At that moment, Reiver was jolted awake by the three fillies’ rather loud declaration.
Reiver groaned as he blearily looked around the room, remembering this was not the Everfree forest and he was in no danger of becoming something’s dinner.
Turning over, he tried to go back to sleep, but the heat from his fever was getting unbearable.
Ever since Zecora’s visit, the Apple family had been bringing him food and one of her potions on a regular basis. Although he hadn’t seen Applebloom since their conversation, he suspected she was avoiding him.
At each meal, the respective Apple had talked to him, attempting to make conversation or ask questions about where he came from. He inevitably had to answer these, but made sure his responses were either short or as vague as possible.
Reiver didn’t fully trust the Apple family; they seemed nice enough ponies but for all he knew they were just stalling until they could get a ‘professional’ to look at him.
Then there was his fever, whenever she visited Applejack kept saying he would get better in an obvious attempt to re-assure what she assumed to be a naive colt. But Reiver was far from naive and he knew he was getting worse.
After a few more minutes of restless tossing and turning, he decided to take a more direct approach to his fever. Kicking away the covers, he shuffled off the bed, managing to land unsteadily on his hooves. Leaving the bedroom, he found the upstairs hallway to be relatively quiet, the only noise coming from a pair of muffled voices that drifted upstairs from the kitchen.
Finding what he hoped was the right door, he slipped inside and sighed as a wave of cool air washed over him: he had gotten lucky on his first try.
He had managed to find the bathroom.
It was decorated with pale yellow tiles covering the floor and faded white paint on the walls. A squat bathtub occupied the centre of the room with a sink and mirror by the back wall.
Spotting a wooden step by the door, he pushed it to the sink and clambered up. Twisting the old taps, he filled the basin with water and splashed the cool liquid onto his face, sighing in relief as it soothed his flushed features.
Looking into the mirror, he finally got a good look at the damage several weeks of living rough in and around the Everfree Forest had done to him. His features were gaunt to the point that his eyes actually looked like they were sinking into their sockets and they held a haunted look, like he had seen the face of death and lived to tell the tale. Grinning at the mirror, he saw that his teeth were grubby and there were definitely a few twigs stuck between them. Finally, he shrugged off his jacket and examined his body, noting that a few ribs were visible through his emaciated flesh.
‘’You look terrible,’’ he said to his reflection.
‘’You don’t look so hot yourself mate.’’
With a yelp of surprise, he fell backward onto the tiles. Taking a moment to lie there in agony, Reiver collected his thoughts before cautiously pulling himself back up to the sink.
His reflection was smiling.
‘’That wasn’t very clever you know’’ it said.
‘’Uh...’’
It sighed.
‘’You know, just telling them the truth would probably be better than pretending you’re someone else, it might even get you home, you’re not having any luck with that book.’’
‘’I can’t tell them about me, they would think I’m nuts. Heck right now I think I’m nuts. How are you even talking to me?’’ he asked incredulously.
‘’Simple’’ it replied. ‘’You're hallucinating.’’
It then pulled out a trumpet and began to play a ragtime dance while several smaller ponies danced a can can along the mirrors edge.
Staring at the somewhat humorous image for a second, Reiver's mind then shifted into panic mode and he forcefully dunked his whole head into the sink. The water abruptly muffled any noise and, for a few moments, he was content to stay as he was.
Eventually he had to come up for air, emerging with a gasp from his watery solitude.
Staring at the mirror, it looked like his reflection had returned to normal, but that didn’t stop him from pulling a few faces and sneaking his way slowly around the mirrors' edge in an effort to catch it off guard.
After a few minutes, he finally concluded that his reflection was definitely NOT going to speak to him again and voiced the first thing that came to mind.
‘’What have they got me on?’’
Deciding he would rather be as far away from any reflective surface as possible, he grabbed his jacket and a towel before making his way back to the guest room.
However, exiting the bathroom while drying his face meant he walked straight into Winona.
The collie yelped in surprise as the two collided, but she recovered quickly when she saw it was the new friend she had found in the barn and sprang to her paws with a happy yap.
