//------------------------------//
// Chapter Five 
// Story: Bloodlines 
// by Autocharth 
//------------------------------//

	“This is lame,” Dash complained. She folded her arms, glaring at Spike. “I thought you said we could go after her!”

The dragonblooded boy shrugged, flipping through another book. “I thought we could! How was I supposed to know Twilight told the royal guards to keep us here tonight? I guess between the princess being away and the trap, she’s feeling a little protective.”

Applejack looked up from her book, trying to ignore her throbbing headache to focus on what he had just said.

“The princess is away? Whatcha mean?” she asked. Not being able to leave when something was happening made her edgy. Applejack was an honest woman, and she wasn’t about to turn her back on her sentence. If Twilight needed help, she was getting it.

Spike winced.  “Woops. I, uh, I wasn’t supposed to say that. Keep it yourself, please. Princess Celestia isn’t in the city, and no one is supposed to know. Only a few people know, and it’s really important that it doesn’t get out.”

“Huh. Why?” Applejack asked. Her eyes felt like they were going to bleed if she had to read another book.

“Because…” Spike opened his mouth, but nothing came out as he found no reasons at hand. He closed his mouth, frowning. Applejack cocked an eyebrow at him. Finally Spike shrugged. “No idea. Just have to keep it a secret.”

Dash rolled her eyes. She occupied herself flipping a dark coin, playing with it between her nimble fingers. “Great. Secrets.”

Applejack couldn’t help but agree. She didn’t like secrets. Not even when her own hat held them from her. Especially not then. She glanced at it, sitting there all innocently on the table like it hadn’t randomly made her able to detect a were-beast on sight.

‘Granny said the hat was special, she just musta forgot ta tell me how special,’ she thought.

She was roused from her thoughts by the door open and the clank of heavy metal boots on the floor. Another guard, she guessed sourly.

“Twilight!” Spike cried, jumping up. Applejack twisted to look, half-rising, while Dash just caught the coin again. “Shining!”

The lord-captain smiled down at him, one bare-hand reaching out to ruffle spiky green hair. His other hand was occupied, his arm over Twilight’s shoulder.

“Hey there Spike,” Shining said. His voice was curiously coarse, and now she looked there was a ashen cast to his dark features. Dropping her gaze to Twilight, Applejack found the same on her face, with the notable addition of red-rimmed eyes.

Spike apparently noticed the obvious sign of crying too. He frowned, worry tugging at his expression.

“Twilight? What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is Time Turner okay?”

The silent sorceress pressed a damp sleeve to her face when she heard the name, leaving her brother to answer. Shining Armour’s look was grave as he delivered the news. His free hand caught Spike, pulling him in gently, careful not to smack the boy against his protective plates.

“N-no…” Spike sniffled. “B-but…”

Applejack reached over, snagging Dash by the elbow and tugging on her arm. When the thief glared at her Applejack glared right back, jerking her head in the direction of the room Twilight had given them to share. The message was clear, and grudgingly Dash conceded this particular battle. She was stubborn, but she had no particular desire to stay and watch this display of grief. They left the three to their mourning.

“Well, that was productive. I’ve been magically enslaved, seen a kid have his face half-melted off, sent to snitch on guildmembers in the middens, fought a were-rat and learned I have magic,” Dash grumbled, leaning back against the firmly shut door. “Now they’re getting all burning mopey about some random guy.”

Applejack frowned at her, expression heavy with disapproval. “Ya ain’t got noone ta blame but yerself sugar, so don’t go blaming Twilight. I only just met her, but she don’t seem the sort to play funny with ya. She just lost a friend; a lil’ respect fer that would go a long way.”

Rolling her eyes, Dash jumped onto one of the beds. She felt out a yelp and for a moment lost control, not expecting it to be, well, a bed. The best thing she had ever slept in was a cot once, and at home her usual bedding was a well-used pile of rags. She lay upside down, her back on the bed as she stared at her legs as they ran up the wall.

“Shut it,” she growled before anything was even said. “And so what? Everyone dies. I’ve seen plenty of people die, I don’t get all teary about it, do I? They’re just spoiled, Sparkle especially.”

With her own bed under her, Applejack shook her head. “Things are different, for everyone. How many of those people ya’ll have seen die were important to ya? Maybe it don’t hurt ya’ll as much, but I know what it’s like to lose someone ya care about. Even if everythin’ today ain’t given ya even the slightest feelin’ that ya’ll are judging Twilight too harshly, try not ta be too much of a nuisance tomorrow.”

“Not like I have much choice,” Dash shot back. “Magically enslaved, remember? Which having magic doesn’t even fix, apparently.”

Applejack just sighed and began to undress, removing her boots first of course. This was not a battle that she would win quickly, but it was one she would fight with the willful girl. Despite thinking of herself as a woman, an adult, Applejack couldn’t help but think of Dash as just a girl. It wasn’t her size or uncertain age, although they helped. It was like Dash had stunted herself mentally, firm in convictions born from a painful childhood she refused to leave behind.

“It’s keepin’ you from breakin’ the law,” she said mildly. “Which ya’ll are supposed to keep from doin’ anyway.”

“Sparkle can give me- give us, orders. How is that fair or good, huh?” The upside down thief humped, crossing her arms and giving Applejack a challenging sneer. If it was an attempt at getting a rise from the ranger, it failed.

Slipping under the cover in just her undershirt, Applejack ran a hand through her hair before answering. “Which she’s done once, when ya tried to get away,” she pointed out. “Which ya’ll were kind of askin’ for, carryin’ on like that.”

“It’s only been one day,” Dash went on, scowling. “One day. She kept the fact I had magic to herself-”

“Didn’t she say somethin' about mentionin’ it to ya when ya’ll were in the cell?” Applejack interrupted. She normally would never have been so rude, but the look on Dash’s face was worth it.

