Of Love or Lust
Chapter 5: Chapter Five: Rage
Previous Chapter Next Chapter“What the hell?” I groaned as I slowly woke up and put a hand to my stomach, “If that was a dream, why does it hurt so much?”
“Mmm, what’s that sugarcube?” I heard Applejack mumble as she shifts next to me. I cracked open my eyes and saw the light of the rising sun flood through the loft window, covering Applejack and me. I sat and watched as she slowly sat up and stretched herself, the rays of light hitting her from behind making her look angelic before she flopped over on top of me.
“Mornin, Alex,” she greeted sleepily as she scooted up and kissed me on the cheek, “sleep alright?”
“Sleeping wasn’t the problem,” I moaned as I sat up, “it’s what happened while I was asleep.”
“Ah don’t-”
“ALEX!” the hay pile from last night screamed as it exploded and revealed Cadence, making me jump.
“Jesus Christ, Cadence!” I shouted as I clutched my heart, “Some warning would have been nice!”
“I’m sorry but… Is she going to be alright?” Cadence asked as she pointed a hoof to Applejack who was frozen stiff with a look of terror on her face.
“See what you did?” said as I lightly shook AJ, “Yo, Applejack. You okay? It’s just Princess Cadence.” She didn’t respond at all.
“I’m sorry, but let me tell you something! It might be a good thing she isn’t ‘here’ right now.”
“Alright, what?” I asked angrily as I held Applejack close.
“It’s Shining!” she exclaimed.
“Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me. I’m gonna have to pay him back for that cheap shot whenever I see him,” I seethed as I flexed my fist.
“That’s just it! He misunderstood what was going on with us and is furious!” Cadence explained nervously, “He wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to explain, so now he’s on his way here!”
“Great, I’ll be able to pay him back sooner than I thought,” I said as I stretched my back.
“Alex, you don’t understand!” the princess whined as she put her hooves on my shoulders, “Shining gets really jealous and he’s not in his right mind! He’ll probably try to kill you!”
“Eh, don’t worry. I’ve dealt with something like that before,” I replied nonchalantly as I poked Applejack’s cheek, “I came out fine that time, I’m sure I’ll be alright this time.”
“Alex!” Cadence whined as her eyes started to water.
“Okay, would you relax?” I said as I took her hooves into my hands, “It’ll be alright. How long will it take for him to get here?”
“About a day or so,” she sniffled.
“Okay, then I’m sure he’ll calm down over all that time and possibly realize he overreacted. If not, I’ll try talking to him when he gets here and if that doesn’t work, I guess he’ll try to fight me. I was only half-joking about paying him back, but if it comes to that, then whatever,” I explained as I rubbed her hooves with my thumbs, “so relax. We’ll deal with him when the time comes, alright?” She stared into my sleepy eyes as I guessed she was seeing if I believed my own words, which I did, before sighing.
“Alright,” she sniffled, “I’ll trust you.”
“Good. I am the Prince of Lust after all; what would I do without the support of the Princess of Love?” I joked as I wiped her eyes.
“You’re no prince yet,” she giggled lightly as she took back her hooves.
“Aha, you said ‘yet,’ so that means there’s hope,” said as I turned back to Applejack, “now, why don’t you back to hiding, I think you’ve surprised this mare enough.”
“Alright,” she replied softly before doing a backflip off the loft and landing softly on barn floor.
“Show off,” I muttered as I watched her peek out of the barn before leaving, “okay. How to wake up a startled pony… without doing anything weird… specifically sexual.” I thought for a moment before I brought my mouth up to her ear and gently blew into it, making her moan as her face relaxed.
“Oh, Alex, ah,” she said before she glanced around and only found me next to her, “what happened?”
“Oh, uh… A bat,” I said lamely.
“A bat?” she repeated.
“…Yeah, a bat fell from the rafters and scared us,” I explained as I stood up, “anyway, shouldn’t we get to work?”
“You’re right,” she said as she too stood up, put on her hat, and descended the ladder, “unfortunately, ah’m gonna have to put ya to work if you’re goin to be stayin here.”
“I’d feel bad if I didn’t work,” I replied as I climbed down after her. When I touched down, she was pulling the apple cart filled with barrels out of the barn. I simply followed her out where we met up with Big Mac before moseying on down to the orchards.
“So you ever done this before?” Applejack asked as she set up the barrels around a few trees.
“I did go apple picking a few times when I was a kid, but from the looks of things you kick the trees and the apples fall out.” I’m not going to try kicking anything,
“Yep! How’d ya know?” she asked and I glanced at the hoof imprints on every single tree.
“… Lucky guess.”
“Well, since that’s how we do it, ya think you can handle it?” she asked.
“No.”
“No?” she repeated incredulously as she looked me over, “You’re the size of Princess Celestia! There’s no way you’re not strong enough to buck a few trees.”
