The escaped rabbits ran wild, spreading out to take off in different directions. Spike recovered his footing and went straight for the diabolical ferret who masterminded their escape, himself already on the way to another pen of animals that he could set loose. The dragon made his best effort to block the attempt by cutting the conniving critter off, but the ferret managed to slip out of the trap by leaping right on top of Spike's head and then jumping straight to the next pen door. Another band of animals were set free.
This was getting out of control. James could scarcely believe the trickery that this sneaky little weasel had been able to pull off. Getting out was one thing but now being able to release all these other animals? What a way to get hoodwinked. He didn't have the faintest idea how he and Spike were going to get this situation under control.
They had been spending the morning observing the many creatures Fluttershy kept at her home. It was like a day at the zoo with no tour guide to direct you from here to there, and the minimalistic enclosures separating you from the residents brought you closer than ever to them. It seemed incredibly impressive that all of these animals were cared for properly by one individual. Yet still, there wasn't any indication that a single animal wasn't receiving proper care. In fact, the atmosphere was filled with a jovial energy which emanated from the animals, happy to be living just where they were. It was like a day at the zoo... but it wasn't the smiles of any attending children that made things feel so light and carefree.
The real start of all the trouble came later when, after about an hour of looking around, they went to examine the ferret in his cage. The rodent, so innocent seeming at the time, was flopped over on his side and partially curled into a ball, apparently taking a nap. However, the bowl of food left for him had been spilled and its contents scattered. Spike went to retrieve the appropriate feed to fill a replacement bowl while James stayed at the cage to withdraw the overturned one. It was all a ruse though, like a prisoner who feigns sickness to get the guards to open the cell door. As soon as the cage door was open enough the ferret sprung from his position like a coil, bouncing off a wall of the cage and shooting straight out the opening before there could be any reaction from the surprised man.
All the effort to catch the escapee was fruitless. Lithe and slippery, the little devil winded and crawled his away around obstacles that proved too difficult for James to closely follow. As soon as Spike had returned he dropped the feed bag he had brought and rendered assistance but even with pincer tactics the duo failed to catch the ferret. They never got any closer than charging at him from both sides yet still missing him as he squeezed through their fumbled grasps and they tripped over each other. It was several minutes of cat and mouse before the chaotic monster unleashed real pandemonium by opening the pens of other animals.
Spike kept on the ferret's tail, realizing that as long as this con artist was loose he would only continue to open more cages and pens. The increased ground traffic hampered the purple dragon's efforts causing him to hop about to avoid being tripped by any of the scampering critters. As a result, he failed to beat the wily ferret to any of the next three pens and more animals were released into the confusion. They all seemed eager to run about in rambunctious revelry.
Worried and shocked at the collapsing stability of the situation, James scaled a nearby barrel of water. He stood balanced on the rim and stretched up, getting the best look over the battlefield as he could manage. At this point there were no less than forty animals running loose. Though it seemed that now, at least, the ferret had gotten his fill of opening enclosures and stopped adding more to their numbers. The next thing the man noticed were the limits the animals were adhering to. Despite being completely free, no animal wandered out of a certain radius of the area and none especially went close to the border with the Everfree Forest. It seemed like they weren't trying to escape or explore at all. In fact, he was sure of it when he suddenly noticed what exactly they were doing to Spike. The animals had mostly created a large circle in the area around him and as the dragon continued to pursue the ferret they were taking turns to zoom across and get in his way.
James got off the barrel and moved straight towards a collection of animals waiting their turn on one side of the circle, trying to break their formation. He picked up speed and rushed over, startling the alerted creatures into dispersing. A few were passing just close enough to his reach that he tried bending down to catch one, instinctively going for a rabbit. Although it had been a few years he still recalled enough of his experience in dealing with the jumpy buggers to make a successful catch.
