Goosed!

by Estee

The Temperate Traveling Temper Tantrum

He couldn't move all that fast: short legs (and only two of them at that), no wings. His reflexes were fine as long as the weather was warm enough, but when it came to covering ground in a hurry, he couldn't, and it was one of the many reasons they let him ride. But when it came to having his words travel... with every passing year, he got that much closer to a full-throated roar. And as his orders blasted through the air, they knocked the last few geese away from the greenhouse, sent them fleeing for the upper atmosphere with no thought of returning. For there were not enough of them remaining for a group assault, and nothing wanted to be present without force of numbers when a dragon finally got mad.

"RAINBOW! I want water, right now! Grab clouds: we need enough for rinsing and drinking! You're getting that foam off her and making sure she gets some clean water in her mouth! Rarity, get inside the house, go straight for his pantry! I want a salt lick, tumeric root, orange slices, yams, and dried blueberries to start, then find me some kale and arugula! I know he's got all of it and I don't care if you have to tear the entire place apart to get it, just bring it all out here and get her to start eating! Pinkie, get her on her hooves! Prop her up with your own body, start walking her around! If she starts to pass out, poke her, nudge her, bite her, just don't let her go unconscious again! And Applejack --"

He was in front of her now, standing between Applejack and Fluttershy's fallen form. The grasping claws were tensed, the arms looking as if they were getting ready to swipe. Nostrils flared in a certain way. Those strange membranes over his eyes going back and forth --

"-- what the buck were you thinking? Did you think at all?"

It nearly froze them. They had never heard Spike curse, ever, and during so many other events, the utterance would have shut them all down. But in this desperate time, it merely caused minor stumbles as everypony but one raced off to follow his orders, all but the one he was staring down.

"Ah..." Why was it suddenly so hard to stand in place? Why did every part of her want to gallop? "Spike, Ah -- though the Stare would --"

"The Stare!" he shouted back. "Really? The Stare? What's the Stare, Applejack? Tell me, right now!"

"Ah... Ah'm not sure, never been sure, never really even thought 'bout it too much..."

"It's part of her magic! Magic takes energy to use! Did she get to have breakfast before everypony started pounding on her door this morning, or did she just do what she almost always does and feed everything at the cottage while saving herself for last, or just deciding not to eat because there was too much to do and she could try and sneak something around lunch? She sure hasn't eaten anything since she got to me, nopony has. We've been fighting and running and flying and everything else, almost constantly, but nopony's eaten a thing, and guess what we just learned about the Stare, Applejack? It's magic. Magic takes thaums, recharging thaums takes calories, and the Stare takes more out of Fluttershy than anypony ever bothered to think about, drain after drain with nothing replacing it. You pushed her too far, and she didn't want to stop because she couldn't disappoint anypony, she would rather die than let you down --"

"-- it's not mah fault! Ah didn't know! Ah didn't --"

"-- you didn't think!"

"Ah ain't supposed t' be the one thinkin' 'bout this! Ah shouldn't have t' be! Ah shouldn't have t' -- t' do any of it! Ah ain't Twi! Ah ain't mah Mommy an' Daddy, an' --"

Her jaw slammed shut as her head dipped, and the hat slipped to shade her eyes.

Spike simply looked at her, his own eyes clear again, with every blink normal.

And from behind Applejack, "...please don't fight..."

They looked. Pinkie had gone around them, gotten Fluttershy up. Those blue-green eyes were just barely open, trying to focus.

"Fluttershy, Ah -- Ah didn't mean, Ah didn't know, please, you've gotta --"

"-- I could have said something..."

"No." The mere thought made her even sicker than she already was. "Don't blame yerself. Please. It's mah fault. Everythin's mah --"

She stopped herself again, forced her gaze go up and around. Rarity and Rainbow: gone.

"Where -- y'sent 'em away -- y'split everypony up, y'can't..."

He was staring at her again.

"Get on her other side," he told her. "Help Pinkie keep her up, equal pressure from both sides. Light pressure: be careful with her wings. Walk her around. Now, Applejack."

Her body did it. Her mind didn't seem to be involved. With anything. Excepting a constant repetition of eight words.

Ah shouldn't have t' --

-- 'cause Ah ruin everything...

---

It had taken twenty long minutes before Spike had let them stop walking Fluttershy in the wide circle, with the dragon keeping pace all the way, feeding her everything Rarity had brought out, making sure she drank the water Rainbow had flown in. Twenty minutes before he pronounced her all right to lie down in the grass for another ten minutes before he'd even think about letting her trot back towards town, and they weren't going to leave her there alone because the geese might return. They would lose thirty minutes, and he made it softly clear that under different circumstances, with even less in her system available to burn and nothing to give her following the overexertion, they could have lost much more.

"...Spike," Fluttershy softly said, just barely at the edge of Applejack's hearing, with the pegasus so distant. "...it wasn't that bad. I just... overdid it, I know, I'm not arguing that, but it wasn't that bad..."