“...well, yeah, kinda. That doesn’t count. She just said it and ran, how was I supposed to know she was serious?” grumbled the irked girl, not that she would agree with such a description. At least not without someone telling her what irked meant.
 
“Right, so, ya didn’t ask? An’ like ya’ll said, it’s been one day. Considerin’ how ya keep actin’ like she’s out to get ya, no wonder!” Taking off her hat, Applejack jerked her head to the side. Dash’s incoming pillow hit the wall behind her.
 
“Why are you defending her? You barely know her too!”
 
Applejack shrugged. “But I’m willing to take her how she comes, an’ so far she’s kept us from hard labour-”
 
“After being the one who got us arrested!”
 
“After ya’ll got yourself arrested, an’ the only witnesses all blamed me, an’ she kept me from hurtin’ those guards,” Applejack continued without missing a beat. “I’m not happy about bein’ done in for somethin’ I didn’t do, an’ bein’ drugged, but it could be a lot worse an’ there ain’t no point in blamin’ the guards.”
 
“She sent us to do her dirty work, and a burning wererat nearly killed me!” Dash snarled.
 
Applejack said, “Not like she knew the wererat was there, an’ she was rightly lookin’ after her own. Whoever is tryin’ to kill her might get us with their next attempt. Besides, ya ain’t scared, are ya? Sure were blubberin’ back there,” she taunted.
 
The thief scowled. Her hands were running along the soft covers, rough fingers slipping between the impossibly comfortable material. “Whatever, more magic,” she dismissed it.
 
With a shrug Applejack finished undressing, down to just her undergarments, and slipped into bed. Her greatsword, she realised with a sigh, was still in the main room. Applejack didn’t have the heart to go out for it and interrupt the mourning. It would be an uncomfortable night, sleeping without it at hand.
 
“Go to sleep, sugar. Day two, an’ we’re gonna have more readin’ to do.”
 
“Maybe you will, farm-girl,” Dash growled. She was shifting about on  the bed, trying to get used to it.
 
“Good night, Rainbow.” Applejack lay her head down, closing her eyes.
 
The only response she got was a snort, and the sound of shifting and fidgeting, a constant rustle rustle of cloth being thrown about. A few minutes passed, and Dash seemed unwilling to stop moving.
 
“...give me back my pillow,” she grumbled. The pillow soared over in response, and Applejack lay her head back down.
 
Rustle rustle.
 
Applejack’s content expression as she put the day behind her and tried to sleep vanished. The sounds stopped, and she let peace wash over her again. For about a minute.
 
Rustle rustle.
 
Rustle rustle.
 
Rustle rustle.
 
...
 
Applejack sighed in relief.
 
Rustle rustle.
 
Her eyes snapped open. “Sugar, what are ya doin’?”
 
“Trying to sleep.”
 
“Sounds like ya’ll’re wrestlin’ a pig over there.”
 
Something whistled through the air. A pillow slapped Applejack in face.
 
“Shut up! I’m not used to this sort of thing. Long night, this is the first time I’ve slept on a bed, it’s so soft it’s weird!” Dash whined. As an experienced older sister, Applejack knew a whine when she heard it.
 
She grabbed the pillow off her face, saying, “Well, if it’s too soft, I dunno, pulls the covers off an’ sleep on the floor?”
 
“That’s....that’s a good idea.” The rustling changed as Dash pulled the finely woven covers onto the floor. In the darkness she built a nest. “Gimme my pillow.”
 
Applejack threw it in the general direction of Dash’s voice. “There. Now, good night.”
 
“Yeah, night, don’t let the lice bite.”
 
At long last, there was blessed silence. Smiling, Applejack closed her eyes.
 
*
 
Shining Armour tucked Spike in, sighing as he looked down at the boy’s expression, troubled even in his sleep. It hurt nearly as much as Twilight’s expression had. Though his own grief burned inside, Shining Armour had lost friends before. It didn’t make it any easier, but he was able to push it to the side and focus on the immediate situation. As far as he was concerned, his little sister and the boy that was like a little brother were his immediate concern.
 
‘And finding out who killed my friend,’ he thought darkly. Pushing the thought away, Shining Armour gave the kid’s hair a ruffle and let him to sleep. He was glad Spike was tired enough that the clanking of his armour didn’t wake him, at least.
 
Twilight was waiting for him outside, her face still the same pale mask of grief and guilt that stole the life and colour from her rich, dark hued face. What exactly was the cause of that guilt, Shining Armour couldn’t be sure. From what little she said, he gathered Twilight had been intending to visit Time Turner. He sighed, guessing that she blamed herself for not having gone today.
 
“How is he?” she asked, her voice flat and empty.
 
Shining Armour shrugged, and winced at the sound it made. “Sleeping. He’s still just a boy, he’ll need some time to deal with it.”
 
She nodded, staring away at some point too distant, yet still too close, for him to see.
 
“Don’t blame yourself,” he told her. Her expression finally changed, shifting for a moment to surprise.
 
“I don’t know what you mean.” Even as she said it, Twilight knew it fooled neither of them.
 
“I know that look, little sister. I know you’re thinking about all the ifs, thinking about how you could have done something different, how you could have changed what happened.” He gave her a sad look. “Don’t. Trust me, Twily, don’t. It won’t get you anywhere.”
 
Twilight looked away, clutching her staff tight enough to show her knuckles against her skin. “But....but what if I could have done something? How can I live with myself?”
 
“Stop it. Twilight, just stop right there. If you don’t, you’ll drown yourself in regrets. There is a lot to regret, things we never did, never said. I was talking about him only yesterday. Yesterday! Reliving all those stories I’ve told you. Long night, I was going to introd- visit him soon,” he caught himself at the last moment, even in his grief not willing to divulge that secret quite yet. Twilight had too much to think about already, which at least kept her from noticing his slip.
 