"Sh! Alright, it's alright. Calm down," he tried telling the bunny in the best soft voice he could generate under the circumstances. But the panicked rabbit seemed to ignore his advice, writhing and kicking as he held it low and close. Eventually it ceased resistance and just held still, frozen in his firm grip. "Alright, good. That's good. Stay calm," he tried to deliver in a coo. As soon as he started to stand up, however, the rabbit whipped to life and quickly wrestled out of his hands, bouncing up onto his shoulder and running down his still arched back to get away. James squeezed the empty air between his hands in profound confusion and aggravation. This is nuts.
The alliance of Fluttershy's loose pets expanded their perimeter to include both targets. Spike's arms were whirling as he tried to steady himself after another near catch of the ferret but a raccoon took a pass at the poor dragon, causing him to stumble over. James moved over to him and helped him up to his feet. "This isn't working," Spike complained.
"Just keep going for the ferret. I'm going to try and break their circle in order to catch some of them," James responded.
"Circle?" Spike asked, before taking a look around himself and noticing that they were surrounded. Only the ferret wasn't in formation, instead being slightly inside the circle, bouncing and twirling, goading Spike into a chase.
"Go for it," James reiterated.
Spike readied himself, puffing out his chest, before rapidly taking a step and a lunge at the elusive ferret. He failed again but as soon as he was on the go the other animals resumed running interference.
Selecting the group that seemed the most easy to corner, James made his move towards them. Like before, they broke and scattered, heading off to other areas of the perimeter. Also like before, he made a grab for a rabbit only this time the critter's well timed dodge caused James to stumble over, landing on his side. He pounded the ground once with his hand, swearing again that he thought he heard something out there laughing at his predicament.
The ferret leapt over him from behind, darting away as soon as it landed. Spike following immediately in his own dive, just missing the mark and crashing on his stomach in front of James. "Drat!" he grumbled, picking himself up yet again.
"I think this is hopeless," James lamented as he returned to his feet. "There's no way we're going to catch them all like this."
"Well, there's has to be something else we can try," Spike said.
Looking around, James saw again the circle the animals had formed with the excited ferret on the inside, taunting them with another opportunity to chase him. Every attempt for the ferret so far had failed. Eac time he successfully gets away and several of the other animals take the moment to cross the circle. Even double teaming the ferret had proved pointless. Going for the opposite targets, animals on the outside of the circle, hadn't fared any better. Maybe if they had some tools, or a net, or something that they could do to herd them better, or...
"Can you breath fire or anything?" James asked his small companion.
"Yeah?" Spike answered hesitantly.
"Alright, here's what we'll do." He pulled the dragon close and whispered into the scaly protrusion that he hoped was an ear, laying out a plan to try and outmaneuver their opponent.
"I don't want to burn him," Spike protested.
"Well, don't TRY to hit him," James countered. "Now, ready?"
Spike nodded and secured his footing. "Ready, I guess."
Slowly, James took a few tiny steps out, drawing the attention of the ferret to himself. The furry troublemaker stopped his taunting and began carefully watching the man's movements, suspicious of the apparent change in tactics. Once James was sure he had the enemy's attention he started approaching the ferret. His attack was slower and more deliberate than the reckless chasing of before, moving in steadily but never pouncing upon the target to try and grasp him. He kept to the inside of the circle, using haste only as necessary to pressure his mark to stay on the outside.
The ferret responded in kind, picking up speed when needed to evade capture but then slowing down to watch his pursuer keenly. This was very, very different from what they were trying before and the change vexed the fleeing creature. The other animals took their turns crossing the circle, mainly trying to trip up James since Spike was standing still and simply watching the proceedings. But rather than be distracted by the animals cycling past him, the man calmly ignored them. He remained cautious and calculating, seemingly dawdling in the chase. Unsure what exactly what going on and no longer knowing what to expect, the ferret became nervous and fidgety.
At the perfect opening, when few animals were crossing and the ferret had lost all attention of him, Spike suddenly acted. The dragon belched up a stream of green fire in front of the ferret's path, blocking him off. It caught the animal off guard completely, causing him to leap backwards high into air in absolute surprise. Being airborne in such a way made him an easy target for James who ran in and grabbed him around the midsection. "Gotcha, you little weasel!"
