Chapters Through the Skin of my Teeth
This is so painful. ...What happened to me?
It is excruciating. I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my breathing anymore. I can't move, either. I can't open my eyes at all, no matter how hard I force them to. Trying only makes it worsen, like someone is shoving a sharp, hot needle through my eyes...!
What happened to me? Why does this hurt as much as it does? I can feel my blood going to my head and escaping my body.
“Sillabus! Sillabus! ...Where are you, brother? Sillabus!!”
Is that someone calling in the distance...? I can't tell who that is.
Just how long have I been in here?
It feels like an eternity since I've been feeling nothing else but a massive, crunching weight over me, making it impossible for me to move. ...I can feel the pain escape my limbs. I can feel my body relax.
I can't smell anything other than the thick stench of iron, filling my nostrils and mouth with its taste. Drowning me. Choking me.
N-No. I don't want this, this is scary! I don't want to die! Help, anybody, please! Anybody... I don't want to die!
I don't...
“Hm? It came from over here, didn't it?”
Wait. What's that noise...?
The rustling sound of leaves being crushed under someone's weight broke the silence completely as he tried his best to listen to it, but he couldn't. His ears didn't work as well as he would hope as that sound got closer and closer.
“Ah! Wha-- What the...? Oh, sweet Celestia, what happened here?”
He couldn't understand it at all. His mind was a massive disarray of different noises and a sharp buzz that wouldn't stop banging on his ears like war drums.
“Urgh! This' gonna take forever to clean up. What they hay were those things doin' here last night? W-Whoa, Nelly! What the hay?!”
He could feel something was there. Something warm was touching his face. His bloodied fur.
“It's a wolf! And it's still alive?”
Don't touch me. Don't hurt me anymore...! I don't want to die!
He felt it prod him harder as his thoughts returned to him shrouded in a panicked haze. He tried to move, but he couldn't. He tried to open his mouth to launch a barrage of insults and venom at whoever that was, but it was impossible.
“It's dyin'. ...What do ah do? Oh Nelly! Ah can't leave a poor fella like this! Ah just can't!”
And then, the unexpected happened.
WHAM!
The weight was literally kicked away from the wolf's back with indescribable impact. He opened his eyes with the shock in what felt like an eternity allowing the sunlight to burn through them, forcing them shut again in pain. His ribcage readjusted itself violently with a snap to the fact the massive weight wasn't crushing him anymore, and he fell on the grass with a solid, agonizing thud. He was free.
He gasped furiously as the hysteria finally caught up to him. He tried to scream, but his voice wouldn't come out. He tried to cry, but he wasn't sure if he already was. Only thoughts of the massive agony ripped through his skull as he breathed in as hard as he could, swallowing blood and dirt in the process, panic taking over him even more than it already had. His body was now shivering in the grass uncontrollably.
"*Cough*! *Cough*! "
“Hang in there, partner! Ah'm gonna save ya! Come on, up you go!”
He felt something fierce grasp him. Raise and carry him. In the blank haze of his mind, he pressed his jaw on the warmth's back as hard as he possibly could, tasting even more blood as he felt the last few straws of his consciousness fading and dying.
“Ugh! Hey! Don't bite me, ah'm tryin' to save you! Don't stress yerself no more, you're safe now!”
...He couldn't listen anymore.
“Hey! Hey, come on! Stay with me! Hey! HEY!”
“Well. ...I dare say that this was a miracle, no less...” Nurse Redheart claimed with an audible tone of disbelief as her face distorted into one of pure confusion at the orange-maned Earth Pony in front of her, who simply replied with a rather silly grin of her own. “A rather confusing and unbelievable miracle, as unbelievable as they can be, even.”
“Ah'm sorry, Miss Redheart. Ah caused you trouble again...”
“Why are you apologizing? You did something good, Applejack,” she said before pausing for a brief moment, as if she remembered to add more to her sentence for the sake of doing so. “...As good as rescuing a carnivorous wild beast from the clutches of death itself can be, that is. I wonder if that can be considered a miracle. Or if it's a self-destructive suicidal act. I'm still trying to guess which it is.”
“Oh, so you claim that saving a life isn't something entirely good in on itself? For shame! That, coming from a doctor!”
And their banter was soon cut off by the rasp male voice from the nearby table, his call muffled from the apple pie he was still trying to properly swallow without choking on it.
“That would be somewhat alarming, except for the fact I'm still alive! So I think I can deal with that.”
“And you have to be the most tenacious creature I've ever seen in my entire life, Mr...?” Redheart politely asked while looking at him at a reasonably safe distance. He let go a small chuckle as he finally swallowed the pie, and smiled back at the nurse with a sufficiently toothy grin.