Reiver pulled himself up and stared at her uncertainly as she sat in the ‘play’ posture.
‘’Uh...hey there’’ he said, offering a hoof
Winona sniffed it for a second before deciding he had accepted her offer of playtime and tackled him to the floor before affectionately licking his face.
‘’Heh, nice to meet you too.’’ He giggled as he gave her a few scratches behind the ears before extricating himself with a well placed tummy rub.
Re-entering the guest room he spied Zecora’s incense sticks glowing gently in the semi-dark, the smoke that rose from each seemed to glimmer with an ethereal light, almost like stars in the night sky. Reiver had been told by Applejack that they were supposed to help his breathing, but right now all they were doing was make the already stale air very humid.
He needed air.
Fresh air.
Climbing back onto the bed, he drew back the curtains and the light of sun shattered the darkness.
Once the burning in his eyes had subsided, he braced his hooves against the window and lifted with all his might. It took a few tries, but eventually the window reluctantly opened with an agonisingly drawn out squeak.
The cool breeze that caressed his features felt like the most glorious thing in the world.
Taking a moment to savour it, Reiver then cast his gaze over the view before him. The window was on the front of the house and he could see a few of the farms other buildings including a chicken coup and what appeared to be a line of sheds just off from the barn; this assumption was confirmed when Big Macintosh emerged from one of them with a toolbox in his teeth. Directing his gaze up the path, Reiver spotted the Cutie Mark Crusaders speeding off towards the orchards before he looked even further and saw that the path connected to the main road past the farm. This then ran over the hill and down towards Ponyville.
He sighed.
From the moment he had first set eyes on it from the fringes of the Everfree Forest he had known exactly where he was, but he had never been into the town properly, and chose instead to keep as far away from everypony as possible. He only ventured into the town in the dead of night when he raided the trashcans of several businesses to find food, and had never stuck around to speak to anypony out of fear they would send him to a doctor.
Hearing a creak behind him, Reiver turned and saw Winona using her nose the push open the door, apparently curious as to why he had stopped with her tummy rub. The collie bounded over to the bed and sat down, tilting her head towards him and he swore it was like she was waiting for permission to get onto the bed.
Reiver had a soft spot for dogs as they were one of his favourite animals; they gave a friendship and loyalty that he often found lacking in other creatures and Winona’s literal puppy dog stare was just too adorable to ignore.
‘’Oh...alright then, come here girl.‘’ he sighed in mock defeat as he flopped down onto the mattress. Winona barked happily and scrambled up to join him.
‘’I don’t know if I should be mad at you or thank you’’ he said as he started scratching her behind the ears with a hooftip.
‘’I know I’m sick...but I just couldn’t just ask for help. Help would mean awkward questions, which would inevitably lead to suspicions and then before you know it, I’d be getting shipped off to some forsaken asylum in the wastelands of who knows where.’’
He gave another sigh and laid his head on the pillow as Winona snuggled herself closer to the source of the ear scratching.
‘’Then again, if you hadn’t found me, I might have died in that barn and then I would never find a way home. So I guess I do have to thank you for that at least.’’
Winona just gave a contented whine and he gave a tiny smile.
‘’You’re a lot like my old dog.’’
Lying next to Winona, Reiver could feel his eyes dropping as the warmth from her body acted like a furry blanket.
‘’We used to lie like this at home, he would fall asleep and I would just... drift off next to him.’’
xxxxxxxxxx
As Reiver drifted off to sleep, Applejack was in the kitchen preparing his afternoon meal.
It was no secret that the Apple family was one of the largest in Equestria, having relations in just about every corner of the nation. A consequence of this was that Applejack was a highly sociable pony and had quite a few friends.
But from her brief time in Manehatten with her Aunt and Uncle she also knew what it was like to be alone in a strange place and wanted to make Reiver feel welcome, but his own efforts to keep them at arm’s length made that process difficult.
He seemed a bit more at ease with her so she held out some hope, but she wondered what could have happened to make him so distrustful of others.