Every critter that made up the circle stopped and backed up for a moment in awe. Even the ferret himself was too stunned to resist at first. Once he realized what had happened he put all his energy into flailing desperately, attempting to break his captor's hold. Whipping, wriggling, scrambling, jiggling, the ferret struggled like a fish on the deck of a boat randomly flopping towards the edge. James' hands quivered with the movements, resisting as best he could. Without warning, during one spontaneous twitch, the ferret managed to pop out of the man's grasp and drop through the air towards the grass. Before he could touch down, James dropped to his knees and caught the defiant ferret again, grappling to maintain control and unwilling to lose him this time. Tasting that short success, the ferret resumed his campaign of thrashing about. It was shortly thereafter that he broke free another time. Relentless, James fell forward and again caught the feisty vermin, this time by the hind legs as his he landed. Clawing tirelessly at the ground and snaking his whole body like a live wire, the ferret slide his legs free bit by bit until at last he gained traction and felt no more pull coming from behind. He blasted off to the edge of the animal circle while leaping into the air and doing a celebratory spin.
James buried his face in the grass with an exasperated spit of breath. The remaining animals all jubilantly charged across the ground simultaneously, rejoicing in their triumph. They jumped on, over, and around James' prone body in their crossing while Spike held his arms up and barely managed to avoided being bowled over by the excited animals. After a few runs reveling in their victory they all settled again on the outside of the circle. The activity died down enough to hear the end of the muffled sound of something cackling uproariously.
Spike put his hand down on the back of James' shoulder. "Well, we almost had him that time," he said. "It was a good try," he added as an encouraging afterthought.
"Great," James replied in monotone without looking up. He rolled over onto to back and looked at the sky. "Can't even watch over a bunch of silly animals..." he mumbled.
"We can try again," Spike suggested, upbeat. "We'll get them back into their cages yet!" He pounded his fist into an open palm with determination.
James glowered at the dragon, not sharing the motivation to continue. He sat up and observed the animal circle once more. That stupid ferret just looked so darn proud of himself. It was infuriating. With a tired, grouchy sarcasm, James threw up his arms and said out loud, "Alright! That's enough! Game's over, back to your cages and pens! All of you!"
The animals gazed about at each other for a moment before turning to see the decision of the ferret. The dastardly rodent wavered his head back and forth, slowly and easily. Finally, he stopped and gave a satisfied nod. The crowd dispersed and all the animals made their way back to their respective enclosures with jaunty hops and skitters. The ferret was the last to go, lazily crawling over to his cage. He hopped inside and then, with a snicker, bite his cage door and swung it closed with his jaw. Reaching his little paw through the wiring, he effortlessly switched the lock into place to complete the seal.
"Huh," Spike dully commented, "I guess the first thing we probably should have tried was asking them." He went over to begin closing the doors to the pens that were still open.
There was only a heavy smack as James thrust his hands into his face and rubbed vigorously.
The rest of the morning went by without a hitch. After their playful romp Fluttershy's pets were content to relax the rest of the day away, waiting for the return of their primary caretaker. Maintaining the food and water of all the animals didn't prove to be a problem for Spike and James at that point. They managed their watch while passing the time by conversing about different casual topics. Spike discussed Twilight's history, making jokes about her bookishness, admiring her dedication and friendliness, and passing on some of their past experiences together. On the other side, James spoke a lot about the different rabbits he had raised while growing up and what he remembered best about each one. Eventually, as the morning came to its close, the pair retreated into the cottage for lunch. James found enough amongst Fluttershy's kitchen to make due but Spike had to settle for less than his personal expectations.
After eating they retired outside to rest, once again sitting down on the grass. It wasn't long afterwards that Spike pointed out somepony approaching them, "Hey! Look! It's Fluttershy!"
The yellow pegasus was quietly gliding her way back to the cottage. She was unaccompanied by any of her friends, pony or animal. The one exception was the young flying squirrel still nestled in her hair. She spotted the two who had been left to monitor her house and touched down in front of them.
"Hey, Fluttershy. What happened?" Spike asked her.
"And where are the others?" James added.