“Sillabus. And yes, I'd like to think that I've been extremely lucky. Really, unnaturally lucky.”
“No kiddin'! Jus' by lookin' at the way Applejack brought you here I thought you were in the last straws of yer life, Wolfling!” a gangly old voice, still filled with energy despite its owner's old age, bounced off the kitchen with enthusiasm as Granny Smith could be seen straddling through towards the Wolf with yet another apple pie on her back, placing it on the table with a swift move from her backside that quite frankly she shouldn't be able to do anymore. “And now you've waken up with such a ferocious appetite to boot! It's been a while since ah've treated a visit like this!”
“Eeyup.”
And with that, a hearty and yet rather emotionally confused and worried laughter could be heard coming from the Sweet Apple Acres, at least a dozen hours later after Applejack brought back a bleeding, half-dead creature from the Everfree Forest on her back, panting and sweating as a bite wound on her back throbbed and bled through the exercise and effort she put herself through.
She had no idea why she did it. Before her, sitting by the table, was a wolf. A wolf that was barely as big as a pony was, but still a wolf. Covering his whole body was a completely gray stream of bright fur except for his paws - who were as black as charcoal - and the visibly white collar of fur that stretched from the back of his neck all the way to his chest, sitting on the chair in a way that made it seem like he was enjoying the fact he was capable of doing so way more than the usual.
When she found him, he was a mess. A rather massive tree and the debris of a small wooden building that Applejack did not recognize were both collapsed on top of his frame, a gashing wound on his torso and face were both bleeding at an exceptionally fast rate. Somehow, he was still alive and for some reason, Applejack kicked the tree out the way and pulled him out of that wreck, bringing him back to the farm so they could nurse him back to health. So that's exactly what Nurse Redheart did as soon as Apple Bloom stormed through the hospital, shouting and begging for help at short but increasingly rapid bursts, nearly dragging the closest pony she could find that looked like a doctor out to the farmstead.
“You were lucky, ah'll give you that much,” Applejack said with an interested look as he took yet another large bite out of the pie that was by now, half-devoured. “Very few would survive havin' their back crushed by a tree. And a house. And a few bits of broken rock.”
“I don't think that luck alone saves a life,” he said with his mouth still half-stuffed with food. It took a few seconds of silence for him to properly swallow that what he was trying to. “Though I like to believe it's the kindness of others that saves them, when they find themselves in the need of such. Even if they do not deserve it. Not from the one that actually saved them.”
And with that, Sillabus finally stopped eating.
He took a long, drawn-out breath as he launched a gaze at the Earth Pony, and his eyes fell upon the gauze Applejack had strapped onto her back, close to the base of her neck. Right where he bit her. ...It didn't look like a big wound, but it was possible to see it through the gauze and bandages... And looking at it made the wolf more nervous than he should be.
He lowered his head to face the ground, taking a few seconds of complete and utter silence before muttering another word to her. Almost as if he was ashamed to do it.
“That wound. Does it hurt?”
“What, this lil' thing?” she said with a joking and strong tone as she moved her front hooves around slightly, almost as if stretching. “You were passin' out from pain, and you were bitin' anythin' that came two steps too close to yer teeth! Ah had worse by jus' doin' my job, y'know.”
“So it does hurt.”
“A little, yeah. Doesn't surprise me that it does, right? It's a wound, so it hurts. It's obvious, ain't it?”
“Still,” he quickly interrupted her without even moving, completely static. “That doesn't change the fact that I hurt the one who saved my life. ...You knew exactly what I was when you chose to do it. You saved a wolf's life, got wounded for that... And you say you don't care?”
“Like ah said, ah had way worse than a bite wound from a near-dead wolf already! Uuuh... Ah'm not gonna turn into a monster for that, am I? Just askin'!”
“No you won't,” Nurse Redheart answered with a small cough, still not looking away from Sillabus, who was now facing them directly. “Mr. Sillabus is surprisingly healthy and rid of diseases for a wolf. You won't get sick from that wound, if that's what you asked.”
“That's Applejack for ya! Heh heh heh!” Granny Smith let go yet another gangly laugh as she was now sitting close to the door that lead deeper into the house. AJ simply chuckled in response.
“Well, so that's that ah guess,” the Earth Pony claimed as she looked at the Wolf yet again. “Ah guess that wound ain't gonna stop you from goin' back home, is it?”
“...I don't think so, no. But I won't.”
Sillabus' claim made every pony in the room stop and look at him as if he said something extremely daring. He coughed slightly in an apologizing manner as he crawled out of the chair he was in, looking at Applejack straight in the eye as he did it.
“I mean... What I mean is that... I don't feel that would be right. I mean, y-you saved my life. That's not something I've been taught to simply shrug off as a mere act of heroism . To turn my back at what you've done and not repay you, especially after I've bitten you in my delusional state? Even after I hurt you? I cannot think of something more offensive than that!”
