Although the rain stopped for a moment and the wind was still howling outside, the new guard slept seemingly sound in his bed. Twilight awoke half an hour earlier, though the time was noon. Her talk with Silver lasted longer than she thought it would have, and in turn she ended up sleeping in. After getting up and brushing her teeth and mane, she went off to the kitchen and began cooking breakfast.
“I think some scrambles eggs will do,” Twilight mumbled. She was never really much of a morning pony, even if it wasn't morning. Despite her lack of energy however, within a few minutes, Twilight had whipped up a scrumptious looking breakfast/lunch, enough for two, with a glass of orange juice to go with it. She floated out the food to the table and sat them down where she and Silver had eaten the night before.
Twilight figured she should wake Silver up before the food gets cold and opened her mouth to shout for Silver to come down, but stopped when she realized that it would be a rude awakening. Not wanting to anger her guest, Twilight decided on a more gentle approach to raise Silver from his slumber.
She trotted silently up the stairs and to her room, where a second bed was folded out and a wolf lay in it sleeping soundly. Twilight quietly moved over to the side of the bed where his head laid, his face turned towards her. She leaned her head over, near inches away from ear and softly whispered.
“Silver,” she cooed, her voice like butter, “It's time to get up.”
Twilight heard a small breathe come from Silver as he began to stir. His ears flickered at the tickling of Twilights voice. He groaned quietly and shifted his wings around for a second before settling again. Twilight giggled at the adorable sight in front of her.
Fact of the matter was that, while she loved Owlicious, she did want a puppy when she was a filly. She would admit only to herself that this played a small role in her deciding to let Silver guard her.
Twilight bent closer and gently nudged Silvers neck with her muzzle.
She whispered to him again, “Come on Silver, it's noon already. You need to get up,” Her attempt was simply met with silence. Twilight pulled her head back and thought for a moment.
“Hmm...,” Twilight hummed while she tapped her chin, “Oh! I know.” She leaned back to his ear and softly spoke, “I made breakfast,”
Twilight pulled her head back once more, and after a moment, Silvers eyes peaked open, revealing their honey-hazel radiance.
Twilight had to force herself from “daww”-ing and settled for, “Well good morning sleepy head.”
Silver sat up in the bed and let out a long yawn, letting his long canine tongue roll out of his mouth before pulling it back in and licking his dry lips.
“What time is it?” Silver asked, his sleepy voice in full effect.
“About noon,” was all Twilight could say, still resisting the urge to “daww”.
“I thought you said you made breakfast, not lunch,”
“I did, we're having eggs and orange juice.”
Silver nodded his head, with his eyes still only half open. He stepped down from the bed, and Twilight moved back a space to allow him to move. He pushed out his front paws and lowered his front half to the ground, raising his tail. Silver let out a satisfied groan as he kept his long stretch for a moment, then released it and raised himself back up into a proper stance. His eyes were now fully opened and he seemed to have a bit more energy in him.
Twilight blushed a little. The moment she had just witnessed was beyond adorable, and she couldn't help but to think of Silver as a puppy. Granted he would be a puppy that was bigger and had sharper teeth than the average, but still, he looked soo cute!
Twilights internal sequel session was stopped as the thought reminded Twilight of her little mental scenario she had the night before. While she certainly didn't think of Silver in a romantic way, she did think he was irresistible as a pet, impolite though it may sound.
“Alright, time to get the day started I guess,” Silver said as he trotted past the alicorn, who seemed to be lost in her own world. Twilight shook her head and followed after Silver, the two making their way down the stairs and to the table, where the food had cooled somewhat but was still warm. They sat down and ate brunch, making light conversation between bites about what they had planned for the day.
“I'm supposed to be going over to Fluttershy's today to help her check on her animals. She said the storm might have hurt some of them and she wanted to make sure they were okay.”
“Oh, so she's a care taker, that's nice. Well, I don't really have anything else to do for the day. I think I'll just go explore for a little while. If I'm correct, Ponyville sits on the edge of a Black forest. Ever-something, I think.”