"I think they're alright," Fluttershy assured them. "I came back to drop this little guy off." She gave a slight nod and glance upwards to reference her small passenger who was despondently clinging to the locks of her mane. "It's just becoming too much for him. He shouldn't be out there with us anymore," she said. The gloom of the young one's situation reflected clearly off of her face.
Eyes closed and trembling, the little flying squirrel was balled up on her head. His constant shivering was causing the whole of Fluttershy's mane to quiver along with him.
"Please, take him," Fluttershy asked, leveling her neck and bringing her head in closer to James.
"Okay..." he said with reservation. The small critter looked almost terrified and it gave James pause. Fluttershy moved her head forward again once more to encourage him to pick up the saddened animal. Recalling how he had handled upset and frightened rabbits in the past, he finally collected himself and gently held out a hand to her forehead for the squirrel to cross on to. But the tiny creature was too shaken and distraught to move. James very carefully laid his other hand behind the young squirrel and softly nudged him to try and get him going. When that failed James molded the hand into a scoop and lightly got it under the squirrel's rear, pushing him slowly forward. Finally, the little animal let go of the pegasus' pink hair and rolled into James' open hand, laying still in silent distress. James brought his hand against his lower sternum and tilted it up a bit to create a secure pouch to hold the sad squirrel, remembering how rabbits usually disliked feeling loose and unsupported when they were held. To make extra sure, he also brought up his other hand and cupped it behind the first. The young flying squirrel lay and cried against his chest.
Fluttershy pulled back her head and shook it to realign all the hair that had been pulled out of place. She still wore all the sorrow she was feeling for the troubled animal on her face but she was hopeful that, while he rested here, she and Twilight would have success finding his parents. "Please bring him inside," she instructed James. "Do you remember where the bedding I laid out for him is? Angel can point it out if you don't."
"Yes, I remember," he answered. It was only yesterday he was here and saw it, after all.
"Okay. I hope he'll be able to get some rest," she said wistfully. "Oh! And you'll probably want to feed him," she suddenly remembered. "I know he's hungry but he's just been too upset to really eat much, so please try to get him to eat as much as you can."
Spike rubbed his chin. "Huh, a squirrel... so that's going to be the nuts and seeds mix, right?"
"Yes, mixed with some small pieces of fresh fruits. But he's still just a bit too young to have it all straight," Fluttershy replied. "Grind it up before giving any to him."
"Did we finish off the last open bag of the nuts and seeds?" James asked Spike. "I think we poured the last of it for some of the other animals around here."
"Yeah, I think so," Spike answered. He turned and started off towards where the feed is kept. "I'll check and get a fresh bag if we need one."
The tiny squirrel squirmed uncomfortably for a second in James' hand. Fluttershy got in close and poured her motherly love over him in delicate whispers. "It's going to be okay, little one. Stay here and try to rest. We're going to find your parents." Her words calmed the restless animal and he began to settle down. "There, there. That's right," she continued in a tender tone, "It's going to be alright. Just rest, my little squirrel."
James thought for a moment. "He doesn't have a name?" he asked quietly.
"I haven't given him a name for ponies to call him," Fluttershy explained. "With pets that I hope will get adopted, I often don't name them so that their new best friend will have that chance. For wild animals like this I sometimes give them nicknames." She sighed with remembrance of the heavy emotional load she had been under. "It's just been so busy with everything going on and trying to take care of them all," she said while closing her eyes. At least now things were getting better. When she opened her eyes again she could see James staring down at the squirrel in his hands. "Would you like to name him?" she asked.
He blinked in surprise at the question but then frivolously suggested the first thing that came to his mind. "How about 'Rocky'?" Seemed appropriate for a flying squirrel, even if it was too culturally esoteric.
Fluttershy peeked over James' hand to look at the small squirrel who picked his head up to stare back at her with wet, bleary eyes. "I think that sounds like a nice name for a strong and brave little squirrel," she lightly commented to him. It was that extra bit of affection in her voice that helped raise the little guy's spirit, and he tried to curl up and relax.