‘’He’s a strange one that’s fer sure’’ she mused.
‘’You thinkin' about our guest upstairs?’’
Applejack looked up from the counter to see Granny Smith hobble into the kitchen. The eldest of the Apple family, Granny Smith had a pale green coat and grey mane and was often seen as eccentric by others, although there was often a method to her apparent madness.
‘’Ah’m just concerned is all’’ replied Applejack.‘’ A colt his age shouldn’t be tryin ta distance himself from everypony around them.’’
The elderly mare chuckled.
‘’Not everypony is the social type Applejack, he’s probably just scared, what with bein in a strange place an all.’’
She placed a hoof on her granddaughters' shoulder.
‘’If something is wrong then he will tell ya when he’s ready, just give him some time. No pony is going to trust somepony they just met off the bat, ya need to talk to him first.’’
Applejack sighed.
‘’But that’s just it Granny, we’ve all been talking ta him and he just keeps pushin us away.’’
‘’So ya try again, and again, and again. Ya show him ya’ll can be trusted. Just because he won’t talk ta me doesn’t mean he won’t talk ta somepony else. Like ah said just give him time.’’
Applejack sighed in frustration. Granny was right. He had to know he could trust her before he would talk to her in more than short sentences.
‘’Alright Granny, Ah’ll give him some time.’’
‘’Glad ta hear it’’ she replied.
Finishing her preparations, Applejack tidied up while Granny Smith finished loading up the tray.
''One more thing Applejack.'' said Granny Smith as she passed her the tray.
‘’Ah know it's frustrating that Twilight's search didn't find anything, but if ya must ask him a question, don’t push him too hard.’’
''Don't worry Granny, ah won't.'' replied Applejack.
Making her way upstairs, Applejack opened the guest room door and felt the cool breeze from the open window. She mentally slapped herself. Zecora had told her that Reiver had to keep out of the cold if he stood the best chance for a swift recovery, but she had forgotten to inform the colt of that fact, probably because the guest room window was so stiff many simply refused to open it.
Making her way to the window, her eyes were drawn to the bed and she stifled a giggle.
Winona was curled up on the mattress with her head resting on her front paws while she dozed in the sunlight. She was snuggled up to Reiver, who had his forehooves wrapped around her furry shoulders like she was a teddy bear.
They looked adorable.
Taking care to shut the window she gave him a few nudges.
‘’Come on now partner, its dinner time.’’
The colt groaned softly and snuggled deeper into Winonas fur.
‘’Mugh...five more minutes Mom,’’ he muttered.
Applejack stifled another giggle before poking him a few times with her hoof.
‘’Come on now, ya can sleep all ya want when you’ve eaten.’’
Winona, disturbed by Applejacks actions, lifted her head and yawned. She looked at Applejack poking the colt before shuffling out of his grip and dropping down to the floor. Bereft of his fluffy pillow, Reiver finally began to stir.
With a yawn he sat up, stretching out a few kinks in his spine as he did. Spying Applejack and the tray she carried, he shuffled until he was on the edge of the mattress. Taking the tray from her he carefully took the spoon in his hooves and began to eat.
Applejack sat by the bed waiting for him to finish.
‘’Ah still don’t know how ya’ll do that, Ah’ve only ever seen Lyra sit that way.’’
She was referring to the fact he was sitting on two legs and not four, as most ponies did.
‘’Like I said before, I’m double jointed.’’
That was his excuse the first time and he was sticking to it.
‘’Still looks a mite uncomfortable.’’
They sat in silence for a few moments while he ate.
‘’So...ya feeling any better?’’ she asked
‘’Not really.’’
‘’Well don’t worry, Ah’m sure ya’ll will be up an about in no time.’’
Again there was silence.
‘’Ah should probably tell you that ya need ta keep the window closed from now on. Zecora says it’ll help ya get better
much quicker.’’
‘’It was stuffy.’’ He clipped.
‘’Ah’m afraid ya will just have to put up with that fer now.’’
Silence once again.