“I know. I know thinking like this won’t help, but I can’t help it. T-this is why I hate this! You should never have taken me to see him,” she suddenly lashed out, slapping a palm against his armoured chest. He pulled her close, feeling sobs wrecking her again. “This is why I didn’t want friends!”
 
“I know, Twily. But don’t say that. It hurts to lose him, but try to remember all the good things. He might be dead, but he’s not gone. Not while we remember him,” he soothed her, gently leading his sister to her bedroom. She didn’t reply, and he was happy to let her cry it out again. Shining Armour pushed away the hints of yet another headache as he sat with her, waiting as long as she needed him.
 
“Sleep well, Twily,” he whispered as he tucked his sister into bed. She would probably have stern words with him about letting her fall asleep without reminding her to change into nightwear, but he would weather it.
 
Massaging his forehead, Shining Armour sealed the exit behind him. A squad of his finest guards and one pair of the Solar Guard waited without, and at his order girded his sister’s home in a wall of steel, magic and discipline.
 
Tired as he was, he knew he had to start planning his investigation. He had to find out who was behind this, and not just because it was his duty as the Lord-Captain. It was his duty as a friend to bring Time Turner justice. Moreover, it was his duty to make sure Twilight would never be tempted by thoughts of revenge. He wouldn’t let her stain herself like that.
 
Shining Armour staggered away, and despite the ache in his skull he began planning the spells he was going to use when he found the scum responsible. He just had to work out whether acid or fire would be better.
 
‘Why not both?’
 
*

Dash lay still in her nest, staring at the ceiling. Applejack had probably gone to sleep. It wasn’t the first time Dash had been close enough to someone to listen to them as they slept, although they usually didn’t know she was there. That sort of heist nearly always took up more time than she liked to spend on a single job, plus it was kind of creepy.

Applejack’s gentle breathing was the only sound beside her own heartbeat, and frankly Dash found it weird. Her little hidden home let the sounds of the everliving city in, whether she rested day or night, and she found the lack of it disturbing. As tempting as it was to try and get comfortable, she stilled herself before she made more noise.

‘Don’t want to disturb her,’ she thought, until she realised what she was thinking. ‘Wait, why do I care?’

That was hard to answer, even though she asked it of herself. Surely she should know if she was asking herself. She was the only one involved. Dash stifled a groan of annoyance. Why couldn’t things be simple? Looking after herself and Scootaloo, even if the kid didn’t know it, was so much easier.

‘Steal, hand over the loot, done. I don’t even know these people. Someone in the guild should have the favours I need to get the spell lifted, and I can be gone.’ Except, she couldn’t. Dash flexed her fingers, thoughts turning to the magic she had done. Real magic. Lightning in the palm of her hand. ‘I can practice on my own. I’m not itching to..to climb, to throw myself into the sky as much anymore. Who needs some prissy noble?’

Dash wouldn’t even have to deal with the threat of Sparkle tracking her for very long, either. Assassins weren’t part of her business, but she knew enough to know that a hit as expensive as the Princess’s apprentice wouldn’t be cheap. People with the sort of money to throw at this sort of thing weren’t the sort to give up. Before too long, Sparkle would lower her guard and someone would get her.

The image of Spike screaming as acid burned into him flashed before her eyes, leaving a tight, uncomfortable feeling in her chest. If someone did get to the mage, the kid would throw himself between them. If they didn’t just get rid of him at the same time, that is.

‘Oh no,’ she thought, a realisation running through her like a lightning bolt. ‘I like the kid. He’s not so bad. A little annoying, but what kid isn’t?’

She liked them, not just Spike, and it upset her to realise that. She wasn’t about to trust Sparkle, but Applejack was...weird. She just extruded an aura of trust me, a sense of reliablity. Considering she had saved Dash twice in one day, first from drowning - ‘lamest way to die, drowning in a bath!’ - and then from the wererat, the thief had to admit she might be biased. Getting attached after just one day was stupid and she knew it. She couldn’t afford it, and it wasn’t even worth the risk. Eventually Twilight would grow tired of them. She would be satisfied that she had ‘given back’, shown that she cared about people without as much wealth or power as herself.

‘I’m still paying off the last time I got close to someone,’ she snarled to herself. She lay there, staring at nothing as she thought about how complicated life had become, and how much she wished it hadn’t. Eventually, her first day as a slave came to an end as she drifted into slumber, wondering how many days she had.

*
 
She was running. She was fleeing. She was chasing. She didn’t know which. All she knew was that she was moving, trying to go faster, to lengthen her stride. But she couldn’t run fast enough. She couldn’t get there in time. She had to stop it. Sweat ran into her eyes, blurring everything.
 
 Everything was shadows. The world was cast into a maze of writhing shapes and clawing talons, vines and branches twisting hungrily towards her. Roots caught underfoot, slowing her, and the shadows pulled ahead of her.
 
Every shadow held a threat. Every threat ignored her. She ran, trying to outpace the shadows, the creeping evil that never rested. It was an invasion, and she had to stop it. It was her responsibility, it was her duty, and she knew she was failing.
 
Light appeared ahead, piercing the shadows. She charged towards it, wishing she had a weapon in hand. The depths she had ventured into receded, and finally she burst free. Elation filled her, spurring her on.
 
Where there had been only the light and the shadow, suddenly there was red. It splashed across her vision. A crimson stain spread beneath her, swallowing her. She screamed, but found her mouth filled with a copper tang.
 
Applejack woke up. There was no gradual slip from slumber to wakefulness, no gentle progression from the world of sleeps. Her eyes snapped open and she was awake in an instant. Her hands shot out, groping for her weapon, but found nothing. Her adrenaline up, a nightmare lurking at the back of her thoughts, she rolled out of the unfamiliar bed, coming to her feet ready to defend herself.
 
That was the plan, at least. What actually happened was that her feet hit something that yelled in pain and shock. Applejack joined her, snarling as she tumbled to the ground. The next few seconds were filled by the sounds of two women flailing and fighting, wrestling.
 