“Oh, you mean the Everfree forest. Are sure you wanna go there? I mean, it's pretty dangerous.”
“Meh, I'll be fine,” Amid their conversation, the two were interrupted by a knock at the door. Twilight excused herself, and got up from the couch. She opened the door and was greeted by Applejack, who seemed to be exhausted.
“Oh, A.J., it's you. Is there something you need?”
“Twilight, I need yer help,” The cowpony began, “Ya' see when we stayed the night over in Canterlot, I missed abunch o' ma' chores and one of em' was breaking off the loose branches of the apple trees at the farm fore' the storm hit. But when we got back, I uh, kinda didn't to all of em' in time and abunch of 'em got ripped off last night. But now I need to get the rest of 'em down before the storm comes back and pick up all of the ones on the ground to make sure they don't get picked up and flung around. I need you're magic to help, other wise I might not get done in time.”
Twilight frowned, “Oh, A.J. I'm sorry, but I was supposed to help Fluttershy with her animals today.”
Applejacks ears dropped, “Oh, well that's alright. It's my mess, and I reckon it's my job to clean it up. Bye Twilight.” The earth pony turned and began to walk away, when a head poked out from around a corner in the library.
“Twilight, who is it?” Just as Twilight was about to shut the door, she quickly thought of an idea.
“Applejack!” she called to her friend. The orange mare stopped and turned to Twilight standing in the door way. She trotted back and asked,
“What's up, Twi?”
“I think I have a way to help you with your chore,” she said, making Applejacks face light up.
“Really!? What is it?” Twilight motioned a hoof behind her and pointed to Silver, who was still peaking around the corner.
“Silver, do you fetch?” Twilight joked.
“Haha, very funny,” Silver mocked, “there is a difference between dogs and wolves, you know.” Twilight giggled.
“I was hoping you could help Applejack her with her chores today. Think you can?” Silver simply shrugged a shoulder.
“Sure, why not.” Applejack beamed once more, then rushed inside, grabbed the wolf with a hoof and dash back out in an instant.
“Thankstwi'I'llgivehimbacklater,bye!” and the two were gone in a trail of dust. Twilight chuckled and closed the door back.
Over at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack had just arrived with a blazing trail behind her and startled wolf in hoof.
“Alrighty, what you're gonna do is pick up all the broken limbs from the ground and toss into that pit over there,” Applejack pointed a hoof to a large hole in the ground in an empty field. Or, at least, it would be empty if It wasn't covered with large, broken tree branches.
Now that Silver looked closer, there were large tree branches scattered every-where, all across the farm.
“Whoa, the storm really did a number on this place,” Silver said.
“Yeah, thanks to you!” Applejack accused and poked a hoof into Silver's chest.
“Me?! What did I do?”
“Ya'll showed up a day late and made us all wait on ya', while we coulda been doing our jobs, like taking down loose branches”
Silver opened his mouth to argue back, but then stopped, “Yeah, I guess you kinda got a point there,” Applejack lifted her head triumphantly, “But I'm not the one who made you stay in Canterlot an extra day. You did that on your own.” Applejacks triumphant moment had ended.
“Well, I—I mean, we-- it's just that--” Applejack fumbled, “Dang nabit, just get to work!” she commanded and pointed her hoof to the orchard. It was Silvers turn for triumph, and he lifted his head high as he trotted away.
The storm held out for longer than the two thought it would. Applejack was able to break off the a lot of the branches, but there were still many more to go and she was determined to see her job through to the end. As she broke off another snapped limb, she heard Silver call out for her.
“Hey, Applejack, I'm done collecting the broken branches. Is there anything else you need?”
“Huh? No way you cleaned up all that in such a short time.” She paused from her work for a moment and looked around to see what progress Silver had made. Much to her surprise, the entire orchard was clear of the broken branches. She even noticed the pit was covered without having to tell him to do it.