As Rocky settled, James asked Fluttershy, "So how has it been going out there? What about the others?" Since having accepted Spike's take on the situation and resolving not to do anything rash, he was now worried about how the ponies were doing and relying on them to set things right.
"We haven't heard from Applejack or Rarity or the others yet," Fluttershy said, "but Twilight and I have be doing alright. We've managed to find some of the missing animals and, from what they've told me, I don't think the rest may be that far off." She was smiling and encouraged by the success they were having but it still didn't completely hide her own worries. "We still haven't found Rocky's parents though. And I really hope that the others are doing as well as we are."
James didn't feel he had the knowledge to make a good assessment of their chances. But Spike had been supremely confident in them, so he echoed that support instead. "I bet they're doing just fine."
"You're right, I think," she responded with bolstered confidence.
Spike was making his way back to them with a heavy, sealed bag laid over his head. He kept his hands on either side of it to maintain a steady balance and prevent it from falling. As he passed the cage where the once-troublesome ferret was staying, its occupant leapt against the cage wall and snarled, causing Spike to jump. His tail jutted out to fix his slipping balance as he grabbed the falling bag in a hug. The ferret turned back into his cage, chortling to itself with glee. Spike gave him a stare with squinted, piercing eyes before sticking out his tongue and continuing on his way.
"You haven't had any trouble here with the animals, have you?" Fluttershy asked James with some concern.
"Ah, no. No trouble. Not at all."
"That's good to hear," she replied. With Spike having returned to them, she gave them both an appreciative bow. "Thank you for watching my friends. I should get back to Twilight now," she said as she beat her wings and began to lift off. They both said their farewells to her and wished her good luck in the search. With that, Fluttershy took off.
Spike patted the bag he had brought out. "So I did have to get out a new bag," he told James. "Fluttershy keeps all the fresh fruit inside, too. I think this will be all we need."
"Well," James started, pausing to think about the situation for a moment. "Why don't you watch the animals out here? I'll take him inside and get him fed and put to bed."
"You won't need any help?" Spike earnestly verified.
James shook his head, looking down at Rocky curled up between his palm and chest. "I don't think so. It's just one little squirrel. He's not going to be any trouble."
"No trouble as long as you can keep a hold on him," Spike laughed, grabbing the bag of nuts and seeds. He heaved it up over his head to pass it over to James, who bent down and took it by carefully freeing his extra hand from supporting the young squirrel. Spike made sure the bag was secure under James' arm before letting go.
"Thanks," James said while standing up straight. He turned to proceed towards the cottage's back door while Spike waved him off. The dragon himself then rubbed his hands together while ambling back towards the ferret cage, considering his options for getting even.
It took a bit of doing to open the door while holding Rocky and the bag under his arm, but James got it done after a few seconds of awkwardly fiddling with it. The tiny squirrel fidgeted a few times in his hand, trying to keep calm and get rest but it was clear he was still in distress. "Relax, Rocky," James told him in a low voice. "You, at least, still have things to hope for. So hold onto that hope."
As James shut the door behind him, a shadow skulked out of the tree line of the Everfree Forest. Slithering low to the ground and out of sight, it ruffled the grass as it stealthily maneuvered towards the cottage. A few animals caught wind of it as it snuck along by their pen and they retreated to the opposite side for cover. Spike was too busy standing outside the ferret cage pulling open the corners of his mouth and making faces to notice anything that was going on. The shadow crawled right up to the wall of the cottage and waited there for a moment before suddenly whizzing straight up the wall and onto the roof. It warily wormed its way across the roof to the other side of the building, turning quickly and moving down the opposite wall. It stopped and positioned itself by the kitchen window. Focused eyes looked in.
From the awkward angle it had given itself, the shadow could only roughly make out what was going on inside. After a short time it saw James enter the room and set something down on a countertop before he moved out of view. There was a sound of some rummaging; articles being shuffled about or gathered. When he returned, he set more things down on the countertop before again disappearing. This time, the crisp sound of clacking metal could be heard. He returned again and approached the countertop. As he raised his arm, a light gleamed off of what he was holding in his hand and the shadow made it out clearly. He had armed himself with a knife.