“Well, believe it or not, I’m actually pretty weak and nowhere near as strong as any of the princesses,” I replied with a shrug and shake of my head.
“Well, I wanna see ya at least try,” she said as she stepped up next to a tree, “go on and give ‘er a nice buckin.”
“I’ve give you a nice bucking,” I muttered as I stepped up to the tree.
“What was that?”
“I said I’ll do my best,” I replied as I closed my eyes and focused. Alright, I didn’t actually want to do this, but I guess I don’t have a choice. May as well actually try and see if I can knock down some apples… Ooh, maybe I gained some super strength or something since I came here, so this might be a good time to test that. Okay, here we go.
Once I opened my eyes, I took a step back and got into a fighting stance I remembered from DBZ. I took a few calming breathes before taking a step forward, jumping, spinning, landing, and kicking the tree right in between the hoof marks. I sat there for a moment with my body and right leg perfectly horizontal, making a right angle with the tree, before I slowly straightened out.
“Yeah, I don’t think that worked,” I said in a strained voice as I kept my foot hovering an inch above the ground.
“Ah don’t know about that,” Applejack said happily as she reached into one of the barrels and pulled out two apples, “ya got some out!”
“Great, but I don’t think I should do that again,” I groaned as I let my foot touch the ground, “how about I just collect the barrels?”
“Whatever you say, sugarcube. Come on, Big Mac,” she said before stepping up to the tree I just kicked and bucked out the rest of the apples that somehow fell perfectly into the barrels. I’m not even going to ask. Thanks to my strong work ethic, the morning went by really quick and we apparently finished all the work in record time.
“Good work out there, sonny,” Granny Smith said as she hooved me a glass of some yellow liquid as I sat on the porch stairs. Is this lemonade?
“Uh, ma’am? Is this… lemonade?” I asked cautiously.
“Yeah, why? Don’t like lemonade?” she asked as she looked at me suspiciously.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” I trailed off as I looked at her face before sipping the drink, “it’s nothing.”
“Good,” she said simply as she sat in her chair. We sat in silence for a while as I sipped my drink and we watched Big Mac work with their animals.
“Applejack’s a good mare, ya know,” Granny Smith suddenly spoke up.
“I agree,” I simply replied.
“And you seem to be a good stallion, or whatever ya are, with a good head on your shoulders.”
“Uh, thanks. I’m glad you think that,” I said as I looked back and gave her a smile, “because I’m kind of starting to doubt that.”
“Well, don’t. If ah can see that you’re good, then ah know Applejack can too. Now, ah’m not insinuatin nothin, but Celestia knows that mare could use somepony besides ‘er family to be close to. Somepony she can tell things she can’t tell ‘er family, ya understand?”
“Uh, yeah, I think so. But aren’t Rainbow Dash, Twilight and those girls that someone-er, somepony?” She’s not trying to set us up, is she?
“Well, they could be, but with ‘em all bein mares like her, there’s only so much she can confide in them as well, if ya catch my drift.”
“Yeah, I think I do,” I really don’t, “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything.”
“You’re tryin is good enough for me,” she replied making me look back at her and see her toothy grin, “you don’t need to promise me nothin.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” I said as I returned her smile, “… you know, you-”
“Alex! The bath’s ready!” I heard Applebloom yell from the back of the house.
“What’s that sonny?”
“Ah,” I said as I stood up and looked at her warm wrinkly face before chuckling softly, “nothing, it’s nothing.”
“Well, you better get in that bath. That smell get any stronger and ya might get attacked,” she said as she winked at me, making me lose my smile. Ewwwwwww.
“Right. Thanks for the drink,” I said as I turned and walked around the house to the back where I found a familiar looking aboveground tub.
“There you are, Alex!” Applebloom said as her head popped out of the water, “What are ya waitin for? Come on in!”
“Gimme a sec,” I said as I started to disrobe with the filly watching me the whole time, making me feel extremely uncomfortable. Once I was done and in the water, she doggie paddled her way over to me.
“Can ah ask you somethin, Alex?”
“Of course,” I said I grabbed her and held her by her hooves.
“What’s that thing that was hangin off of ya?”
“Uh…”
“Ya know, that,” she said as he pointed a hoof below my waist.
“Well, uh… it’s my third arm of course.” Ha, penis jokes.
“Really?” she asked and I nodded, “Then how come you keep it covered? And why is it so small?” …That’s what I get for making penis jokes in front of a kid.
“It uh, only has very specific uses, most of which are private so I can’t show you.”
“Oh, ah see. At first ah thought it was like a stallion’s thingy, but ah guess not.” …And that’s what I get for insulting a kid’s intelligence.
“Applebloom, are you still in that tub?” Applejack’s voice said from behind us, “You should be gettin ready for school.”