Applejack blinked. She didn't think that she heard him properly at all.
“You... What you said? You want to repay me?” Applejack asked with a small cough, Sillabus raising his head almost immediately in reflex to the question at hand.
“Y-Yes! In any way I can! ...Considering. I don't know what I can do, but...” Sillabus stopped talking as Applejack rose a hoof, portraying a massive scowl that she would normally shoot an enemy.
“L-Look. Ah appreciate yer good-will, Sillabus. But ah can't accept it. Ah did it 'cuz I wanted to. There's no real, deep meanin' to jus' doin' what's right.”
“And there is a real, deep meaning for me to repay you what you just did!” he replied almost in a pleading tone, making Applejack step back once in pure surprise from his reaction. “You saved my life ! This is no small thing, at least not for me! I would never forgive myself if I didn't repay you for what you've done! 'Tis is the way of my clan - an eye for an eye!”
“Uuh...” Applejack took a long, deep look into the wolf's eyes then, as she threw quick glances at the ponies present in the room with her, almost as if pleading for them to help.
She had no idea what to do. A wolf, asking her to repay her for saving his life? Certainly, a reaction like that was somewhat expected, but it still took Applejack by surprise. She would never expect someone to actually say such a thing to her. A wolf, no less!
Applejack's eyes fixed themselves on the Wolf as both Granny Smith and Big Macintosh traded looks of devoted confidence between themselves and the Earth Pony, leaving matters into her own hooves. Seeing as how the decision was hers to make, Applejack rose a hoof and patted the floor slightly, taking in a deep, drawn-out breath as she resumed her conversation with the gray wolf before her.
“This is awkward. How you want to repay me, exactly?”
“That... is a good question.” He took a small moment to consider. “I don't have any money, so... M-Maybe I can help around? What do you guys do?”
“Apple Farm.”
“...You run an Apple Farm by yourselves, then.”
“Yup.”
Sillabus pondered upon that fact for a few seconds before scratching his neck, returning Applejack's gaze with feeble determination.
“Right then... I think I can manage, helping you with that. I mean--"
“Hey, excuse me! You do realize you were mortally wounded until a few hours ago?” Nurse Redheart interrupted with a visible look of disbelief and censure on her eyes. “How exactly are you planning on picking apples like this, mister?”
“Well, according to the report you gave me, I have only one broken bone and that's what the bandages around my torso are for!” Sillabus responded in protest at the Nurse, who rose an eyebrow in objection. “O-OK, I am still really hurt, I agree. But I really want to help! Is that really such a bad thing?”
“Yes it is, especially when it gets my patient killed!” Redheart protested yet again, this time raising her voice slightly in an authoritative tone. “You were not even supposed to be standing up right now. The only reason I let you is because you wouldn't stop complaining about the fact I wasn't letting you!”
“Some pony saved my life and you want me to not even say thanks to her when I so obviously should? Thanks for saving my life, by the way. That was very noble of you.”
“Don't change the subject! You are wounded, and as the one responsible for your healing I--”
“Eeeh, what a bunch o' doohickey, Redheart miss. He says he wants to help, so why stop him from showing his gratitude?”
Granny Smith's voice interrupted them almost immediately.
She leaned back on her rocking chair as Big Macintosh rushed over to help her, but it wasn't really needed. Her eyes fixated themselves on the ponies and the wolf, gazing at the scene before her with the wisdom someone her age would obviously have. Everyone stopped talking the same instant.
“If he wants to help so bad, ah think it's a pretty big insult not to let him. Who are we to say he can't show us his appreciation? Jus' let 'im.”
“T-That's not the case here, Granny Smith! The problem is that he's hurt, we can't in good conscience let him work at a farm under the condition he's in!”
“Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be, Miss Redheart.” Granny said while gently rocking back and forth on her chair, almost in a hypnotizing manner. “If Applejack looks after him and makes sure he don't strain himself, then I fail to see where the problem is.”
The gold-maned pony confusedly blinked in response to Granny Smith's sentence as Redheart slowly rose a hoof and asked with a slight glint of incredulity on her voice.
“So you claim this is his and Applejack's decision, not mine?”
“That's not what ah said. All ah'm sayin' is that if he wants to help, then that's fine by me,” Granny Smith hissed as she looked at the wolf , responding to his glance of interest with one of her own. “Ah'm sure he's gonna be fine, and if he does stress himself, then that's a consequence he'll have to live up with. How's that sound to you?”
“That sounds perfect – let's go with that.” Sillabus claimed boldly as the nurse looked at him with a scowl once again, making him smile back at her almost by reflex.