“Well, I'll be. Just how the hay did you manage that?”
“Like this,” Silver said and brushed out a wing. A gust of wind wrapped around the tip then flew off and blew the branches near Applejack toward the pit.
“Magic? I didn't know you could use magic,” Applejack said as her eyes followed the still blowing branch.
“Yeah, it's different from Equestrian magic, but it's still magic all the same.”
“Can it help me with breaking off these loose ones?”
“Yeah, sure. Just stand clear of the trees.” With that, he flew to the sky and hovered a moment, then waved a paw to Applejack telling her to move to the side. Taking the wolf's advice, Applejack walked off the the side away from the tree until she was clear. Silver nodded, then flew up high, reaching the clouds, then looped back down and dove towards the ground. He sped towards the orchard and just before hitting the top of the trees, he pulled up and soared just above them. The tailwind, enhanced with some magic, blew across the orchard and with a snap, crackle and pop, the branches of the apple trees hit the ground.
Applejack stood to the side and watched the events unfold, mumbling to herself, “Well shoot, if he'd just done that in the first place, I wouldn't have been out here busting mah' flank for so long.”
She trotted across the orchard to where Silver had landed, having seen him set down near the house. It only took her a minute to reach him. She spotted sitting next to the pit with a large pile of sticks next to him, presumably the ones he had just knocked down.
Still to far to talk normally, Applejack hollered across the field, “Well, that was some mighty fine flyin' ya did there Silver! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were better than Rainbow!”
“Thanks!” he called back, “Could you help me move the—APPLEJACK MOVE!”
“Huh?” was she could manage before being crushed under a large limb. The world was black for a moment, and there was a sharp pain in her hind legs, but she quickly opened her eyes to the sight of a panicked wolf standing over her.
“Applejack are you ok?!” Silver said as he moved to lift the branch off of her.
“I'm fine, just got knocked over is all,” she said as she tried to lift herself off the ground. She managed to get her front hooves propped up, but her hind hooves gave way to a sharp pain. The moment she put pressure on either of them, she was met with a head spitting agony, and let out a scream before falling.
Silver quickly caught her before she hit the ground again and slung her over his back in a quick but gentle motion. Lightening erupted in the sky and a wet drop hit his fur.
“Dammit, of all the times..” he muttered as he ran back to the house. He burst through the door and called for help, but was met with silence.
“Where is every pony?!” Silver wondered aloud as he dashed to the living room couch, laying the the wounded mare onto sofa so that she laid on her back with her head resting on the arm of the couch.
“Big Mac's got a delivery, so he shouldn't be back till tomorrow. Applebloom's staying at a one of her friends house for the weekend and Granny's visiting some family in Fillydelphia few the next few days,” she explained. She seemed to be unusually calm about the situation, but that's probably due to her lack of knowing what it was exactly.
“Great, that's just perfect,” Silver grumbled, “do you have a med kit?”
“Yeah, in the bathroom upstairs, under the sink.” Silver nodded and bolted up the stairs, leaving Applejack a moment to herself. She hesitated in wanting to know what Silver was so worried about, but looked down to her legs anyways.
...That's a lot of blood...
Applejacks eyes widened as she saw that her upper left hind leg had a hole in it, about an inch big, and blood was steadily streaming down her to her hoof. He right hind hoof was swollen and had an excruciatingly painful throb.
“Silver!” she wailed, her panic taking over.
“I'm here!” he called back running down the stairs with a white tin kit in his mouth.
“Th--there's a lotta bl--blood,” she stammered.