“Aw, fine. But can Alex come with me?” Appleblom asked as she climbed out of the tub.
“Ah think he’s too old to go to school, right?” Applejack replied as she looked at me.
“She’s right. I was in school for most of my life, so I don’t think I need any more,” I answered, making the filly’s ears droop, “but I’ll see you after, promise.”
“Okay, see ya after school then!” she exclaimed before running inside the house.
“So full of energy even though the day just started,” I yawned as I closed my eyes and leaned back against the tub.
“Well, you know fillies,” I heard Applejack’s voice say along with the quite sound of moving water.
“Yeah, I guess,” I sighed as I relaxed as I felt something wrap around my neck, making me open my eyes and see Applejack’s emerald eyes before she kissed me, “good morning.”
“Mornin, sugarcube,” she replied before kissing me again.
“Someone’s a little hungry this morning.”
“Ah thought ah’d have a little snack before lunch,” she said seductively with lidded eyes before she kissed me again.
“I don’t know,” I said with a smirk when we separated, “you might ruin your appetite.”
“Then ah guess a little taste will do,” she whispered into my ear as I felt her hoof on my hardening manhood.
“Sounds good,” I gasped as she stroked and rubbed herself against me.
“How about you sit right here so ah can get a better taste?” she said as she pointed to the stairs in the tub. Without saying anything, I did as she told and sat on the highest step, putting her at eye level with my third eye. She licked her lips hungrily before taking the tip into her mouth and sucking lightly, drawing out the pre that had already accumulated.
“Mmm,” she hummed as she pulled back and savored the taste, “sweet, with a hint of salt. Just the way ah like it.” With that, she took me back into her mouth, this time taking in half of me as she worked her smooth tongue around. I sighed in pleasure as I ran a hand through her golden mane. This is great. It’s been so long since I’ve last came… but why? … Oh shit!
“Ah, h-hey, Applejack?” I said weakly.
“Hmm?” she hummed, the vibrations only increasing my pleasure as she looked up at me with the sexiest eyes ever.
“I uh, I think we should stop,” I moaned quietly.
“Why?” she muffled onto my cock, not helping me any.
“Cause, ahhh… because, uhhh…” Goddamnit, where the hell is Cadence?! I thought she was watching over me! … What’s that noise? … I-is someone screaming?
“H-hey Applejack, you hear that?” I asked quietly, making her pull her head up and off of me for a second.
“No, but ah sure do taste somethin,” she replied quickly before go back to work. Gotta admire that dedication… no, but I swear I heard-
“ALEX!” a voice screamed from somewhere, starling me and making Applejack choke for a second before she took me out of her mouth.
“What in tarnation was that?” she asked in between coughs.
“I have no-”
“ALEX, RUN!” the voice screamed again, except this time I could tell it was Cadence’s voice and that it was coming from the direction of town.
“Uh, we better get inside,” I said as I stood up and hopped out of the tub.
“Why? Who is that?” Applejack asked as she too got out and shook herself dry.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I quickly got dressed, “just go inside and don’t come out no matter what.”
“Alex, what’s goin on?” she asked as I shuffled her towards the back door, but she stopped herself before turning around and stomping a hoof, “Darn it, Alex! You better tell me what the hay is goin on!”
“Alright relax,” I said as I quickly scanned the skies before looking back at her, “So me and Princess Cadence have become pretty good friends-”
“This is the first ah’m hearin of it,” she interrupted.
“Do you want to know what’s going on or not?” I asked angrily.
“Sorry, ah do,” she replied as she shrunk a little.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed as I kneeled down and put a hand on her shoulder, “look, can I just promise to tell you later? I’m in a bit of a pinch apparently, and I’m sure it’ll make for a good story if I make it through this.”
“If you make it through this?” she repeated worriedly, making me pause for a second, “Alex, please, tell me what’s happenin!”
“I will, eventually,” I said as I gave her a quick kiss before I stood up and ran around the house. When I got to the front, Applejack burst through the front doors a second after I passed them.
“Alex!” she called.
“I’ll be fine!” I yelled back, “Just stay here! And don’t go getting the rest of the girls! They especially have no idea what’s going on!” With that, I took off down the road and toward town. So I know she probably meant for me to run away, but I’m gonna do the opposite and start phase one of my plan: talk. As I was crossing through a park, a flash of purple flew across my line of sight and hit the ground in front of me, tripping me up and sending me skidding to a stop on my face.
“Ow,” I groaned as I sat up and held my nose before looking at my slightly bloody fingers, “damn, we haven’t fought and I’m bleeding already.”
“You should be prepared for more than a bloody nose,” a male voice said from behind me along with the familiar sound of flapping wings. When I stood up and turned around I found Shining Armor, captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard and prince of the Crystal Empire sitting on a chariot pulled by four pegasi guards landing a few yards away from me.