Gasping, the shadow bounced off the wall of the cottage before whirling about and crashing straight into the kitchen window. Fortunately the window was a casement window with the hinges on the inside so it split and swung open as the shadow passed through rather than breaking. The frames slamming against the inner wall made a loud and sudden bang.
"Hold it!"
In his surprise James withdrew the knife halfway through its cut and turned to face the shadow, unconsciously holding the blade defensively. The instant he made out what was in front of him, however, his arms fell to his sides and he loosened his stance. "Rainbow Dash?" he asked in confusion.
"Just what do you think you're up to?" the colorful pony demanded, floating in the middle of the room while pointing a hoof at him.
James was stumped as to what exactly was going or why she was here. He was still so taken aback by the intrusion that it took him a moment to even respond. Eventually he turned back to his work and reinserted the knife. "I was opening this bag," he told Rainbow Dash in a bewildered voice. With one swift motion he moved the knife completely through the remainder, setting it down on the countertop afterwards. Now the fresh bag of nuts and seeds Spike had given him was open and its contents readily accessible.
Rainbow Dash herself became confused and hovered down towards the floor. "I... you...," she sputtered, looking about the kitchen. Besides the now open bag on the countertop he had also placed there a bowl, a small plate, a spoon, a cutting board, and a wooden mallet. The bowl was filled with many tiny pieces of different fruits. "What are you doing?" she asked in befuddlement while landing.
He looked unsure. Didn't he just answer that? Oh, wait. The rest of the things he had here. James explained to her, "Fluttershy just stopped by a few minutes ago and dropped off a little squirrel here. I'm going to mix and grind this stuff together to feed him."
"The squirrel...!" Rainbow Dash muttered. She had watched the earlier exchange outside from the shadows. Her body became alert again and she jumped to a ready stance. "Where is he?" she asked loudly.
"Right in the next room, waiting to be fed." He pointed over to a doorway out of the kitchen.
She loosened up again in confusion, rapidly swinging her head between him and the doorway he was pointing at. Then, leaving a rainbow trail, she zipped over to the doorway and peeked into the other room. Rocky was sitting up on a blanket laid out over the floor, looking around in fright because of the boisterous crack from Rainbow Dash's entrance. Angel sat next to him trying to calm him back down. She turned around to face James again. "You're... feeding him?" she said in a perplexed way that was halfway between question and statement.
James was already scooping small amounts of feed out of the bag and laying it out on the cutting board for mashing. "Yeah," he answered. Though he was still puzzled as to what exactly was going on. "But... what are you doing here? Are you and Applejack done with what you had to do?" He looked up from his scooping for a second. "And why did you come in through the window?"
This is not what she was supposed to find! Okay, well, what she was "supposed" to find isn't what she wanted to find anyway because that would have been very bad, but still! There's nothing wrong going on here. Everything's in order. Everything's as he said it is. "I... we... I just... came to check on you, is all," the faltering pegasus hastily cobbled together a half-truth.
"Check on-?" James started to ask. But the memory of their initial encounter at the Ponyville market sprung to his mind and things began to fall into place. There were elements of her opinion that were just too visible to hide. Plus the sudden entrance? The mysterious laughter earlier every time he fell or tripped up? "You thought I might do something," he told her vaguely.
"I-I was just... you see," Rainbow Dash inconclusively tried to counter.
He decided to be more direct. "You don't trust me."
She stopped her stammering and steadied herself. Stepping closer to him, her face washed over with seriousness and she firmed up her posture. "Yeah, I don't trust you," she told him outright.
It was strangely comforting to hear. Finally, a direct confrontation with a properly cautious pony. No "well, you could be dangerous so I'm sending you to live with my favorite student", or "I don't know you at all but I'm going to trust you anyway". This was a resistance with which he could actually feel traction and progress. Most of all, it was just plain nice to know that somebody amongst the ponies was actively looking out for them.
