• Published 24th Apr 2017
  • 837 Views, 53 Comments

Always Together, Forever Apart - bahatumay



Ledger Line may have found salvation for Cherry Jubilee's failing cherry orchard in a strange, wandering earth pony. Applejack may seem strange and secretive, and that hawk she's always with is a little weird, but at this point, he's desperate.

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Chapter 6

The night was cold. Especially because the green branches Ledger Line had tried to use as firewood had killed his little fire rather quickly. He was hunched over, wrapped in the tarp as if it were a blanket (a very thin, wet blanket), wondering just how this could get any worse.

There was a derisive chuckle, and he looked up to see the timberwolf and the pegasus from before, shaking her head as if disappointed. She turned and walked away, and made a clicking noise with her tongue. The timberwolf turned and followed obediently.

That's how. The one pony around—literally the only other pony on this whole orchard besides Applejack—could be laughing at him. Great. Just great. He pulled the tarp around him tighter.

He jumped as a bundle of sticks was dropped in front of him. The pegasus stood in front of him, smirking. “Let's not freeze to death tonight, ok?” she offered. She crouched down and began building up the sticks like Applejack did.

“They're not going to burn,” Ledger Line said darkly.

The pegasus scraped one stick repeatedly against the ground, giving it a bit of a fuzzy appearance. “The green ones you brought won't. You can find dry branches under the wet ones.” She held up the stick. “I'm assuming you can light this?”

Due to the cold and straight misery Ledger Line felt, it took a couple tries for the spell to take, but eventually her stick caught fire, and soon the little campfire was burning again.

Once he was fairly warm again, Ledger Line could speak. “How did you get here?”

The pegasus grinned widely. “Well, I didn't hatch from an egg, if that's what you're asking.”

Ledger Line snorted. “No, I mean, when did you get here on the orchard? And how did you get in the barn?” He looked over his shoulder. “Where's Ardie? And, probably most important, why is the timberwolf inside the barn and just sitting there?”

Realizing they were talking about it, the timberwolf raised its head. It remained close and just inside the door, but definitely at a respectful distance from the fire. Once it realized it was not the main subject, it rested its head on its forelegs again.

The pegasus thought for a moment. “Applejack hasn't told you anything?” she asked.

Applejack? “Not really. You know Applejack?”

She smirked. “Very well, actually.”

“Did you see her out there?”

“Looking at her right now.”

Ledger Line looked out, but saw nopony. “Out there?” he asked to confirm.

She nodded.

“Is she behind the timberwolf?”

The pegasus shook her head and grinned.

“Wait… you're not saying she… she is the timberwolf?”

The pegasus nodded. “That's exactly what I'm saying.”

Gears turned in his head. “And so you're… you're saying you're… the hawk. Ardie.”

The pegasus nodded. “Rainbow Dash, if you wanna be formal. But seriously. Sit down. Breathe. It's a lot to take in.”

Ledger Line realized that his legs were indeed feeling weak. He quickly sat down.

And then stood back up again rapidly because he had sat in a puddle of water. He scowled at his hindquarters, as if it were their fault he was now cold.

Rainbow Dash gently stroked the timberwolf's head. “So I guess I owe you an explanation, huh?” she said.

“It'd be nice, yeah,” he squeaked.

“It’s a pretty messed up story,” she warned.

Ledger Line nodded weakly towards the sky. “We've got time.”

The pegasus nodded and tapped the bottoms of her hooves together. “Well, I was born and raised in Cloudsdale, daughter of Rainbow Blaze and-”

“No, I meant-”

Rainbow barked a laugh. “I know, I know. Ok, well, first thing you should know about me is that I'm pretty awesome.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She grinned. “Applejack does that to me, too,” she said. “Except it's cuter when she does it. Anyway, I’m awesome enough that the Wonderbolts had me in the Reserve.”

Ledger Line nodded. While he had never been much of a fan, he had heard many of the names while in Canterlot, and he had great respect for any athlete.

And definitely any farmer.

“Well, the Wonderbolts have a pretty sizable roster. Ever heard of Stratus Shine?”

Ledger Line nodded. “Sure. 'Shining Star of the Wonderbolts', right? Everypony knows him.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes at his nickname, muttering something about kicking and seeing stars, and then continued. “Well, he had a thing for me.”