Right after they did, Cadence appeared and rushed up to me.
“Alex, I told you to run!” she exclaimed as she started to push me away, but was stopped when the spears of the guards crossed between us and shoved me back onto my ass.
“Ow,” I whined as I stood back up and rubbed my backside, “don’t worry Cadence. I got a plan, remember?”
“Plan?” she repeated with a confused look as Shining stepped off the chariot and approached me.
“How do you do, Prince Shining Armor,” I said with an over the top bow, “I hope your flight here wasn’t a bad one.” The prince just scowled at me as he calmly kept walking towards me.
“We weren’t expecting you at least until tomorrow,” I explained, “if I knew you’d get here so soon, I would have-” I couldn’t finish my sentence as I was suddenly shot in the face by another purple light, sending me tumbling back a few feet.
“Alright, no jokes then,” I coughed as I quickly stood back up and rubbed my sore face, “well on to business. Now, as I’m sure you’re cute wife has told you, what you witnessed was merely a coincidence, a misunderstanding, if you will. See, Princess Lun-” I was once again interrupted by a blast to the face and sent tumbling again, making Cadence gasp loudly.
“Shining Armor! You stop this at once!” she yelled, “Alex is only my friend, nothing more!”
“Yeah man, just friends,” I coughed as I got up slower than the first time.
“Friends who cling to each other and touch noses?!” he exclaimed, making me snort at how stupid that sounded, which probably wasn’t he best thing to do, “That’s funny?!”
“No, no it’s not funny. It’s just the way you said it made it-” once again, I was smacked in the face by a bolt of light, this one making my nose bleed a little harder.
“You fool around with my wife, a princess, then you make fun of me, a solider and a prince? You must have a death wish,” he said coldly.
“Alright, man,” I said as I got back up slowly, “I’m trying to help you understand, but you have to at least meet me halfway. You’re not even trying to-” Again I was hit, again I tumbled.
“Shining, stop!” Cadence screamed, on the verge of tears.
“I’m doing this for you, Cadence!” he yelled back at her as his eyes never left mine, “I’m doing this for us. He must be made an example of, so everypony knows not to interfere with our love!”
“Okay, you’re actually starting to piss me off, Prince,” I said as I wiped the blood from my nose, “I’m not bragging or anything, but the last guy that pissed me off ending up eating through a stra-” …Again.
“Am I supposed to be scared?” he mocked as he finally stopped approaching me and I slowly stood back up, “A creature like you doesn’t have a chance in Tartarus of beating me!”
“Oho, we’ll see, Prince,” I said as I clenched my right fist tight, “besides, I have to pay you back for that little love tap this morning.”
“Oh? And just how are you going to do-” was all he got out before a small rock hit him right in the horn, disorienting him long enough for me run up and throw a right hook into his face. He tumbled a few feet to my left and laid on the ground, unmoving.
“So much for me not having a chance,” I said as I cracked my knuckles, “now get up. I know you’re not done; I didn’t hit nearly that hard.”
“Heh,” he chuckled lightly as he got back on his hooves, “not bad. I really felt that, but you’re going to have to do-” He once again couldn’t finish his sentence as another rock hit him in the horn and allowed me to get up close and deliver a hard punch to his side, sending him sliding away.
“Yeah, not fun getting interrupted, is it?” I asked as I slowly approached him. Right as I was kneeling down to grab him by his horn, he hit me in the shin, making me buckle over and grab my leg. In the half-second I did that, he was back on his hooves and uppercut me, sending me what had to be ten feet into the air because I managed one and a half backflips before I hit the ground, face first.
“Okay, Prince,” I growled as I pounded a fist onto the ground as I stood up, “you just made me go from pissed off to angry. There’s still a chance for you to end this right now and one of us won’t end up-” I stopped when a blast of light flew at my face, but I simply tilted my head to the side and avoided it.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Shining said condescendingly, “were you going to say something?”
“Maimed. I was gonna say maimed. Now, let me explain this to you. I usually have three stages of anger,” I started to explain, the anger in my voice extremely obvious as I presented my hand, “Stage one, we passed which was: pissed off. Right now we’re on stage two: angry. Now, if we get to my third stage: rage, we’re gonna have a bad time, both me and you. So, I’ll ask this one more time. Are you done acting like a fucking baby, or do I have to beat you so hard you forget you ever were a child?”
“I think you know the answer,” he replied as his horn started to glow and he dropped down into a fighting stance.
“I tried, Cadence,” I sighed with closed eyes, “I really did, but I’m sorry.”
“S-sorry f-for what?” she sobbed.
“For having to watch your husband die,” I said as I opened my eyes and stared at Shining, and I’m pretty sure I saw him flinch when I did, “Now, let’s finish this.”