"Who are you lying to, Fluttershy?" There was no anger left in his voice: just a deep weariness. "Yourself, because you really don't know what you just went through -- or everypony else, so they won't worry so much?"

"...Spike, I'll be okay..."

"This time."

"...I know not to do it again..."

"So does Twilight." The words were heavy. "She knew not to do it again. Every year of school, she knew not to do it again. Every year since she came here. Every year that she put too much of herself into a working, until she was standing on the border. You know the one? The one every pony could cross if they had to? Where you've run out of strength, so you decide it's time to give your life? Every year, stopping exactly on that line..."

They were all staring at him now: she could feel it. All but Applejack, so far away.

"Fluttershy? That pacing groove in the library's basement? What do you think I use it for? Because she won't listen, not to her little brother, not when she thinks there's a discovery just ahead of her... so I wind up walking her around in circles and getting her water and all the food she needs while she lies to me about knowing not to do it again..."

The claws came up, covered closed eyes. Tears ran between the layers, left glistening scales behind.

"...Spike... I didn't know..."

"Do you know not to do it again? And you won't do it again?"

"...yes."

"Are you lying?"

Silence.

He turned away, sat down in the grass, arms limp at his sides, eyes still closed. And Applejack, lost in the shadow of the shed, finally turned away.

Time passed. She wasn't sure how much.

"...Applejack?"

That much, then. "Fluttershy..." No. What did she have to say which hadn't already been said? 'Sorry?' What good was that supposed to do? She couldn't even manage to look behind her and see the pony who was back on her hooves, upright and moving despite everything Applejack had done.

"...it wasn't you."

Hollow. "Ah gave the order."

"...it wasn't an order. It was more like -- advice? I could have said no..."

"Y'have trouble sayin' no. Still. An' we both know it. Ah took advantage."

"...if you did... then anypony asking me to do anything is."

"But Ah was in charge."

"...really?"

More hoofsteps coming up, picking a careful path through the grass: Rarity. "And whoever told you that?"

It almost got Applejack to turn. "The mayor."

"Oh, really." Sarcasm dripped from every syllable.

"She said -- with Twi gone, y'all looked t' me... that everypony knew Ah was in charge an' she jus' had t' tell me t' make it work..."

"A politician," Rarity carefully enunciated, "one with a direct stake in matters, who wished to motivate you into action, told you something which would help her achieve her own ends -- and you believed her?"

The horrified silence was long enough to hear wingbeats and hooves approaching.

"...did y'know the deadline for filin' to run for Mayor was two weeks ago?"

"Yes," Pinkie said at the same moment as everypony else's 'No.'

"Wish it was t'morrow."

"Because, Applejack?"

"Because, Rarity, Ah'd run. An' then if'fin Ah won, Ah'd follow that up by runnin' the last mayor out of town!"

It got a soft laugh. "A pony who does not lie... is at something of a disadvantage on the political front. I don't think you'd do all that well, especially given the ponies who would refuse to vote for you on general principle."

"An' what general principle is that?"

"Well -- would you vote for somepony who'd already proven and was willing to publicly admit, at the first hint of a question, that the recent goose disaster was all her fault?"

She heard Pinkie's giggle, Rainbow's snort, and almost found the strength to smile.

"Of course," Rarity continued, "it does not mean Mayor Mare is wrong. There are times when you are in charge, Applejack. We all know that, I think. Times when each of us takes up the reins between our teeth. In the more subtle social situations, I often have the lead, while Pinkie seizes control for the most open ones, or when empathy is needed. Fluttershy for many animals and some medicine, Twilight in matters of magic, Rainbow for those times when thinking may in fact be overrated -- and as I quite distinctly heard even from within the house, in those moments when somepony must get us in line in spite of ourselves, it would seem Spike should rule over us all."

The sound of claws scratching across pebbles.

"But when common sense is needed, the practical solution, a need for the bottom line and drive of necessity without frills or pretense... we turn to you, Applejack," the designer concluded. "We always have. Our mayor just used it against you, because she knew she could, and how you would respond if she did. Be angry with her, if you like. But -- she does what she must, for the benefit of the settled zone. As do we. The manner is simply somewhat different."

A long pause, more than enough for her to feel them all coming closer.

"Ah still screwed up."

"...you didn't know," Fluttershy insisted.

"Ah should've known how you were gonna respond: not like we ain't known each other long enough t' have the idea. Ah shouldn't -- have t' -- Ah shouldn't be in charge. Jus' proved that, now and forever."

"...and what else shouldn't you have to be in charge of, Applejack? Who else?"

"Ah don't know what y'mean --"

"...Apple Bloom?"

The Element of Honesty. There were so many times when it felt like a joke. Because she so easily could tell the truth to just about everypony...

...everypony except herself.

That took effort. Too much of it.

But the words came.

"She wouldn't be like this if mah Mommy an' Daddy were alive. If'fin they hadn't gone on the trip, if'fin they hadn't --"

"-- because when ponies leave," and the words came from Rainbow, "they die?"

