Salvation

by Sandstorm Inkwell

Chapter Fourteen

After the bath, I toweled off and dressed myself in one of the uniforms Rarity had sewn. As I was leaving the top floor, I spotted a mirror against the wall. Not able to help myself, I stopped in front of the mirror to examine myself. The uniform fit just right but what caught my eye was the gold trim. It looked amazing and I couldn't help but smiling. Hell, she had even replicated our name and service tapes and rank tabs. Of course, they all of a gold thread instead of black but, eh, I wasn't one to complain.

Reaching in my thigh pocket, I pulled out my cover. It wasn't a hat, no, it was a beret that Rarity had made for all of us. It was gray with some golden thread laced through it in a sort of quilt fashion. Still smiling, I finally walked down to the main floor and out, putting on the beret. After making sure it was sitting properly, I started walking toward the Library. My hand brushed against my holster, the pistol sitting inside it. Even though we knew no pony would attack us, Sarge had told us to carry at least our pistols. “Just in case.”

I wasn't going to argue with him for what he said had some meaning to it. I still, sometimes, found myself thinking back to the Diamond Dog incident. If I hadn't had my weapons, what would have happened?

I derailed my own thoughts as I shook my head and decided to take in my surroundings. Even with the cold, there were still a lot of ponies traversing the streets and going to the market. I was approaching the market myself, having to walk through it to get to the library, and found myself smiling a little. It was an honest to god open market with stands for about every type of item. It was quite... exhilarating for the reason that I now had an idea what a Medieval market might have actually looked like.

I saw Applejack behind one of the stalls and my smile widened. I started walking to her, the orange mare spotting me as I did.

“Hey AJ!” I greeted happily as I reached her stall. She was, of course, displaying a multitude of different apple based foods and drinks.

“Heya Tyler. Ya seem mighty happy today. Even after the, uh... PT?” she replied, her head tilting at the initials. I chuckled,

“Physical Training. Basically just trying to work up our strength and endurance,” I explained as I grabbed a red apple and tossed a couple bits onto the counter of the stall. I was only mildly surprised when she pushed the currency back toward me.

“That's on tha house,” she said, her eyes showing that there would be no argument.

“You sure AJ?”

“I'm sure.”

“Alright,” I replied, scooping the bits back into my pocket, “Well, have a good one AJ.”

“You too sugarcube.”

Taking a bite out of the apple, I turned and continued on my trek to the Library. I ate fast so by the time I reached the, literal, tree house, only the core remained. Pushing open the door, I walked inside the library, tossing the core into a nearby trash can.

“Honey, I'm home!” I shouted, spreading out my arms some. A large, cheeky smile was on my face when Twilight's head poked out from behind one of her books. There was a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Um, Tyler. That's only said between married couples here and, um, we're not... married,” she explained, looking more and more embarrassed as she did. I stood still for a second before I started laughing.

“It was a joke Twi,” I said between laughs, taking off my beret as I did so (I was inside after all). Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red and it crept farther onto her face as she lowered her head behind the book some.

“Oh, um, okay,” she laughed timidly, “I see how that may be humorous between two friends.”

I stopped laughing and just smiled as I looked at her. I couldn't help but realize how cute she was when she was embarrassed. That thought got squashed by the back of my brain. No, no, no! You can't be attracted to her. You are a human. She is not of your species. What would your family think if they ever discovered that you were attracted to an animal?

Animal. That stopped everything in it's tracks. Did I just refer to Twilight as an animal? This filled me with anger and some regret. I was angry because I had thought it which meant that somewhere in me, I thought of these sentient beings as little more than stupid, simple-minded animals. Granted, both humans and ponies were animals in a way but they were also thinking, speaking sentients.

“Umm, Tyler? Are you okay?”

Twilight's voice snapped me from my thoughts. Blinking, I realized that I was now looking at my boots. Looking up, I saw that Twilight had set aside her book and had come a couple steps closer, a slight tilt to her head. Her purple eyes were full of concern. Her hair, due to the tilt of her head, fell slightly over her right eye.

“You're beautiful,” I finally whispered. What I said then struck me and I hoped beyond hope that she didn't hear. Luck wasn't with me, however, as I saw her mouth drop open and her eyes widen in surprise.

“Right!” I shouted, “Nice to see you Twilight but I should be off!”

I spun on my heels and all but dashed for the still open door. My escape was foiled as the door was enveloped in a magenta glow and... slammed shut. I tried to open it but the unicorn was holding it shut. I gulped and turned around to see the unicorn looking at me with those purple eyes of hers. She had a blush to her cheeks which cause my heart to flutter a little.

“What did you say?” she asked as she took a step toward me. She looked strung between excitement and disbelief, leaning more toward disbelief. However, I was more focused on finding a way out. Windows? Maybe I could make a mad dash for one but she would probably use her magic to stop me. Her magic. With it, I couldn't escape even if I tried.

She continued walking forward, “I mean. I heard what you said but I just want to make sure there's no chance that my ears may have deceived me.”

She was about halfway to me now. I sighed, there was no escape from this predicament that I put myself in.

“I said that you're beautiful,” I muttered.

“What was that?” she asked as she came closer, turned her head and cocking her ear to hear better. She was smiling now, probably enjoying this. Mentally, I was clawing at the walls to escape. This was not how I wanted this to go down, nor was it at this time. I imagined, oh I don't know, a romantic moment to say something like what I just said. I did not imagine me slipping up and saying it in her library.

“You're beautiful,” I muttered again, even quieter, as she was closer. A crazy, stupid plan had formed in his head. It would just worsen his... predicament but it would allow him to escape the library.

“You're getting quieter Tyler. You need to speak up.”

I murmured something that was incoherent, even to myself. Finally, she was in front of me, looking up expectantly. The disbelief was gone from her eyes, mixed with playfulness and excitement. The blush was fainter but still there. Faking defeat, I slid down the door until I was eye level with her.

“What did you say Ty-”

She was interrupted as my lips met hers. It was... different but also not different. Hard to explain. Only thing important to me at the time (besides that I was kissing someone I liked) was that the magenta glow faded. Pushing back, my weight pushed the door outward. Rolling backward, I ended up in a kneeling position looking at Twilight's furiously blushing face. She was obviously shocked, her body just frozen. Jumping to my feet, I smiled.

“FREEDOM!” I cried like a little kid as I turned and ran for the mead-hall, putting on my beret as I did. Did I receive some weird looks? Oh hells yeah. Did I care? Oh hells no.