The door swung open, although neither noticed. Spike stared, an expensive, crystal clear glass of fruit juice in his hand. He blinked dully.
 
“Huh.”
 
“Gerrof!”
 
“You get off!”
 
Spike took a sip, watching them with the air of someone who just woke up and wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but found it mildly interesting. He took another sip.
 
“Cool.”
 
It was at that point that they realised he was there. They froze, Applejack with a hand in Dash’s hair, Dash with a foot pressing into Applejack’s stomach, and looked up at him. Spike waved lazily.
 
“Morning.”
 
“Er, mornin’.”
 
Without preamble, he asked, “Whatcha doing?”
 
They separated, glowering at each other.
 
“She stepped on me!”
 
“Ya’ll were takin’ up the whole damn floor!”

“Don’t make me magic you, Freckles!”

“Like to see your lil’ shock do anythin’ to me, Rainbow.”
 
Spike rubbed the sleep away, scale-ringed eyes squinting as he took in the mess of blanket and pillows. The best word that could be used, aside from mess, was ‘nest’.
 
“You were...sleeping on the floor?” Spike looked rather confused by that. He glanced at the bed. “Oh...’kay? Why?”
 
“Beds are uncomfortable,” Dash, freed from Applejack’s grip, stood up. She watched a blush spread across the kid’s face, rapidly spinning around so he wasn’t facing her anymore. It made her laugh, until Applejack threw something from the pile of spare clothing.
 
“Uh, I, I just came to let you know there’s some breakfast okay cool bye!” He fled, nearly spilling his juice.
 
Applejack sighed, shaking off her nightmare. “Get dressed already,” she said tiredly. “We probably got a long day ahead of us.” She threw something from the pile of Dash’s pile of gifted clothing, not bothering to check what it was. She dressed quickly, pulling on her armoured leather coat before stepping out. Behind her she heard Dash getting dressed, grumbling about ‘pushy rubes’.

Spike directed her to a small room, well clear of any books, where Twilight was eating. If she guessed right, the set of chambers assigned to Twilight was larger than Applejack’s family home. There were at least four or five halls and two levels, not counting the towering, book filled open space, filled with storage rooms cluttered by books and things Spike identified as previous experiments and projects Twilight was unwilling to throw away. It was far too much room for just two people, at least in her opinion.

“Mornin’,” Applejack hung her hat on the back of a chair, nodding a greeting to Twilight. The mage gave her a brief glance and went back to eating, the movement mechanical and listless. Wincing, Applejack looked over the range of food. Her mouth began to water. Last night had just been meals brought by a guard, better than usual fare but nothing special. But this…

Dash’s approach was heralded by cursing and yawning. “Okay, so- burning- look at all that food!”

The thief hit the table, not bothering to sit before she began to shovel food onto the table in front of her. She grabbed a pancake in one hand, getting the sweet syrup on inside of her hand as she shoved it into her mouth.

“Wow!”

The dull look on Twilight’s face lifted, her expression twisting into disgust. “Dash, sit down and use a knife and fork like a civilised person.”

Dash cocked her head to the side at Twilight. “Wha’?” she asked, spraying bits of half-chewed pancake onto the table. “Hab woo not met me ow somefin?”

Applejack’s laughter rang out. “She’s got ya there.”

Sighing, Twilight muttered something. Midway through her messy meal, Dash found the pile of food moving about, an unseen force moving it about and putting it on a plate like an invisible servant.

“Huh?” She sprayed out more crumbs, which the same unseen servant began cleaning. “Wha- mmmfgh!”

A cloth began to wipe her face, cleaning the sweet syrup dripping from her chin. She batted at it, but the cloth nimbly avoided the weak wave and finish its job. Dash glared at it, swatting it away.

“Hey!” She swallowed. “What was that for? I’m trying to eat.”

“Eat with a knife and a fork, or don’t eat all,” Twilight said, her tone flat and cold. She got up, shaking her head. “I’m going to bathe. We’re doing more research today, come to the library when you’re done.”

“Hey! What about the whole magic thing? I wanna shoot lightning!” Dash called out, scowling. “What’s the point of magic if I don’t know how to use it?”

Applejack watched Twilight leave. Spike sat miserably at the table, idly chewing the same mouthful he had been for the last minute. He didn’t react to Twilight’s sudden coldness. What energy he had possessed when he had woken them was gone.

Grumbling at Twilight’s attitude, Dash continued to shovel food into her mouth. “Stupid noble. Where's she get off-”

“Hey!” Spike’s fist slammed against the table. He was glaring at Dash, his bright green eyes dark. “Twilight isn’t stupid! At least she can read, and do more with her life than steal!” He spat.

The reaction surprised all three of them. Spike winced, grabbing the hand he had hit the table with. Dash just stared at him, shocked, before quickly shaking it off. For all that he had lost someone, she was not going to let anyone get away with mouthing off to her like that.

“Listen here, you little-”

“Yer hand okay there, sugar?” Applejack cut in, getting up and reaching for Spike’s hand. He jerked it away, his sharp teeth bared at first her and then Dash.

“I don’t need help! Twilight is better than you deserve! She wants to help you and you refuse to listen!” He stood, his chair banging to the ground behind him. “I don’t care how horrible your life has been, she doesn’t deserve you acting like she’s evil all the time! Why don’t you grow up and stop blaming everyone else just because they haven’t had as bad a life as you?”

Before Applejack could try to calm him down, Dash shot to her feet. Unlike Spike, her feet slapped onto the tabletop, lifting herself from her chair in one smooth movement and crouching down to bring herself face to face with him. She shoved a finger at him, pointing it like an arrow.

“Give me one good reason to believe she’s anything but one more selfish noble, someone just making herself feel better about having so much useless shit by pretending she cares. She might be nice now, but give it a week and she’ll grow tired of us! Applejack will be off to hard labour and that royal bastard will have my head!” Dash snarled.

