the heck are these guys, what do they have to do with Doc and why do they want me to sign this paper?
Three very suspicious questions. The first things that popped into Twi’s head as she heard and thought through his statement, the surprise she felt showing immensely on her face. As her expression undertook a drastic change from unexpectedly nervous to terrifyingly confused, all three of the stallions slightly leaned their heads back in surprise before awkwardly looking at each other. Twi continued to stare at them with her elongated, slightly petrified face before the center one asked.
“Um…Miss?”
She shook her head, snapping herself out of her thought induced trance.
“Oh…sorry…”
“Are you alright?” the center one asked in a surprisingly considerate and gentle tone.
“Yes, of course!” she replied, “Just a little dazed is all.”
“Will you be able to sign the paper or should we come back another time?”
“Oh don’t worry. I’m fine.” she dismissed with a wave of her hoof and a fake smile before the center one offered her the pen and clipboard. She took them both in her magical grasp and levitated the clipboard before her eyes, reading the document like the content bookworm she was. The paper may have been a mish-mosh of legal terms she didn’t know and complicated ways of stating a simple action like punching somepony in the face, but Twi read through it easily enough and detected nothing that could be used to take advantage of herself or her friends, who may have also signed it for all she knew. She signed her name on the dotted line at the bottom and handed the clipboard back to them.
“Thank you for your time ma’am, and for making it a quick signing.” he said with very, very slight positive tone, “Most of the other visits we’ve made today have taken us at least half an hour longer, and that was just time spent saying ‘It’s classified’ over and over again.”
He chuckled deeply, sounding reasonably intimidating, but somehow kind and jolly at the same time.
“Oh um…*heh* glad I could help.” she said nervously, another fake grin plastered on her face.
The center one concluded as he gave the clipboard back to his accomplice and placed the pen back in his coat pocket.
“Alright, have a nice day ma’am. And remember…”
She watched as he motioned a hoof across the muzzle area of his face, acting out a zipper across his mouth and reminding her to stay quiet about this whole thing. After that, Twi sensed a nice smile underneath the shadows on his face just before the three stallions turned around and began to walk off. Twi closed the door slowly, confused of what she may have just done and its actual degree of importance. She turned around and looked at Spike, who had been standing by the chest the entire time, hands behind his back, small, quiet and out of sight. As she approached, Spike knocked on the chest a few times, followed by Doc emerging from within, giving a quick look around the library.
“What’d they say?” he asked.
“Not much really.” Twi replied with a slightly calmed disposition, “They just wanted me to sign this paper so I can’t talk about anything that happened.”
Doc looked slightly confused about Twi’s answer, shifting his eyes to his right and back quickly.
“That’s…it?”
She nodded in response, followed by Doc hopping out of the chest.
“No…house search? No questions about me or anything?”
Twi shook her head slowly as she responded suspiciously.
“Nnnooo…why? Is that a problem?”
Rather than give an answer, Doc ran past her and to the door, looking through the peephole again as he watched the stallions continue to trot away. After backing away from it slowly, looking much more confused than before, he placed a hoof on his muzzle and stared at the wooden floor in front of him in intense focus.
“You really seem surprised about this,” Twi said, concerned about his actions, “what’s wrong?”
Once again, he ignored giving an answer, whispering to himself after a few more moments of serious thought.
“Just a gag order and nothing else? No wonder you never caught me…but why?”
He *hmm*ed to himself in extended thought before remembering that Twi asked him a question. He turned away from his severe concentration and in her direction, looking at her and Spike’s concerned faces before he looked down at the floorboards again and sighed through his nose.
“You guys remember how I said ‘In my kind of business, it’s best be a walking puzzle box’?” he asked as he looked back to them.
Only Twi nodded, Spike not being there for that part of the conversation.
“Well…” he continued before turning his gaze back to the door, finishing with, “when ponies like me can’t quite manage that, there are some…others that make sure it stays that way…”
“by whatever means necessary.”