“B-but we’ve barely started,” he stuttered briefly, making me smirk.
“Oh no, I’ve barely started. You’re the one who’s finished,” I said as I ran at him full speed. Seeing the small amount of panic in his eyes, I dashed to the side as he shot more bolts at me, though I had the feeling that I didn’t even need to move much to avoid getting hit. As I closed in on him, his panic increased and he sacrificed the strength of his shots for more rapid fire. Since the blasts didn’t hurt that much to begin with, I let a few hit me every so often as I ran around him, only increasing his panic which I could see started to give way to fear.
By this point I was messing with him. I could have closed in and delivered the final blows, but my conscious was still around and was telling me to end this with the least amount of damage possible. So I kept running around him, taking shots here and there to add to his now growing fear. Soon, I could tell he was getting tired, as the shots became even weaker, so much so that I didn’t even bother to dodge them and just let them hit me straight on and as I walked up to the shaking prince.
“So, are you going to listen now?” I asked as I kneeled down to the sniveling solider.
“I-I-I,” he stuttered before something weird happened. I saw a smirk flash across his face before I was blasted back, hard. So hard, it turned the shirts I was wearing to tatters and I went flying back at least fifty feet and just laid on the ground.
“Hah! Finally got you!” the prince exclaimed happily, “That was my most powerful offensive spell! There’s no way you’re getting up from that!”
“Shining! What have you done?!” Cadence cried, “You’ve gone too far this time!”
“Even though I was just pretending to get weak and become scared, I will admit,” he said, ignoring his wife’s words, “I did actually feel scared. I truly felt the rage coming from you and it managed to frighten me… but that doesn’t matter now since I’ve beaten you! Let’s go Cady, our kingdom needs us.”
“I…” was all she said as she stared behind her husband.
“What’s the matter? Are you afraid I won’t forgive you?” he asked with a shake of his head, “Don’t worry, I’ll let you off the hook this time. If this happens again though, I… What’s that noise?” The prince turned around and found me staring down at him, exhaling steam with every rage filled breath I took, making him start shaking as a nervous smile spread across his face. As I started to raise my left hand, his horn glowed and a bubble shield appeared around him. Smirking ever so slightly in my rage induced state, I continued to raise my hand and have it easily slip through his shield and grip his horn tightly, making him yip in pain.
I continued to raise my hand, lifting his front hooves off of the ground as I brought his face to mine.
“Stage three,” I hissed, my voice not sounding anything like it’s normal silky smoothness. I pulled him back a little as I raised my right hand, now a fist that was covered in a dark red mist as I cocked it back, ready to deliver the last hit.
“ALEX! DON’T!” a familiar voice called from behind me, making my fist stop a few inches short of Shining’s face. I slowly turned around and found Twilight and Applejack a few yards behind me, panting hard.
“Alex, please don’t do this!” Twilight exclaimed with a worried face, “Don’t hurt my brother!”
“Yeah, Alex! This ain’t you!” Applejack added, her face also full of concern. I heard their words, but they didn’t reach me as I simply turned back to the Prince and pulled my hand back again.
“Alex… Please,” I heard Cadence whisper, making me look up and see her crying face. My hard breathing instantly stopped as my mouth fell open and the mist around my hand dispersed. I let go and dropped the prince before I took an unsteady step backward, my face blank with shock. As I took another step back I tripped and fell, seemingly knocking some sense into me and making me fully realize what I was just about to do. Feeling a large amount of guilt and sorrow push my anger out of me, I quickly scrambled to my feet before sprinting away from the scene.
I think I heard someone call my name, but the sound of my pounding footsteps and heart drowned them out as I ran towards the edge of town faster than I’ve ever run before. I must have been running extremely fast too, because either nobody chased after me, or they couldn’t keep up. Within a minute I was out of town and at the edge of the forest, not bothering to stop and kept running into the dark jungle. After another minute of running, I had exhausted all my stamina and collapsed on the uneven forest floor, desperate for air. I can’t believe I was going to do that… kill someone. Most of the time when people say that, it’s in the heat of the moment… but I actually felt and believed I wanted to kill him… I-I’m a terrible person. After another minute, I passed out from exhaustion.
…
“Ugh, my back,” I moaned as I slowly woke up. I quickly sat up to alleviate the pain and felt a weight shift on my chest along with a small squeak. When I opened my eyes, I found my favorite pink and yellow mare lying in my lap.
“Alex! You’re awake,” she said softly as she sat up.
“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” I asked as I looked around at my dark surroundings, “Where am I?”
“We’re in the Everfree Forest, and I found you lying here, covered in bruises,” she said as she carefully rubbed my chest, making me wince slightly, “What happened?”
“… Nothing good,” I whispered as I looked out at the darkness of the forest and heard a threatening animal call.