Silver tried his best to reassure the terrified mare, “Yeah, I know, but don't worry, it's looks worse than it is.” Unfortunately, that did little as Applejack only began to heave and her breathes quickened. Silver couldn't pause to try and calm her down. While he was telling the truth about the wound, it was still bleeding badly and needed to be bandaged. Silver popped open the med kit and grabbed some bandages, pads and a bottle of disinfectant. Unscrewing the bottle, Silver poured some on his paws, then over Applejacks leg, causing her shout, and then poured some onto the pads. He pushed the pads onto the wound and help them there tightly while he grabbed the bandages in his mouth. He quickly unrolled them and began to wrap around Applejacks leg, while still trying to hold her still and keep her from squirming by pressing a wing against her,.
Even after the wrapping was done, Applejack still squirmed. Silver quickly pushed his now bloodied paws onto her shoulders to hold her down and starred her in the eyes.
“Applejack, listen to me. You need to calm down,” Silver said in an attempt to still the mare.
“But—I'm—it's,” the poor thing couldn't even form a proper sentence.
“You're going to be fine, okay?” Silver said softly as he moved his paws up to her cheeks, “I've stopped the bleeding and as long as we swap out the bandages, you won't get infected. But you're other hoof is still hurt, and flailing around isn't going to make it better. So I need you to take a deep breathe, and calm down.”
Applejacks eyes were still wide and panicked, but she tried her best to take Silver's advice. She slowly steadied her breathing and relaxed her body, though she still quivered noticeably.
“There you go. Now I need to take a look at your hoof, but it might hurt a little.” Applejack nodded in response. Silver looked over at the now bruised and swollen hoof and picked it up gently with a paw. Applejack winced and tensed, but kept still. After close examination, Silver concluded,
“I don't think it's broken, but you should still stay off it. At least until we can get you to a real doctor.” Applejack nodded again and let out a held breathe as Silver gently placed her injured hoof onto a pillow he grabbed in his mouth. She tossed her head back and let out a series of deep breathes.
After a moment, Applejack spoke, “Thanks Silver.”
“Don't worry about it. You were hurt, any pony would have done it,” Silver said as he began collecting the scraps of packaging from the bandages and pads.
“Not just fer patching me up, but fer, ya know, getting me to calm down an' what not. I don't really handle blood to well, as you can tell.”
“Well, at least that one thing we have in common.”
Applejack cocked her head, “Really? Ya look fine to me, and you were calm the whole time.”
Silver let out a weary chuckle, “Well, it's not so much the sight, but the smell. I've,uh...well let's just say I've had my fair share of it shed and we'll leave it at that.”
Applejack raised a brow, but nodded. She didn't want to dig into the past of some wolf she'd just met, much less the past of a soldier. Perhaps it was due to the conversation that Applejack had noticed Silvers shaking paws as he began to place the unused materials back into the medical box.
“Ya okay there?” Applejack asked, “Yer shaking more than a rattlers tail.”
“I'm fine,” he stated quickly, in an attempt not to worry the mare, “I'm more worried about you though. How are you feeling?”
“A bit woozy, and I know Imma have a hay of a bad headache soon, but other than that, it's just mah legs that are hurtin'.” Silver took notice of Applejacks paler complex, attesting it to either the loss of blood, the panic attack she had just recovered from, or perhaps both.
“Let me know if it starts to itch or something. That branch may have splintered off into your leg. If it does, don't scratch! It will only make things worse.” Applejack nodded. She looked back down to the blood that had stained the couch and floor. Granny Smith was going to tan her hide for this, even if it was an emergency.
Amid her fretting of her wrongful punishment, Applejack had barely noticed Silver had left and came back with wet rag and towel.
“Here, let's clean you up,” Silver said as he began to wipe off the blood from Applejacks shoulders, neck and cheeks.
“I can clean mah self, ya know” Applejack groaned.
Silver smirked, “Yeah, but it's more fun this way.” Applejack simply rolled her eyes and allowed him to continue to clean her. Since the excitement had passed and she finally collected herself, Applejack was exhausted and far too tired to do anything further. Although it was a little strange, Applejack actually kinda welcomed Silver's clean up. First he wiped with the rag, then dried her off. Applejack took notice of the warm water the rag was wet with. It was a nice change from the cool air the rain had left behind outside, and the wind blowing certainly didn't help.