Ledger Line blinked. She was certainly confident.

“I know, right?” Rainbow said, misinterpreting his look. “I mean, I'd had him pegged full on coltcuddler.” She paused. “I mean… not, not that there's anything wrong with colts,” she added lamely.

Ledger Line cracked a smile.

Rainbow coughed and continued. “Well, he decided he wanted me.” She shrugged, conceding. “Fair enough. Only problem with that is, I'm taken.” She emphasized this by stroking the timberwolf’s head. “He tried to put the moves on me for a while, I kept shutting him down, and eventually he got the message. He laid low for two weeks, and then sent us an invitation. Said there were no hard feelings and invited us to a Wonderbolts show, front row seats—and there's no way I could turn that down. Let us both back in the VIP section and poured us some drinks.

“That was a mistake. He'd decided that if he couldn't have me, nopony could. Turns out those two weeks he was gone, he’d spent in Tartarus, picking up a few things.”

Ledger Line chuckled.

“What?” Rainbow asked.

“You can’t go to Tartarus,” he said dismissively.

“Oh, yes, you can,” Rainbow said with a dark smile. “The gates are only a short journey away from Ponyville. And as it turns out, there are a lot of beings trapped there who don’t care much for ponies. Enough that they’ll sell you things. Crazy things. For the right price, of course.” She sighed. “And, a little dark magic mumbo-jumbo later, I'm a red-tailed hawk during the day; she's a timberwolf during the night.” She chuckled darkly. “Irony. We're always together, but forever apart.”

Ledger Line chewed on his lower lip. “Can you undo it?”

“We think so,” Rainbow said quietly. “The problem with Tartarus is the beings there are very old, and a lot craftier than you’d think. It’s all old magic, stuff that not even Twilight has studied. And it's dangerous. There's a reason dabbling in dark magic is so illegal.”

Ledger Line nodded and gestured to his horn. “I paid enough attention in school to know that,” he said.

“Still, like all magic, there are rules. We figured the spell would be broken if he died. So that next flight show, as soon as I was pony again, I tried to kill him.”

Ledger Line’s eyes widened.

Rainbow continued as if she hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. She made wild gestures with her hooves as she explained. “Flew out onto the pitch, dodged security like they were just hovering, blindsided him, spun him out, slammed him head-first right into the barriers. Left a huge dent. I thought I’d broken his neck for sure.” Rainbow sighed. “It didn’t work. Turns out he’d made a couple other deals there in Tartarus. Sold his soul to some… thing in there for a boost in flight skills. He shrugged it off like he didn’t even notice, and I had to run.” She cracked a wry smile. “Attempted murder in the view of a huge crowd. Now that was a mistake. Applejack was not very happy with me when she found out what I'd done. Not even Celestia could do anything to help me.” She cracked a smile. “And let me tell you, I do not look good in orange.”

Ledger Line bit his lower lip. This story just got crazier and crazier. “So that means he’s undead?”

“Pretty much. Now I’m a wanted criminal, and Applejack ‘disappeared’ right after.” She grinned. “And where else would two ‘dead’ ponies go?”

“Don’t tell me,” Ledger Line whispered.

Rainbow nodded grimly. “Yeah. We went to Tartarus ourselves. And after a lot of searching, discussing, and a lot of games of chess—don’t ask,” she said, cutting his question off, “we finally got our answer.” She glanced out at the sky and grinned wryly. “But you might have to have Applejack tell you the rest.”

Ledger Line started. “Huh?”

“It’s getting light soon,” she observed, “and Celestia’s sun is not my friend.” She lifted her wing and pulled a feather out with her teeth. “You got ink and paper?”

Ledger Line chuckled. “Always,” he said, getting up and retrieving a notebook from his saddlebag.

Rainbow Dash began to write. Ledger Line was curious, but was polite enough to stand back to give her some privacy.

When she’d finished writing, she folded it up. “Could you give this to Applejack for me?” she asked, holding it out to him.

“Sure,” Ledger Line said, somewhat confused. “Are you going somewhere?”

Rainbow Dash nudged the timberwolf awake. She looked at him, her expression haunted. “Trust me. You don't want to see or hear this.”

He watched as she and Applejack slowly disappeared into the darkness. He watched as they faded from view.

And a few minutes later, as the sun rose once again, screams of anguish rent the night.