“Let’s get you out of this scary forest,” Fluttershy said as she tried to pull me up, “this isn’t a good place to rest.”
“Alright,” I mumbled as I slowly got up, my wobbling legs threatening to collapse under me, but Fluttershy managed to hold me up as she floated next to me. With me having no idea how far I ran into the forest, it took a while for us to make it to Fluttershy’s place, maybe a half-hour, which made me wonder how she found me. When we got inside, she sat me down on her couch before she rushed around the place gathering up medical supplies before she got back to me.
“Oh,” she said as she sat down next to me and looked me over.
“What?”
“Most of your injuries are gone,” she said as she ran a hoof over my chest and I didn’t feel any pain. I looked down and just like she said, my bruises and cuts had disappeared.
“Oh, but this one on your face still looks bad,” she whispered as she started rubbing some stuff on my cheek.
“Really?” I asked as I felt her hoof move over the three indents on my face. Guess the magic wore off?
“…So… will you tell what happened?” she asked as she taped a bandage on me, “If you want to, that is.”
“I don’t want to,” I replied with a sigh, “but I might feel better if I do.”
“Oh, well don’t worry about it then,” she said as she put her stuff away, “I don’t want to make you upset.”
“Alright,” I mumbled as I slouched over. Wow, indecision is a first for me. I must be feeling worse that I thought. As I wallowed in self-pity, Fluttershy floated back over and sat in my lap as she wrapped her hooves around my neck and hugged me.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly as she nuzzled.
“What do you have to be sorry about?”
“I’m sorry that I can’t help you,” she replied making me smile slightly.
“No, you’re helping by just being here,” I said as I wrapped my arms around her, “thanks.” We sat in silence for a while as we just cuddled each other, the warmth and kindness radiating from her making me feel better by the second. At some point, there was a knock at the door and Fluttershy regretfully got up to answer it.
“H-hello?” she mumbled as she opened the door a crack.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” a cheery voice greeted.
“Oh, Pinkie Pie. What do you need?”
“Well,” Pinkie started, her cheery tone becoming sad, “Applejack and Twilight are looking for Ally because he got into a fight with Twilight’s brother and ran off. So I thought I would come by and ask if you’ve seen him around.”
“Um,” Fluttershy mumbled as she looked over at me. I nodded slowly as I waved my hand, telling her to let her in.
“…Yes, he’s here.”
“Really?” Pinkie asked, her voice regaining some of its cheeriness, “Can I see him?”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said before stepping to the side and letting Pinkie in. All I saw was a pink blur pass by Fluttershy before feeling a weight hanging on my left arm.
“Hey, Ally! Are you alright?” Pinkie asked before nuzzling my bandaged cheek, “Oh what am I saying, of course you’re not! Look at your face! I can’t believe Shining Armor would do this to you! What ever you two were arguing about doesn’t mean he should have hurt you! Being Twilight’s brother, I thought he would be smart too, but I guess he’s just a big meanie! Did he-”
“Relax, Pinkie,” I said after putting a finger to her lips, “I’m fine, Fluttershy made sure of that.”
“You were arguing with Twilight’s brother?” Fluttershy asked as she sat on my right, “What were you arguing about? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Well, we weren’t arguing about anything,” I explained with a sigh, “it was just a misunderstanding that turned into a fight for no reason. I tried to get him to understand, but his jealousy kept him from thinking straight, so I ended up having to set him straight with force…” Fluttershy gasped when she understood what I meant.
“Don’t think about that right now, Ally!” Pinkie said as she hugged my arm and flashed me a smile, “Just forget about that big meanie! Twilight said she’ll take care of him, so cheer up! I thought you might be feeling down, so I brought some cake with me for when I found you!” From behind her back, she pulled out a half eaten cake that instantly grabbed my attention.
“I-is that…” I started as I stared at the familiar dessert, “red velvet?”
“Yeah, with lemon buttercream frosting. Why?” she asked before losing her smile, “You don’t like this kind of cake? I was trying out new recipes and this is the freshest thing I made.”
“Can I try some?” I muttered, my eyes never leaving the red pastry.
“Of course!” she replied as her normal attitude returned, “Fluttershy can we get some pla-” Pinkie stopped her request when she watched me stick my fingers into the cake and scoop out a big piece. The two watched me with great interest as I took a bite of the cake and tasted it. After a few moments of me chewing, my head dropped.
“What’s the matter? You don’t like it?” Pinkie asked and I didn’t respond right away, “You don’t like it. I’m sorry Ally. If I’d known, I would have brought-”
“It’s fine, Pinkie,” I interrupted, “In fact, it’s better than fine. It’s fantastic. Reminds me of my grandma’s red velvet.” I continued to eat the handful of spongy goodness as a tear rolled down my cheek and into the cake, but thankfully neither mare saw.