Spike glared at her, the scales on his knuckles tightening. His clenched fists pressed into the table as he leaned forward, glaring right back.

“Twilight isn’t like that! She wants to help you, but she isn’t good with people. She’s a good person, but you aren’t even giving her a chance to show that. Just because she was born a noble doesn’t mean she’s everything you say she is, anymore than you being poor means you have to be a thief, or that you’re not as good as she is. You’re not being fair!” He gripped the hard so tight his nails were digging into the wood.

“To the hells with fair!” She spat. “What’s fair about life? I’ve spent my life alone, and the first time there was someone I cared about it nearly cost me everything! No one has given me a chance at anything without there being a price attached. Why should I believe she’s willing to do otherwise? Why shouldn’t I believe there’s some hook waiting to rip away what little I have left?”

“Because there was never was for me!” Spike shouted, wood splintering in his grasp. He panted, not seeming to notice the fists full of shattered timber in his hands.

Applejack finally decided enough was enough. She reached out, jerking Spike away from the table. His hands came free with a few bits of wood breaking. Applejack interposed herself between the two.

“Right, both of ya, shut it. Spike, show me yer hands. Dash, sit down an’ finish eatin’ or I’ll throw you out myself,” she ordered curtly. This time Spike allowed her to take his hands, the furious energy draining from him. He didn’t react as she pulled his hands open, bits of broken wood falling to the ground. She saw a faint ripple, the last impressions of a scale pattern receding to his ever-purple knuckles. “Would ya look at that…”

Even as she made sure Spike hadn’t hurt himself, Applejack tensed for Dash’s reaction. She was certain the thief wasn’t going to just calm down. She glanced back. She stared. Dash was gone, the plate stuffed with food gone with her.

“Where did she…” Applejack sighed, shaking her head. She turned back to Spike. “Y’all okay, sugar?”

He shrugged lethargically, his expression down cast. Spike mumbled something, too low for her to hear.

“Sorry, ya gonna have ta talk up,” she said gently.

Spike said, his voice just above a whisper, “Please don’t tell Twilight I broke the table.”

She shook her head, sighing. “Don’t worry, she’ll understand. Y’all’re both hurtin’, an’ Dash havin’ a go at her like that set you off. I’m sure she won’t be angry.”

He didn’t meet her eyes, staring at the floor with a look of shame and embarrassment. Patting him on the shoulder, Applejack knelt and began to tidy the fragments of table around them. She frowned, staring at a particularly large bit before glancing at the table. It had to be at least three inches thick, but Spike had crunched and splintered the wood with his bare hands. The wound in the table looked more like the doing of a beast of the Everfree than a boy barely into his teens.

A moment later, he joined her, scooping them up. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“S’okay, sugar,” Applejack told him with a warm smile. “I got this, why don’t ya finish eatin’?”

“I’m….I’m full, thanks. I think I’ll go tell Twilight. Might as well get it over with,” the dour faced boy muttered, piling up his handful of wood for her before leaving.

*

Dash watched them from her hiding place. She lay within the shadows between one of the bookshelves in the hollow library tower, her plate of breakfast sitting empty next to her. Applejack had, after putting her hat on, spotted her a while ago, Dash was certain. But the ranger seemed content to leave her there, stewing in her own thoughts.

These thoughts were, to her surprise, largely guilty. Guilt was not something often entered into her life, except in the case of guards and their position on the things she did. For once, she was feeling bad, and she wasn’t quite sure why. Spike, she should be sure, was just naive or stupid. There was always a hook, always a catch waiting to rip out your guts. If you couldn’t see it, you just weren’t looking at it from the right angle.

But the thought was unsatisfying for some reason. Dash looked over at Applejack again, the taller woman rubbing her forehead as she read through yet another book. Even magic to find particular phrases was of little help, given Twilight’s vast range of books and the fact that it didn’t take context into consideration, leaving Twilight, Spike and Applejack to sort through every book with even a bare mention of rats or wererats. If she had cared, Dash would have been relieved she didn’t have to help.

Applejack...it was frustrating. Dash liked her, she genuinely liked her. She just felt easy to trust, easy to rely on, and that made it hard for Dash. She didn’t want to trust someone else, but in the whole day they had known each other Applejack had saved her twice. As hard as she tried to look, she was having trouble justifying any angle the rustic warrior could be working. She just didn’t seem the sort to lie.

‘Long night, what’s wrong with me? Everyone lies! A little bit of magic doesn’t change that,’ Dash thought despondently. ‘Magic...I’ve barely had two thoughts about it, but holy sun, magic!’ She shook her head, shifting slightly to get comfortable. The plate, already perilously close to the edge, got a bump that sent it just that little extra inch it needed for gravity to do its work. She saw it falling, and automatically dived for it.

“Hgk!”

Three sets of eyes looked up, homing in on the source of the grunt. Dash grinned weakly back at them. One hand gripped the plate’s edge, holding it an inch from the floor. The other was fastened onto the bookshelf, and her feet were jammed into tight crannies, barely holding her up.

“H-hey,” she managed. Slowly, she put the plate down. They watched the nimble girl shift her weight onto her now free hand, adding the other and popping her feet out. She walked a few steps on her hands before pushing up, landing back on her feet.

“So that’s where you’ve been all morning?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. She sighed, cutting off Dash. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. Put the plate in the dining room and come back. I’ll give you another lesson, and then you can help by...I don’t know, looking for pictures or something, some of these books must have illustrations.”

Tempted as she was to grumble or shoot a sharp retort for being interrupted, Dash found herself keeping quiet, noticing the way Spike glanced guiltily her way before going back to his current book. Complying silently with a nod, the obvious surprise on Applejack and Twilight’s faces made it worth it. She came back, sitting down and enduring another lesson on letters from Twilight. 