Applejack racked her brain. She really wanted to make Reiver feel welcome but she was running out of ideas. Then her gaze settled on Winona, who was sitting by his hooves waiting for something to drop to the floor.
‘’Ah see ya’ll like Winona’’ she said.
Reiver stopped and looked down at the dog.
‘’I like dogs and she seems to like me.’’ He offered a hoof to Winona and she affectionately nuzzled it.
‘’Ah can see that’’ replied Applejack as an idea formed in her head.
‘’Let me show ya something.’’
Getting up she whistled for Winona to join her, and the collie obediently ran to her side.
‘’Sit’’ Applejack commanded, and she obeyed.
Stepping back a few paces she pulled her lasso from under her hat and began to spin it slowly with her tail. Taking a moment to get it up to speed she began jumping over the rope as it ran the length of her body.
Suddenly the knot unraveled from her tail and she caught it in her teeth, still managing to keep up the spin.
The action seemed accidental, but Applejack had deliberately tied the knot loosely so it would happen. It was a hidden cue that Winona recognised.
Leaping forward, she bounded through the lasso as Applejack kept it moving before spinning on her paws and repeating the motion back and forth; now both her and Applejack were jumping the loop. Then the loop began to shrink, which forced dog and pony closer and closer until they were practically touching, but Applejack kept increasing the speed of the rope until it was practically a blur, yet neither dog nor pony seemed bothered as they danced around it.
Sparing a glance at Reiver, Applejack saw that the colt was mesmerised by the display.
Slipping her muzzle under Winona, Applejack flipped her upwards. As she passed her owners' Stetson Winona grabbed it in her teeth and flipped it up along with her.
Reiver gasped as she went towards the ceiling.
Quickly Applejack leapt clear of the rope and lassoed Winona around the waist. With a tug she pulled her down and the collie twisted in the air, landing perfectly on Applejacks head while the rope coiled by her hooves. A few seconds later the stetson landed on Winona’s head.
Reiver was slack jawed at the display. The pair had shown an amount of co-ordination that he didn’t think was even possible between a pet and its owner.
He clapped enthusiastically as they took a bow.
‘’That. Was. AWESOME!’’ he exclaimed as Applejack sat down.
‘’Thought ya might like it’’ she huffed ‘’We won a couple rodeos with that one a while back, course ah had ta modify it fer indoors.’’
‘’But...how did you do it?’’ he asked ‘’I’ve never seen anything so in sync before.’’
‘’Heh heh.’’ chuckled Applejack. ‘’Ah’ve had Winona as long as ah can remember, when ya’ll have a pet that long ya tend to get the ability ta predict each other. Helps that she’s a workin dog too, she knows how ta listen and look fer the cues so it aint really that much different from when we’re herding the sheep or cows.’’
‘’Wish I could have taught my dog some tricks like that’’ he replied. ‘’We would have been the envy of everyone at school.’’
They were silent for a few moments before he gave a small chuckle.
‘’Heh... closest thing he did to a trick was when I used to move his food and watch as he’d follow me until I put it down again.’’
Applejack smiled a little as she listened. She had hit on something and now that she had a hoof in the door she didn’t want to lose the opportunity.
‘’Ah did something similar with Winona when I was a filly. Ah used ta make her chase me for her dinner, course Ah’d give it to her whether she caught me or not.’’
She scratched Winona’s ear affectionately as she spoke.
‘’Course it was all one big game ta her. Pa said it helped ta make her the fastest dog in Ponyville. I know for a fact there aint no pet in town that can keep up with her. Course Rainbow Dash, she’s a friend of mine, says that she’s training Tank, her pet tortoise, ta beat her one day. But ah think he’s more concerned with food than any kinda fancy trainin.’’
‘’I dunno, that whirligig she got him could give him an unfair advantage.’’
‘’Ah don’t think so, Tank can’t keep up with anypony without it so we’ve agreed he can use it. But he can barely control that thing most days, so ah’ve made it clear if she wants Tank ta race Winona he’s got ta be able ta fly in a straight line first.’’
They both shared a laugh at the image of Tank spiralling off to his dinner while Winona raced to victory.