“That’s great! Have as much as you want!” Pinkie said as she set the cake down and cuddled up to me, “I want you feeling better as soon as possible!”
“How about I make us some tea?” Fluttershy offered.
“That’d be nice, thanks,” I replied before she trotted off to the kitchen. A minute later, she returned with the hot drinks and we sipped on them as we ate cake. For the most part we were silent, with Pinkie being the only one making noises when she ate out of my hand and giggled when frosting got Fluttershy’s or my face, and that lasted for about an hour before I passed out again.
I don’t know how long I slept the first time, but when I woke up from my second nap, it was well after midnight. As much as I like being around these two, I think my negativity will affect them if I stay any longer. Quietly and carefully, I slid the sleeping ponies off of me before heading to the door. Right before I reached it, I luckily noticed Fluttershy’s little bunny standing in front of the door with its little paws on its hips before i stepped on it.
“Oh, hey,” I whispered as I kneeled down to the pouting rabbit, “you’re Fluttershy’s rabbit with the ironic name I forget.” I stuck my finger out at it and it sniffed it for half a second before biting me.
“Ow,” I said lamely as I lifted my hand and the rabbit dangled off my finger, “right, your name’s Devil, isn’t it?” At that, it’s bite tightened, slightly increasing my pain.
“I’m just joking. Sorry for taking your spot on the couch, but it’s free now, so sleep away,” I said and it let go before hopping over and onto the couch where it cuddled up to Fluttershy. With a slight chuckle, I opened the door and left the cottage, heading for who knows where, but within a few minutes I found myself back at the place where I fought with Shining. There was almost no evidence of there being a fight except for the few craters Shining made and the trampled grass from my rolling around.
I sighed as I waked through the battlefield and up a hill where I sat down against a tree and looked up at the night sky.
“Huh. There really is a mare in the moon,” I said out loud as I looked at the large and bright moon, “but damn, it’s a beautiful night. Sky back home doesn’t look nearly this cool… It’s almost enough to make me stop feeling sorry for myself… almost. If I had my music, I would have been feeling better ages ago… I kinda wish Celestia was here…”
So, I don’t know if I wished on a shooting star or something, but right after I said that, one of the stars I was looking at suddenly flashed, making me blink. When I looked back at it, I saw something coming out of the sky, aimed right for me. I only had half-a-second to think about reacting before the thing landed a few feet in front of me, making me cover my face from the flying rubble. After waiting a few seconds for the dust to clear, I found Celestia standing in the small crater she made as she dusted herself off.
“…Celestia?” I muttered as I looked at her with my brows raised.
“Alex! It’s been too long!” she exclaimed as she trotted over and hugged me before kissing me deeply, “How have you been?”
“Uh,” I mumbled as I looked over the solar princess before shaking my head, “not too great, honestly. But what are you doing here?”
“I heard your heart call out to me,” she replied mystically as she sat down next to me, “I could feel that you’re in pain.”
“Really?” I asked as I slouched over, “God, is it really that obvious?”
“Well, maybe my sister also told me how your dreamless sleep might mean something’s wrong,” she added before looking over the battle damaged area, “but I do see something happened.”
“Yeah,” I sighed, “I may have gotten into a little fight…” I scratched my cheek, forgetting it was bandaged and wincing from the pain.
“Who did this to you?” Celestia asked, her voice filled with worry as she turned my head towards her.
“Uh… Shining Armor…” I’ll leave Spike out of this.
“Shining… Armor?” she repeated as she lifted the bandage making me flinch and looked at my wound. I saw her eyes widen for a second before her head fell.
“What’s wrong?” I asked weakly as she stuck the bandage back on and stood up, “Where are you going?”
“I’m just going to have a little talk with my captain,” she said as she started to walk away and as she did, the hoof-prints she made in the grass burned and smoked.
“Celestia, please don’t,” I said as I grabbed her tail, making her stop and look back at me, the rage in her eyes extremely obvious. To be honest, seeing her get that angry for me made me feel a little happy, but I knew it was unnecessary.
“Relax, I’ll take care of it before I leave.”
“Leave?” she questioned as she sat down again still pissed, if the amazing amount if heat coming from her was anything to go by, “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know… someplace far away from here at the very least…”
“Why? What’s made you want to leave?” she asked worriedly as her anger died out, “Why not just stay with me at the castle. I’ll make sure nopony ever hurts you again.”
“As much as I don’t want to leave, I did make a promise,” I replied as I thought back to my first day here.
“What promise?”
“That I wouldn’t hurt anyone while I was here,” I answered as I hung my head, “not only did I physically hurt and threaten to kill Shining, I hurt Princess Cadence in a way that no punch could… but I guess I could come with you, since the deal was for you to throw me in the dungeon when I broke my promise…”
“Hmm,” the princess hummed in thought, “well, you might not have to do any of that.”