Dash quickly came to think of the lesson the day before as something to envy. There, Twilight had been enthused. The chance to teach, even a reluctant urchin, had filled her with energy, and she had radiated a certainty that Dash could do it if she tried. Now...now Twilight was terse and abrupt, and where she had been patient as Dash struggled with something, she now had an air of frustration about her.

“It’s not that hard,” Twilight finally snapped.

Dash looked away, her cheeks colouring. “Hey, I’m trying!”

“Try harder,” the mage told her coldly. To the wonder of both Applejack and Spike, Dash kept her tongue. No verbal lashing, and when Applejack opened her mouth to say something Dash shot her a dark look.

“I can take care of myself,” she growled when it was over at last, hissing the words quietly at Applejack.

Once that was done, to the relief of both of them, Dash was given the task of going through books they had yet to read, looking for any pictures of giant rat-men. Or any rat-men at all. It was boring, which wasn’t helped at all by the grim silence from Twilight. She was reading each book with a cold determination that bordered on the obsessive. She looked up only to reach for the next book.

“Found it!” Dash shouted after only a few moments. She held up the book she had been leafing through. On it, plain as day, was a sketch of a clearly bipedal rat. She threw the book to Twilight. “Am I good, or am I good?”

“...That is a ratfolk,” Twilight said by way of answer. She kept reading the book anyway, just to be sure. “Apparently around four feet tall. Keep looking.”

Groaning, Dash went back to work. She managed to remain largely focused for an hour before finally giving up.

“Gah! I can’t do this anymore!” she cried out, jumping to her feet. “This is boring!”

Applejack groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “We know that, Rainbow, ain’t like anyone else is enjoyin’ this. What else woulda ya expect? It’s books.”

“Unless either of you has a better idea, what would you suggest?” Twilight demanded with a scowl. She was mildly annoyed at what Applejack said. “What’s wrong with books?”

In respect to Twilight’s grief, Applejack tried to be gentle. “Books are well an’ good, but ya can learn more yourself, or from others. Surely there’s someone in the city who might know somethin’ about what a wererat would want.”

“Not likely,” Dash answered before Twilight did. “There haven’t been any wererats in the city for ages. The guild would be all over them, ‘cause the last time they were here they brought the whole burning Solar Guard into the sewers.”

Twilight nodded, frowning. “Dash is right, at least in respect to the Solar Guard. Fifty years ago there was an infestation of wererats in the sewers and the slums. They attempted to assassinate various important nobles and bribe others. The Solar Guard were deployed after the Princess realised how deep the corruption ran, and just how many wererats there were. They purged the lowest levels with fire, once they were sure it was empty of civilians.”

“Why not one of them Solar Guard then?” suggested Applejack. “Everyone knows there ain’t nothin’ a Solar Guard can’t kill.”

“Most of the Solar Guard are out of reach. Only a small portion remain in Canterlot with the Princess, and they’re not here right now. The rest spend their time traveling the country,” the wizard explained. “There might be a few like the two who were here last night, but they wouldn’t be the most experienced. I can try, but we’re not likely to have much success.”

“But you might as well try asking, right?” Spike looked up from his book, eager to contribute. “They might even keep records about it.”

That made Twilight  rub her forehead. “Right. Records. Of course, why didn’t I think of that? Ugh, stupid. Stupid of me.”

He offered her a weak smile. “Don’t worry, we were….we thought of it now.”

“That’s not good enough, Spike! I should have thought of it myself, it’s so obvious! For all we know we could have found a lead yesterday and he wouldn’t be de-” Silence followed, Twilight snapping her mouth shut before she could finish. Spike stared at the floor, expression miserable, and Twilight simply went still. “...I’m going to go talk to them. I’ll be back in a while.”

The mood failed to improve with Twilight gone. Dash barely looked at anything in them as she lazily flipped through it. She felt eyes on her, and glanced up to meet Spike’s vibrant green gaze. He flinched back and turned away.

“Kid…” she began, but she wasn’t sure how to continue. “What did you mean, there wasn’t a hook with you?”

Spike flinched again. He studied the book in front of him, but it was obvious he wasn’t reading it. Looking between the two, Applejack prepared to intercede. Silence stretched between them.

“...Twilight took me in,” he finally answered. “I can barely remember it. But...but she’s been there for me all my life. She’s not like those selfish nobles you’ve seen. She’s obsessed with magic and books, but Twilight really does care about people. She cares about me, and she’s the first person I can remember doing that. There’s never been a hook, she never had some catch.”

Dash sat back, processing this. “Huh...how do you know there’s a catch you just don’t know about?”

He looked up, his hesitancy replaced with iron-clad certainty. “There isn’t. She chose to look after me. The Princess offered to find me a home, but Twilight...she found me. She saved me, and she felt she was responsible for me. What possible angle could a sixteen year old have for taking in a kid who was barely five?”

She didn’t answer him. Dash just stared at him thoughtfully. He wasn’t lying, she could tell that much. It made things much more difficult. How much easier if he was lying. Or maybe Twilight was lying to him, and…

‘What would be the point of that?’ she asked herself with a suppressed groan. ‘I’m going to go crazy if I keep this up. Maybe...maybe she does care about him, but so what? That doesn’t mean she’s all he thinks she is.’

“If she’s so great and generous, why didn’t she just, I don’t know, get Applejack freed? Come on, we all know Freckles here is telling the truth. Sparkle must have some spell that could help, or she could call in some paladin or something if she’s the apprentice the Princess, to be sure. Why didn’t she do that?” Dash finally asked. 

Applejack tried to keep the curiosity from her face, but she watched Spike with interest. It was a good point, and she would be lying if she said she didn’t want to know the answer. There was a chance he didn’t know, in fact a big chance, but he knew Twilight better than they did and if anyone had the answer but the wizard herself, it was him.

“...she’s lonely,” Spike said softly. “T-Time Turner was like her only friend, and that was because he was her brother’s friend. But he’s gone. He’s gone.” He found a warm hand on his shoulder, and in his teary-eyes Applejack was turned into a blonde topped blur as she knelt next to him.