Silver finished cleaning her shoulders and cheeks, and then moved down to her leg. Luckily for him, the puncture from the branch was higher on her thigh and the blood ran down, so he didn't have to go too far up while cleaning. Applejack winced at the first touch, as her leg was bruised from the weight of the branch itself.
“Sorry,” Silver apologized.
“S' alright.” Silver continued to wipe down her leg, lightly dabbing at the more tender spots. He was more gentle than Applejack would have thought he would be. She had figured he would be more brutish and out of control since he was a wolf, but it was quiet clear now that her judgment was wrong.
“Silver, I uh, I think I should apologize for the way I treated ya when we first met,” Appljack said as she rubbed a hoof behind her hat.
Silvers ears tilted in confusion, “Where did this come from?”
“Well, it's just, here you are looking after me while I'm hurt, and all the while, I was making judgments about ya when I don't even know ya in the first place. It's like Zecora all over again.”
Silver ceased his cleaning, as he had finished, and turned to Applejack, “Don't worry about it. It's not like you're the first to do it. Wolves aren't exactly well-liked among other countries.”
“Why's that?”
“Most countries have some form of lower wolves living in their lands, and those wolves are a little more, eh... violent, and when they associate us with them, it doesn't really do our reputation any favors. They aren't exactly wrong, I mean, we do have an affinity for violence, but that's just part of our nature, and we can control it more than the others.”
“So wait, are you saying you're related to the timber wolves?”
“We're a similar genus, so I guess kinda, but we're very distantly related.” Applejack took a moment to process the information, but ultimately just waved it off as her head began to hurt.
“Oooohh,” she groaned, “mah head killing me, and now I'm cold.” Silver hadn't even noticed the shivering as he wiped, and proceeded to grab a quilt off of the back of the near by recliner.
“Wait,” Applejack said just before Silver threw the blanket over her. She grabbed a pillow in her mouth from behind her and tossed it on the floor. “Could ya help me down? I'd rather not lay in a pool of my own blood.”
Silver thought it would be a bad idea to move her around too much, especially to lay her on the floor, but figured it would be cruel to make her lay on the bloodied couch. Silver set the quilt down and positioned him next to the couch so that his body ran along it. Applejack wrapped her fore hooves around his neck, then rolled over on to his back. Although the movement was quick, it still cause her much pain, and she let out a small whimper as she maneuvered. Silver took a step back and grabbed the pillow at the end of the couch before moving to the pillow on the floor. Silver gently lowered himself to the ground and let down his wing for Applejack to slide down off of. With a soft thump, she landed on her back, but her swollen hoof knocked the floor, sending a jolt of pain through her leg. She winced and Silver quickly moved to place the second pillow under the hoof. He grabbed the blanket a few feet away and tossed it over Applejack, who quickly took to it's warmth and bundled herself up. For an injured mare laying on the floor, she seemed to be quite comfy.
Silver looked up from the snuggling mare and noticed a fireplace that he seemed to have passed by without noticing.
“Want me to start a fire?” Silver asked.
“How? It's raining.”
“I can use my magic to keep the rain from falling in the chimney, but still let the smoke out.”
“Oh, well then sure.”
Silver walked over to the stack of logs next to the fire place and grabbed three, tossing them into the pit. He grabbed the bottle of gas and squirted some onto the logs before using the matches above on the mantle to light the fire. The flame quickly sprouted and the room was filled with a orange glow and warmth. Silver placed a paw on the side of the chimney and closed his eyes. A blue wave ran up the bricks and after a moment, Silver pulled his paw away.
“Pretty convenient,” Applejack said.
“Magic always is,” Silver retorted as he moved to lay behind Applejack, keeping a distance between the two.
After a moment of silence, Applejack spoke up with a question, “Hey, Silver, yer a solider, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, I was meaning to avoid asking this, but after you said you'd shed some blood, I feel I need to know now. How many have you killed?”