Taking some of the fruit from the bowl, James mixed it with the nuts and seeds he had withdrawn and placed on the cutting board. "I guess... heh, I should thank you. Again," he said to Rainbow Dash.
"What?" she asked, once again becoming confounded at being presented with something she completely did not expect. When he grabbed the wooden mallet she took a sudden step back and attentively snapped into a defensive stance. However, he only leveled the mallet gently over the mix on the cutting board. Placing his palm on the top of it, he started grinding down on the mixture. "What are you thanking me for now?" she asked him.
"Ever since I've got here it has felt like everyone has been trusting me too readily. It's... very thoughtful, I suppose," he admitted, "but it just seems so unusual. And dangerous. It's actually kind of relieving to have someone be wary and suspicious like normal." Normal, hm? Was that the word he meant to use?
Rainbow Dash still wasn't able to wrap her head around what was going on. "You're... relieved that I don't trust you?" She couldn't even tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing. It's like everything was backwards for this stranger. Was this some weird and impulsive form of honesty... or were things getting so much more nefarious and tricky than she had ever imagined? Like some kind of reverse backwards contrariwise roundabout doublespeak.
"Yes. I mean, I think I'm just worried for the others, really. With the way they can be so quick to trust a stranger. There's a lot of risk there," he said. How hard would it really be for someone with darker intentions to take advantage of the situation? He didn't sound convincing to himself when he said it, though. Twilight's mantra about expectations rang in his head, and their discussion on trust, and even some of Spike's words from earlier. What they have here has been working for them, presumably for a very long time, and nobody seems to have come along and abused that.
"That's what I've been saying to them!" Rainbow Dash suddenly agreed. Her own statement seemed to even surprise herself. "Wait... why are you telling me this?" she demanded to know.
"I don't have anything to hide," he said plainly. He had hardly asked to be dropped into these circumstances. It just actually made him uncomfortable to see these little ponies taking what he thought were such naive risks.
For her part, Rainbow Dash only continued to eye him suspiciously. She couldn't make up her mind about him. Things seemed so much more simpler when he was just the bizarre, potentially dangerous new guy. Somehow following Applejack's recommendation of finding out more about him, even if only accidentally, hadn't done anything but make things harder to figure out.
"Tell you what," James said to her as she kept on staring. "You can keep on being careful and watchful, keeping an eye on me, until you feel like you don't need to," he offered. "It'll help make me feel better. Maybe we'll both feel better, I guess."
"I just don't want anything to happen to my friends," Rainbow Dash clarified in a strong voice.
"And I promise nothing will." Taking advantage of a bunch of innocence horses was pretty much the furthest thing from his mind. He was still busy grappling with the issue of his own dimensional displacement more than anything else. Still, so long as he was already beholden to Princess Celestia to try his best to avoid hurting the ponies, even with just his knowledge, he had no problems adding to that promise with Rainbow Dash. "So I'm serious. Keep an eye on me until you feel comfortable with everything. You can make sure nothing happens for yourself."
He scraped off the mashed nuts, seeds, and fruit from the bottom of the mallet. The mixture had been ground down into a paste and he gathered up a portion of it to slop onto the plate. Setting aside his tools to be cleaned later, he took the plate with Rocky's meal and made his way past Rainbow Dash. She followed him closely out of the kitchen.
"Alright," she told him in tentative agreement as they entered the next room. "So, care to explain yourself?" Her tone was dead serious.
James put the plate on the blanket next to Rocky, who had somewhat recovered from the shock of the pegasus' entrance. The little squirrel was reluctant to eat, however. James knelt down close and rested two fingers over his back, trying to sooth the small animal. Again this reminded the man of the rabbits he used to take care of. If it became absolutely necessary you could force-feed a rabbit but if they were just upset or being stubborn you usually had to sit with them, encourage them, and make them comfortable until they felt ready to eat on their own.
"What do you want explained?" he asked Rainbow Dash, but she just stared back at him with narrowed eyes. It silently cemented what he had essentially assumed. She wanted to know about what happened between him and the other man. She had saved them both but now only James was left since he had killed the other man immediately afterwards. That was the single, definitive action that was driving her distrust.