‘’So,’’ she continued ‘’what’s yer dog like?’’
‘’Well his name was Rebel, and he was a Golden Retriever’’ he began. ‘’ He was a big dog, but he was so laid back he didn’t care if you moved his dish or gave him a hug... or when my cousin put ribbons in his hair.’’
Reiver gave a short chuckle as he recalled the incident.
‘’He could be really protective too. If you wanted to hurt me, or anyone he loved, then he would stop you.’’
He trailed off and Applejack noticed his shoulders sag.
‘’He was so loyal... I used to look forward to the end of school every day just so I could play with him. Even when things changed around me, places, p...onies, he was always there...and then one day he wasn’t.’’
Winona whined as she sensed the change in tone and gave his hoof a comforting nuzzle.
‘’He got sick one day’’ he sniffed, ‘’and he... never got better.’’
Reiver sat there in a depressed silence; his shoulders slumped as he fought back the urge to cry. He felt a pair of hooves wrap around his him and it took a moment for him to realise Applejack was giving him a hug.
Inwardly he cursed himself; Applejack had tapped into one of his most precious memories and he had almost let it get to him. He had never had problems hiding emotions around others in the past but for some inexplicable reason, this time it had been difficult.
He had to be strong, he couldn’t do that again or she would only try to be friendly and he couldn’t get too close to her or anypony.
As she released him he took a deep breath.
‘’Shouldn’t have done that, sorry’’ he said as he composed himself.
’It’s no bother sugarcube. It’s clear ya’ll loved Rebel very much but Ah’m sure that he wouldn’t want ya getting upset over him...’’
He held up a hoof to stop her.
‘’I know what you’re going to say, but I’ve heard it all several times before... I trust you’ll keep that little moment to yourself.’’
‘’Ah won’t tell a soul’’ she replied with a smile.
‘’Thank you.’’
Satisfied that his moment of weakness would be kept under wraps, Reiver returned his attention to his dinner. Applejack attempted to make further conversation a few times but it was clear that he was done talking for the moment. This didn't really bother her as the silence between them was more comfortable than before.
In a few minutes Reiver was finished and he let out a wide yawn.
‘’If you don’t mind I think I’ll just lie down for a bit,’’ he said, lying back onto the bed.
‘’Sure thing sugarcube, Ah’ve gotta work the fields, but Granny Smith will be downstairs if ya need anything.’’
She made to leave when she saw Winona scramble up into the bed and settle down next to Reiver, apparently unwilling to abandon her new friend.
Applejack went to call her away but she got the literal puppy dog eyes from the collie; once that dog got an idea she could be as stubborn as a mule.
‘’Fine’’ she sighed. ’but we’re gonna have ta work twice as hard tomorrow ta make up fer this.’’
Winona just yapped in response as she snuggled up against the colt.
Taking care to shut the door quietly, Applejack made her way downstairs.
She had made progress, but now she had more questions than answers. That comment about Tank was the second time he had shown knowledge that he shouldn’t have, but how did he know? It was possible he had seen Tank and Rainbow Dash around the town, but that didn’t explain how he also knew Appleblooms' name.
She paused for a second; when did she become so suspicious?
Here was a colt, sick, alone and lost. One who had clearly had a tough time and she was wondering how he knew things that were common knowledge amongst the Ponyville population. Even if he had been living on the fringes of the Everfree Forest he would have seen Tank and Applebloom whenever they were outside and he probably heard their names in passing when they were with others.
Concluding that her suspicions were unfounded, her attention returned to his unwillingness to talk to them. She had gotten him to open up a bit today and she had wanted to ask him outright about his fear of doctors, but Granny Smith’s words about trust made her reconsider.
With a sigh Applejack decided she just had to be patient, if he was going to say anything he had to know she could be trusted; and right now the best way to do that was to be a good host and help him get better. She just had to be careful that she didn’t do anything to jeopardise his trust in her, as that was the fastest way she could lose him.
Pausing by an open window she could have sworn she just heard somepony whisper: ‘’Foreveeeeeeer.’’