Silver was silent. He didn't look at Applejack, but after a while he finally spoke, “Are you sure you want to know?”
Applejack gulped. She knew it was a dumb question, one that should never be asked to a solider, but felt it was important and that if she was to trust him like how Twilight and Princess Celestia wanted her to, then she had to know.
“Yes..”
Silver let out a sigh and continued to look away, “Truth is, I don't know how many I've killed. But it's at least a thousand .” Applejack laid silent and shocked. The insane number warped her sense of the world and made her even dizzier than she already was.
“Yer not serious, are ya? Cause if not, that's a pretty sick joke and I won't stand for it.” Silver simply looked to the mare next to him, his eyes reflecting his regret of telling her.
“Ya are serious...” Applejack said as she turned her head to look at the roof, “I'm sorry I asked you. I shouldn't have, and I clearly over stepped my bounds.”
Silver looked at the mare and titled his head in confusion. He had never really told any civilians that number, and he was sure that he would be hated for it, but the response from Applejack was anything but hatred. From what he could tell, it seemed to be understanding, and that's exactly what it was.
“That's an unbelievable number, but the fact that you were willin' to tell me despite knowing the normal reaction tells me that I can trust you to be honest. I understand that sometimes you don't have a choice, so I won't hold anything against you.” There was a soft thud, and Applejack look over to find Silvers head laying on the floor, his face buried in the carpet. Upon closer inspection, she also saw a steady stream of liquid running down his cheeks, and he was biting his lower lip.
A wave of guilt flooded Applejacks heart, and she quickly apologized again,“Silver, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have--”
“Thank you....” Silver whispered.
“Huh?”
“All this time, I was able to accept my actions, but I was so worried nobody else would understand, that they would just push me away. I know what I've done, the damaged I've cause and I'm willing to own up to it. But the idea of some one else finding out, it..it..” Silver trailed off and crossed his paws over his muzzle.
Applejacks remorse had reached it's peak and despite being injured, she moved closer to the crying wolf and wrapped her hooves around his neck, nuzzling her muzzle into his fur.
“Shh,Shh. It's alright sugercube, I understand. Not many know, but my ma' was a solider too, before she came to be a farmer,” Applejack took a hoof and gently stroked Silvers head, “I made the mistake of asking her about it one day, and she said that she didn't have a choice on the battle field, that it was her life, or theirs. So no, I won't push you away Silver, I promise.”
The was a long moment of just sniffles, but Silver eventually picked his head up and look to Applejack, his eyes red and cheeks wet.
“Thank you,” he said again,” and I'm sorry to just dump this on you. It's not exactly my best of moments.”
Applejack smiled, “Don't worry, we all need to let it out at some point.” She wrapped her hooves back around and hugged him again. Silver was surprised, as he had not been able to notice the mare around his neck until after he had calmed down. But still, he liked it. Her grip was firm but gentle at the same time. Applejack pulled her head back and looked at Silver. He noticed her eyes were half shut and she seemed to have trouble holding her head up.
“You look tired,” Silver said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, getting crushed under a tree branch will take it out of ya.”
Silver chuckled again, “Here,” he said as he reached behind the sleepy-eyes mare and grabbed the pillow her head was laying on earlier. He pulled it under her head and with a paw, softly set her head down onto the cushion. Applejacks arms fell to her stomach, but she was still pressed against Silvers body.
“I'm still a bit cold,” she said as a shiver went through her.
“Don't worry, I'll keep you warm,” Silver cooed as he wrapped a wing tightly around Applejack. He flipped to his side and slid a paw under her, and then the other one was draped around her, pulling into his embrace.
His body was warm, and the place where his body was previously laying was heated. The fur tickled her nose and hooves, but she still nuzzled herself into him. Silver plucked the stetson off her head and set it down next to them, so that it didn't push into his face. He moved his head and placed it atop Applejacks golden mane, and before long, the two slipped into sleep.