"It's a complicated thing. Especially for ponies, it seems," he said to her. He matched her serious nature to try and respect her forthrightness and emphasize that he wasn't dodging the question. He was only looking for the right way to answer it. "The short and direct version is that I only did to him what he was planning on doing to me."
Her stare stayed leery, trying to make a judgment on him. It lined up with what she had seen. The other man had made the first move. But it seemed too simple a justification for so heavy an action.
"It was always going to be me or him," James resolved. "If I hadn't acted at all then the only thing that would be different right now is that you'd be here talking to him instead of me." Who knows if the ponies would have been better off like that. He had no idea who that other man was. If he was a better man. He didn't want to know. It could hurt to know.
Rainbow Dash kept staring for a while longer before she finally closed her eyes and shook her head briskly. "I don't get it," she complained, "I mean, I 'get it' but I don't... ugh." There was a deeply registered disgust to it all that she didn't know how to vocalize. It's one thing when the going gets tough for the tough to get going. But holy Celestia, what does it take to go that far?
"It's complicated," he said again. Looks like there was no way to simplify it down without getting into big talks of ethics, morality, necessity, warfare, and so on. "I had a whole, long conversation with Twilight about all this too. It took her a bit of time to get a real handle on things. Hm. If you're staying around right now we-"
"Wait," Rainbow Dash suddenly interjected with a realization. "You've already talked to Twilight about all this?"
He guessed they never really gave Rainbow Dash the details when they met her at the market but it still seemed odd that she didn't imagine Twilight would have asked him about it. "Yeah. We went into quite a bit of detail," he elaborated.
She withdrew into thought. That little unicorn was holding back information! Maybe she did have a good reason to, though. Maybe she did know what she was talking about before, or at least knows what she's doing. Maybe Applejack was right about just giving enough time for everything to be explained. Perhaps she could talk to Twilight first and hear her account and interpretation instead of relying on James' version. She still couldn't make a judgment on him.
Rocky stirred from under James' petting and stretched forward to begin nibbling at the mush that was his meal. Without thinking, James reacted by giving the hungry squirrel some light praise in a silly voice before quieting himself in embarrassment. It broke Rainbow Dash's concentration and she had a hard time suppressing a chuckle. Watching the entire proceeding, Angel sat upright and rolled his eyes.
"Alright, I guess I don't need to hear all about it right now," Rainbow Dash decided. "I'll take your promise... for now. But I'm still going to keep an eye on you."
"That's no problem," he answered. He added after a pause, "Thanks again." Maybe it was weird that being mistrusted at first felt better than spontaneous trust. But when you're so used to certain behaviors they become very normalizing and comfortable.
They sat in silence, watching Rocky slowly pick at his meal. The dainty sound of his chewing was backed only by the regular ticking of the pendulum clock on the wall. Finally James broke the silence when he realized something. "Hey. If you've been here watching me, what happened to Applejack? Is she going to be okay?"
Rainbow Dash casually blew the notion off. "She'll be fine. She always is."
A branch snapped with a forceful crack as Applejack tumbled through it during her fall down. She landed on the leafy forest floor with a crinkled thump as her hat floated down and came to rest next to her without a noise. She moaned from the soreness as she pushed herself up onto her hooves and picked up her hat to return it to her head. Two small birds stood in front of her and looked up at her quizzically.
"Well," Applejack groaned while straightening her hat, "I reckon it looks clear enough up there if ya'll want to nest in it. Didn't see nothing dangerous."
The avian couple fluttered around each other in happy abandon several times before shooting up into the leaves of the tree.
Taking strained steps towards the remaining birds that still needed homes, Applejack twitched from the leftover pain of her fall. She grumbled to herself, "When I get my hooves on that lazy, good for nothing pony, leaving me here like this..."
One of the other birds tweeted at her and held a wing out towards another tree.
"That one, huh?" Applejack said. "Alright, alright, hang on. Lemme try to find a way to climb it here." She sighed as she looked about for the easiest way to haul herself up the tree.