“What do you mean?” I asked weakly.
“Well, maybe you did break your promise, though I’m sure it was for a good reason-”
“That’s debatable,” I interrupted.
“Regardless,” she started as she nudged me, “the agreement is no longer in effect since Twilight technically contacted me before your fight with Shining happened.” …Huh, she’s right…
“I guess, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about almost killing the guy, not to mention how bad I’m sure the princess is feeling…”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said, making me look up at her smiling face, “from what I understand, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Shining seems to be quite the jealous stallion, but Cadence has dealt with him before and when I last saw them at the castle, she was taking care of him.”
“I see,” I muttered, feeling a little better, “I guess I’ll stop worrying about him then… I still feel bad for Cadence though, having to see all that…”
“She’s a strong mare, I’m sure she’ll be fine as soon as she sees you’re alright,” Celestia said a she nuzzled me.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said as I slowly sat up, “jeez, I don’t know why I was so upset about this.”
“It’s fine. It just means you care about those around you, a trait that I wished a lot more of my ponies had. But are you feeling better now?”
“Much. Thanks,” I said as I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, “the only thing that would really make me feel better is my music, but I left my phone somewhere in the castle.” When I said this, Celestia blushed slightly before suddenly standing up and taking a few steps away from me.
“What’s the matter?” I asked after she stood with her back facing me for a while.
“N-nothing,” she stuttered before facing me, “it just so happens that I have your device with me.” As she said this, her horn glowed and my phone floated from behind her.
“Awesome!” I exclaimed as I held out my hand, “Can I have it back?”
“Uh,” she muttered as she looked back and forth between my phone and me, “o-one moment.”
“Uh, sure,” I replied. She then proceeded to turn on my phone and unlock it by pressing her nose to it.
“How?” I muttered to myself as I watched her wing swipe and poke the screen before a song started playing, “…W-what’s going on?” As I sat there and stared at Celestia, she floated the phone over to me where it took me a few tries to grab it in my confusion. When I did, I noticed that the moon and stars seemed to glow a little brighter as some clouds floated overhead and made a small hole that casted a bright light on the princess.
“I, uh…” I mumbled as the music seemed to get a little louder. I quickly looked around the area to see if anyone else was around, but sure enough, we were the only ones. When I looked back to the princess, her blush seemed to get a little deeper as she desperately tried to keep eye contact.
“It might not be, the right time.
I might not be, the right one.
But there’s something about us, I want to say.
Cause there’s something between us, anyway.”
…I think she’s trying to tell me something…
“I might not be, the right one.
It might not be, the right time.
But there’s something about us I’ve got to do.
Some kind of secret I will share with you.”
During that second verse, she sauntered up to me and sat right in front of me, the moonlight spotlight growing to cover both of us.
“I need you more than anything in my life.
I want you more than anything in my life.
I’ll miss you more than anyone in my life.
I love you more than anyone in my life.”
“…Uh,” I muttered as I looked down at her still blushing face as she rested her head in my lap and the music finished playing, “I… that was… what was that?”
“W-well, I,” she stuttered before clearing her throat, “I remembered how much you like your music and how it’s the only thing you have from your home, so I thought this would make you happy. Was… was I wrong?” I stared at her for a moment before covering my mouth in a lame attempt to hold back my giggles, but failed when the laughter came full force. In the middle of my cackling, I caught the sight of Celestia’s red and puffed up cheeks before she tackled me to the ground.
“Are you laughing at me?!” she demanded as she held me down, “I thought I did pretty well considering I only practiced twice before this!”
“N-no… I’m not,” I choked out in between chuckles before taking a second to calm down, “no, I’m not laughing at you.”
“Then what's so funny?” she asked again, her cheeks still red and puffed making it hard for me to stop giggling, so I pulled her into a hug.
“Nothing, I guess. You just surprised me is all,” Rainbow Dash? “and it was a pleasant surprise. I feel so much better now, thank you.”
“Oh, well I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said softly as she relaxed under my embrace.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what made you pick that song?” I asked as I watched the clouds and sky change back to its regular beauty.
“I just felt that it got my point across the best,” she answered simply.
“Ah, got it,” I don’t think she could have been anymore obvious, “and it wasn’t half bad, especially since it’s one of my favorites. I wouldn’t mind hearing you sing again.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. At least, not by myself,” she said a she slid off of me and sat up, “I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but that was by far the most embarrassing and nerve-wracking.”
“Hmm, never would have imagined the great Princess Celestia would be nervous about anything,” I teased as I too sat up, “but it’s cool. I’ll sing with you next time.”
“I’d like that,” she said before leaning her head on my shoulder. We sat there in silence, staring at the little light show Luna put on for a while before I eventually passed out for the third time in recent memory.
Next Chapter: Chapter Six: Harems, Huh? Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 53 Minutes