“You okay, sugar?” she asked gently. He was hurting from loss, and his age was especially apparent. By some divine fortune, Dash chose not to make a smart remark.

He brushed the tears away, nodding up at her. “I-I’m fine. Right, hrm, yeah...Twilight...she...she’s really curious about your magic. Both of you. That’s what she said, but...but she’s lonely. The only people she talks to are Time Turner, Shining Armour and I, and the Princess. Four people, four. Three, w-with Time Turner gone…”

Dash blinked. “Wait. Wait. Are you...are you saying she did this, she got us out of hard labour but didn’t call in favours to get Applejack off, because she wants friends? Are you seriously saying that?”

“Well, I only know a few tricks my Granny taught me, nothin’ fancy fer a big city wizard like her ta care,” Applejack shook her head, trying to wrap her head around Spike’s theory. It was, until she had some evidence, just that; a theory.

“Friends? She wants friends like this?” Dash growled, shaking her head. “That is a stupid way to get friends! I don’t even have any and I know that!”

Spike nodded weakly. “Yeah. I never said it was smart, but Twilight doesn’t know how to make friends. I’m not even sure she knows how lonely she is, but that’s what I think. And, I know you’re probably angry, but...please, give her a chance.”

There was a pleading note in his voice that was out of place to Dash. It was the sort of thing no one would risk in the world she lived in. Begging someone for help was a sign of weakness. If you couldn’t buy or intimidate, you didn’t deserve what you wanted. You certainly didn’t deserve help, because you were just going to drag everyone else down with you. That was why you didn’t risk helping others.

“I’m always willin’ ta help,” Applejack ruffled his hair. “She doesn’t seem like such a bad gal, just in need of a lil’...” She sought the right word.

“Sanity?” Dash suggested dryly. “Don’t give me that look! Who makes friends by keeping them from hard labour?” She thought about that statement. “Okay, that’s a pretty good start, but still.”

“I doubt she even realises it. Twilight doesn’t think she needs friends. W-with Time...with h-him...gone, she’s really hurt. I’m really worried. I don’t want her to give up on friends. Please…” He was looking at with wide eyes that seemed so expectant of rejection.

Dash held her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, don’t blubber. What are you, a boy, or a man? Kid...Spike,” she corrected herself. “You might have convinced Applejack, but I’m not quite sure. But….”

He was looking at her hopefully, and for a moment the purple scales that circled his eyes made her think of a little girl with purple hair, looking up at her with the same desperate hope. Dash sighed in defeat.

“I’ll give her a chance. Long night, I don’t know why I’m even considering this, but she gets one chance. One,” she said emphatically. Taking out the dark coin, Dash began to spin it between her fingers to distract herself from his mumbled thanks and the pride smile from Applejack. She stopped after a moment, an idea forming. “Say, Spike, you’re a...what was it?”

“D-dragon-blooded?” he asked, drying his eyes. “A sorcerer?”

“That’s it! That’s what I’ve got, right? Since I can do magic - ‘me, magic!’ - like you, I want you to show me more. Sparkle is gonna take it slow, right? Nuh-uh. Too slow. We get the chance, without her around, you have to show me how to do magic. You do that, I’ll give Sparkle a chance.” She ignored the way Applejack’s smile wilted.

Spike, to his credit, agreed immediately. He showed no hesitance in doing anything to help Twilight, which made Dash feel odd. It was strange, seeing him so willing to agree to her terms.

“Although...I’m not that good. I mean, I can do a few first level spells, and some cantrips, but that’s all. I’ll try, but you have to promise not to tell Twilight. She probably won’t be happy if we do magic without her,” he added the conditions with a furtive glance towards the door, as though Twilight might manifest when she was spoken of.

“Sure, whatever. Come on, we got some time, show me,” Dash urged impatiently.

Sitting down again, Applejack sat back and watched. As he spoke of the ‘fire’ he felt inside when he focused inward, she watched his expression brighten. The dull throb of losing a loved one was still there, but he had something immediate to focus on. Magic might be Twilight’s obsession, but Spike clearly had a passion for his own magic too. He was surprisingly poetic about it, which amused Applejack and frustrated Dash.

“I feel this tingle, kinda, I guess,” Dash hemmed and hawed. She played idly with one of the magic balls Twilight had given her, her expression intense.

“Right, I think that might be it. You did use Shocking Grasp as your first spell, so you’ve probably got an Elemental bloodline. They’re one of the more common bloodlines,” he suggested. “What I do is, I try to fan the flame. Put myself into it, and then pull it out. Try that. Put yourself into the tingle.”

She looked at him, arching an eyebrow at him. “‘Put myself into the tingle’? Urgh, fine. Tingle, tingle, just gotta…” Her face screwed up once again, catching the ball in both hands before her.

Half a minute later she dropped the ball with a groan.

“It’s not working!” she whined.

Spike frowned. “That’s because you’re not trying! Magic isn’t something you just pick up, you have to practice it long and hard. I’ve had my magic all my life, which is way longer than anyone else my age has, and I can still only do first level spells. It takes years to learn magic, not ten minutes!”

Ready to calm things once again, and feeling like an unpaid babysitter, Applejack was saved the effort by the door opening and Twilight storming in. She strode with an angry energy in her steps, violet robe swishing around her.

“I have to wait!” she cried before they could ask. “Me! I have to wait for them to get permission from the Princess before I can go into their records! As if the Princess won’t say yes the moment she gets back!”

They watched her pace and fume. Life had returned to Twilight’s eyes, even if it was only thanks to indignant anger. Spike leaned in towards the other two, who leaned in as well.

“Twilight really doesn’t like when she’s not allowed to read something,” he whispered. They nodded in understanding, although the two shared a glance containing the metaphorical equivalent of a shrug.