No answer came. To find the strength for one would have meant crossing the final border and giving her life.

"...you shouldn't have to," Fluttershy softly said. "...you shouldn't have to take over as a parent before you ever got out of school. And Rarity shouldn't have had to miss her last three trade shows and best chances to become recognized because of missions. Twilight shouldn't have to struggle every single day, trying to understand things everypony else learned when they were fillies, always being so scared of what might happen if she got something wrong. Pinkie should have a family of her blood which she could see..."

The ghost of a gasp behind her, and then the faintest whisper of a sob.

"...Rainbow should be able to train and travel and fly wherever she wanted without having to worry about us and not being there when she's needed, Spike shouldn't have so many ponies afraid of him all the time, and I..." The soft voice almost broke. "...shouldn't have to do a lot of things, Applejack, things I've done almost every moon since I came to ground. We should all be -- normal ponies, with normal lives, without the responsibility. But we aren't. Because... we're the ones who do things, who can do things. And we do them... so everypony else can have normal lives. We have to do that today. And since the geese won't listen to me, I think we need... a practical solution. So..." She trailed off, took several slow breaths.

"Please lead us, Applejack?" Pinkie smiled. "Pretty please?"

"I promise," Rarity said, "to rein you in if you appear to be getting out of control." Openly teasing, "In fact, I would be lying if I said I did not look forward to it, the same way you relish every chance to tell me that my desire for social advancement has gone off the rails. And if I cannot manage the task, it would seem Spike is more than up to the challenge."

"I'm... I'm sorry I yelled, Applejack," came from a somewhat lower level.

"Don't be," Applejack said. "Ah had it comin'. Yer right: Ah didn't think. Not 'bout the magic part..."

"You know, even without the actual spells, he's really not such a bad Twilight?" Rainbow decided.

"Perhaps," Rarity said. "But he is a much better Spike. So, Applejack? Back to Ponyville, before the departed geese find their courage, the fainted ones revive, or a new portion of the flock flies in to investigate the smells? Or is there anything else our leader wishes us to do first? Oh, and incidentally, would you have any suggestions on whom I am to blame for Sweetie Belle? For my own parents are still present, even with my mother's regretful hooves-off approach to raising her second child, and any pinning down of a source which you might provide...?"

"Y' -- y'all forgive me?"

With a verbal twinkle, "Perhaps even for Apple Bloom. Who is, by and large, her own fault, at least once one factors out the other two, my own sister included. You do your best to make her hear, but as with the geese, nopony can make her listen. Although the thought of driving all three from Ponyville has crossed my mind once... very well, more than once..."

"We keep forgiving Twilight!" Rainbow, with a laugh. "I'm not sure why. Geez, just the stupid Smarty Pants Incident would have gotten any normal ponies to fly for their lives!"

She finally turned, and found herself facing Pinkie. She was glad for that, because the next words, while meant for all, should be said while looking at the pony who'd heard them first.

"Y'remember how Ah've said y'all are mah family?"

Pinkie, blue eyes moist, slowly nodded.

"Don't let me forget it again, okay? An' that's an order."

And normally, there would have been a ponypile next to the shed, a collective expression of the stable bond pressing against each other under Sun. But the area was filthy, as were most of those occupying it, and so they did not gather into the closest thing they had to a group hug.

At least, not before plotting out some extremely cautious approach angles.

(Except for Rainbow, who managed to get everypony even dirtier because she hadn't bothered to think about it.)

Comments

[Admiral Biscuit]

Huh...makes sense Spike would be the one to know what to do about magical overexertion.

[Emil]

So Rainbow dumped BOTH her Int and Wis stats!

[Talon and Thorn]

That was a pretty heavy chapter.

Although I loved Spike stepping up and taking charge in a crisis.

[vladspellbinder]

"-- what the buck were you thinking? Did you think at all?"
It nearly froze them. They had never heard Spike curse, ever,

I don't really like the use of "buck" as a curse word in-universe, because then it makes AJ's job as an applebucker into something you can't say in polite company. I guess maybe it could be a low level one like "darn", and maybe only one via context (which I can't think of a good example of) but it just always make me pause when I see it used in that context.
I guess maybe because you buck something off your back you don't like. But, again... eigh. Hard to explain my dislike for it. I guess it mostly stems from the fact we, as in us humans, use it as a substitute for "fuck" more often than not and that word is not a word I could see the ponies having (I see them using the word "rutt" in the same context we use "fuck") so when it does get used in that substitutive manner it just drops me out of the story for a bit.

[son_of_heaven176]

Awww. That was a cute ending to the chapter. But what was Fluttershy talking about what she mentioned Pinkie's family? Unless I'm mistaken, you haven't made Pinkie an orphan in this 'verse.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

8296339
It's mentioned in Triptych (?) and a few other places. Pinkie was an abused child who ran away from home shortly after getting her Cutie Mark. A friend took her to Ponyville & got her a job w the Cakes