• Published 12th Sep 2022
  • 472 Views, 13 Comments

We Deserve A Soft Epilogue, My Love - Apple Bottoms



Argyle wakes up in Bridlewood with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Luckily Alphabittle is there to protect and help him - but what isn't Alphabittle telling him? (MxM)

  • ...
17
 13
 472

Chapter 5 - The Past

“Oops!” Argyle laughed, his heart lighter than it had been in a long time. He all but pranced down the craggy cliff path, wending his way down the unmarked road that would take him away from Maretime Bay. His hat slid off his head in the brisk sea breeze; it spiraled out of reach almost instantly, fluttering down into the water and out of sight.

“I better be careful, or else somepony might think I’ve been lost at sea!” he chuckled to himself, then set off once more, whistling a jaunty tune. It was a silly mood, on a silly day; but it was a day that was worthy of such silly merriment, he thought.

Today, Sunny was off to her very first day of work at the smoothie cart. Sure, it was only sweeping and stocking, but it was a very big deal to Sunny! It was the very first job that the filly had ever had. Fillies and colts could pick up jobs at relatively young ages where they lived; they were lucky enough to live in the bustling metropolis of Maretime Bay after all, which was as safe as any city could get! So she went off to school, then off to work for a couple of hours, and then back home to the lighthouse.

But today was also a very big deal for Argyle, because today was the first day of his ‘camping trip.’ Sunny was finally old enough to be left on her own for a little while, with the neighbor Mrs. Witherstone checking in on her each evening, and that meant that it was finally safe for Argyle to leave long enough to see Bittle.

It had happened so suddenly, all those years ago. It was funny how fast things could change. He’d just put the lighthouse up for sale, ready to leave Maretime Bay to pursue his unicorn mate, when a shadow clouded his doorstep. His ex fiancée, the mare he hadn’t seen in almost a year at that point, carrying a little orange fuzzball in a carrier. I can’t keep her anymore, she’d said through tears, not on my own. But if we -

No. That’s never happening. I have somepony else now, Argyle had said, sharper than he’d intended. He’d already felt the claws of the prison closing around him. She’d cried at that; Argyle had been frustrated at the time, but now, with more mature eyes, he could see how the prison was closing around her, too.

There’s a mare in town who will take her, Phyllis -

I’ll take her.

It hadn’t even been a question in his mind. He couldn’t put himself back into the prison he’d escaped, but the filly? She was so tiny, so helpless; he couldn’t leave her. And she was his.

I just need a few days.

He had made good time to Bridlewood, galloping the whole way in a tearful blur. He could barely manage the bird call that signaled to Alphabittle that he had arrived, and his heart broke all over again when he saw the way Bittle’s expression faltered as he galloped across the moonlit meadow.

They made their final goodbye that very night, clinging to one another. They tried to memorize the way the other felt in their forelegs, the tight press against their chests, the brush of a nose on an ear, the way a tangle of blue mane felt when it brushed under a chin.

When she’s old enough, when she will be okay on her own for a little while, I will come back to you. I promise. I’ll write as often as I can until then. You can get your old job back now, right? The keeper of the Forgetting Rock?

How could I ever do that? Knowing that I would be lying in my duties to keep dangerous earth ponies away? Alphabittle was so beautiful in the moonlight, all of his sharp, rough, rude edges softened only for Argyle to see. His sad laugh broke Argyle’s heart, and he pulled him close again, holding him so tight it almost hurt.

Don’t forget me, Alphabittle had whispered, and Argyle could hear his heart breaking in the words.

How could I forget my own heart? Argyle whispered back, and flicked his ear against his mouth. He could feel the soft brush of his lips when Alphabittle kissed it in reply. I will think of you every day. As soon as I can, I will come back to you.

I will wait for you.

He’d waited for so long; but little fillies grew up much faster than expected, and with a filly like Sunny, every day had been a joy. He was so lost in his own thoughts, so excited to see his Bittle, to tell him about Sunny, to share his plans for their lives together (moving to Maretime Bay! Fanciful hats to cover the horn! A clever cover story! Splitting time between Bridlewood and Maretime Bay!), that he didn’t realize that the unicorns had moved the Forgetting Rock until he was upon it.

He knew he didn’t have much time. Argyle ran like a stallion possessed, his hooves tearing up the turf of the meadow as he left the trail, cutting a direct path to the forest. “Bittle! Bittle!” he shouted, terror coloring his voice, but even as he ran, he wondered, who was Bittle, again? “Help! Bi - Help! Help!” he cried, and as he came to a stumbling, staggering halt, he thought he could see a glimpse of something gray and stormy emerging from the edge of the forest.

Oh, he thought, this is nice; these saplings will offer some perfectly lovely shade, since my hat is gone. Where did my hat go, I wonder? Did I have a hat?

And with that final thought, Argyle slipped away from consciousness.