“I told them, I told them that it was urgent! Lives are at stake! People could die. Someone already did,” Twilight growled. Her fists were knotted within her voluminous sleeves.

Applejack frowned. She had a feeling Twilight didn’t mean Trap Sense. Was this related to Time Turner somehow?

“Uh...what about any older guards?” Spike asked. He sounded hesitant, nervous to ask while Twilight was so clearly agitated.

“There’s one Solar Guard who was active and he’s on the other side of Equestria!” She shook her head. “I’ll see if I can have a message sent to him, but it will be a long time before we hear back. My only other option are my books here. Why can’t we find the right books? I reorganise them every month! What’s is wrong with my library?”

Dash and Applejack looked up at the array of books, wondering how she managed that every month. When did she have time for anything else?

“Maybe that’s why?” Spike pointed out dryly. “We move the books around all the time, but you kind of focus on magic books. I get halfway through reorganising some of them, and then you want them organised another way. I mean, can you blame me for stuff getting disorganised?”

Twilight sighed, stopping and shaking her head. She gave Spike an apologetic look. “You’re right, Spike, I’m sorry. I’m just...I’m stressed, and…and…”

Spike was looking at her, worried and curious.  She sunk into the chair next to him.

“I think this was about the book. Time Turner had the only other copy of it,” she muttered, shame in her eyes and in her voice. “If...if I had gone to him sooner, if I had thought about it, he might be alive.”

“What? But...but we don’t know that!” Spike reached over, grabbing her as though he could physically pull her out of her guilt and grief. “W-we don’t know who did it, or why, it might have nothing to do with this!”

She shook her head. “Spike, magic started that fire. The aura was fading, but the damage was too precise, too focused. His house burned down in exactly the shape of the building, in perfectly straight lines. It’s too much of a coincidence, a deliberate arson against the only other person who has a copy of a book someone went to so much effort to fake the destruction of?”

Spike fell silent, although his expression still announced his reluctance to agree. It was not, it could not possibly be, her fault. 

“Not everything is about you, Sparkle,” Dash’s rough voice broke the silence.

“What.” Twilight’s tone was cold as she leveled a glare on the thief. “What?”

“Not everything. Is about. You,” Dash repeated slowly. “There was a fire just like that, what, two months ago?”

Twilight blinked. “...what?”

Dash nodded, little coin spinning between her fingers. “Yeah, in the noble district. Totally annoying. I was gonna rob the place; start off my spree in the High District there. They had all sorts of expensive junk. I even scouted the place out, then some pyro-freak comes along and it goes up!” She spat in disgust.

Twilight opened her mouth, then shut it. She put that through her head for a moment. “How do you know what the fire was about?” she asked suspiciously.

Catching that, Dash rolled her eyes. “I was on my way when it happened, and I couldn’t just leave when I saw it. I wanted to know. So, there, it wasn’t your fault. There’s a freak in the city who gets their jollies off by setting stuff on fire with magic, or something. Your friend was just unlucky.”

“Why…” Twilight took a deep breath, calming her racing heart. “Why did you want to know so badly? If there were guards heading towards it, wouldn’t it be smart to leave?”

Applejack nodded, but added; “I’m gonna guess that’s why she didn’t. Am I right?”

“I went because there were guards going; I thought someone had tried to get there before me, and I wanted to see the loser who got caught. I mean, it wasn’t, the guild doesn’t put up with stuff like that, but I thought one of the fences I had...made ‘inquiries’ with about certain stuff had ratted me out,” Dash explained, pointedly ignoring Applejack.

If Twilight hadn’t been sitting down, she would have needed a bit of a sit down. It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t get Time Turner killed. She wasn’t to blame.

‘No. I don’t know that yet,’ she scolded herself. ‘I hope I’m not to blame, but for all I know I could be. This is all just conjecture. Dash might- might be lying, or wrong, or something.’

Despite that, she felt something of her grief and guilt relaxing their hold over her. She wasn’t certain, but she might not be at fault. Her sorrow, so raw and fresh, might not be a product of her own foolishness.

“Dash…”

The thief looked up curiously, wondering at Twilight’s subdued tone.

“...thank you.”

The coin flew from Dash’s hand, bouncing along the floor and rolling until it hit Twilight’s shoe. The rainbow haired thief stared at Twilight, blinking shock. She was dumbstruck by the fact that Twilight Sparkle, wizard, noble, apprentice to the living goddess who ruled the city and more, had just thanked her. She had even sounded sincere, as thought Dash had just saved her life or something.

Applejack subdued her grin, but it was there. She felt a surge of pride. For all her tough talk, Dash was doing what she said she would; giving Twilight a chance. She had comforted her, in her own way, and it had helped. Maybe by the time this was over, Dash would be ready to lead a proper life. ‘Granny really was right. Helpin’ someone without killin’ feels better than watchin’ a forest all day.’

Spike was no less pleased. The pain from Time Turner’s loss was still burning brightly in his chest, hurting him, but Twilight wasn’t suffering as badly as she had been and it had been, in some small way, thanks to him.

Twilight, however, did not see the look on Dash’s face, the pride in Applejack’s eyes or the relief in Spike’s. She leaned down, picking up the coin. It was made from a dark metal, smaller than a gold coin.

“Dash, where did you get this?” Twilight asked faintly.

Shaking the surprise, Dash shrugged and tried to act nonchalant. “Dunno, I think the wererat, or maybe Shifty. I like to take things, I can’t help it sometimes, it’s habit. Guess your magic doesn’t count it when I steal stuff from criminals, right?” she joked, her grin falling as Twilight looked up at her.

Twilight had a strange light in her eyes. “Did you ever look at it?”

Dash shrugged again, confused. Hadn’t she been getting thanked a second ago? “Well, not really. Some foreign coin, right?”

Twilight took a deep breath. Slowly, she turned it, showing the side with a crescent carved into it, the profile of a non-human head with the spike of a horn aiming at the centre.

“Dash, you idiot!”