Nurse Redheart gave a backwards look at the scene before her. First the wolf was being stubborn about his condition, now Granny Smith was siding with his ridiculous attempt at being medically unhelpful...?
“...I can't believe you actually want me to go with this, Granny Smith. Are you sure on what you are doing?”
“Ah think we can handle one wounded wolf well enough on our own. If anything happens, we'll deal with that then. Everything's fine now, ain't it?”
And that was the ultimatum.
Redheart gave one step back as she let go a heavy sigh. If that's how they wanted it to be, then so be it.
“Fine. I'll let you off the hook, Mr. Sillabus. However! I don't want to see you limping towards the clinic singing my name and expecting me to patch you up if you get yourself hurt again! Do I make myself clear?”
“Well, not really. What if a third party attacks me? Does it still count?” he replied with a mirthful spark of glee on his eyes as Redheart puffed her cheeks in annoyance, patting the ground with her hoof as she turned her back to everyone.
“GOOD NIGHT, MR. SILLABUS! ...Apples.” She said with barely constrained irritation as she threw a good-bye nod at the Apple Family, leaving the farmstead towards the night.
“Well. Now what do we do with you, partner?” Applejack claimed with a more serious tone as the wolf stopped laughing to himself. “You said you wanted to help.”
“Of course. I'm grateful, uh... Granny Smith?” the wolf answered while looking at the elder pony, who responded by raising her eyebrows. “Thank you for this. I'll make sure you don't regret it.”
“You should be sayin' that to Applejack, not me.”
He smiled at her as he immediately turned around to face his savior. Applejack returned his look with one of her own, analyzing him from top to bottom at a hoof's distance.
“If yer bein' honest about this,” she said with a low, fierce tone. “then ah don't see why not.”
“Why wouldn't I be honest about repaying the one that just saved me? That sounds like terrible business practice,” he said while averting his gaze slightly from Applejack's, looking at the wound he gave her once again. “Though you are right to be suspicious about that. I mean... Obvious reasons are obvious enough.”
“Do you mind me askin'? Why are you so intent on doin' that? Ah said ya didn't have to do nothin', so why even bother?”
Sillabus pondered upon her question for a moment, scratching the back of his neck in wonder. Almost as if he himself wasn't exactly sure how to properly reply.
A rather comforting moment of silence took place as all Applejack did was simply look intently at him as she waited. And so he rose his eyes, meeting hers directly once again.
“Because even if you said that, at least I can say that I tried.” He said with a clear look on his eyes as the earth pony before him blinked, paying attention to every word that he said. “It might have come out of nowhere for you, but we wolves have a... We have a rather strong sense of duty and community. If we walk with the Clan, the Clan is our life. If one of us is in trouble, we risk ourselves to help. If we have been saved, we give our lives for the one that saved us. There are many more dangerous creatures on the Everfree Forest than us, you know. It's not safe to be alone.”
“That's understandable.”
“That, and there's the fact you're a pony,” he said without shying away from his usage of words. Applejack opened her eyes slightly, actually rather impressed. “A pony that has nothing to do with our customs. ...You know, the whole 'we eat meat and you don't', thing? It's rather shocking to say it, but there is a clear predatory difference here... making this rather uncanny even for me, I'm not going to lie to you. It all becomes rather uncomfortable to--"
He stopped talking, shaking his head left and right almost as if he was about to say something disgusting.
“Urgh! What the hell am I saying? I'm sorry, Applejack!” he spat his own words out almost as if they were poison, covering his face with his paw in complete self-defeat. “This isn't the right way to think at all! I'm better than this, damn it!”
“...Come on, now. That's just stinkin' thinkin'.”
“No it's not! You... you saved my life. I seriously thought I was going to die back there. After all of that what happened, getting close to thinking that I shouldn't repay you for such a thing...? I cannot for the life of me think of something more offensive than this. U-Unless you don't want me to, no matter what – then I'll turn my back and leave. It's your call after all: forcing anything on others isn't going to make it sound or look any better.”
Applejack pondered about it for a moment. First about the reason he just gave her for wanting to repay her, second about how even a place such as the Everfree Forest proved to have a working community in it. For as unnatural and wild-like as it was.
She didn't really know what was the best thing to do. Declining it, or accepting his offer... Declining it would mean he would go back home, but wouldn't that be an insult to his customs...?
For as young as she was, Applejack knows how to uphold tradition. It's been part of the Apple family for Celestia knows how long, and she would feel unnecessary and pigheaded if suddenly, someone said her help wasn't needed if she desperately wanted to help. That wasn't something that she would take down lightly. She was the most dependable of ponies, after all!
She wouldn't want that done to her. Why would she want to do that to others...? Even if they happened to be a wolf...
“...Fine. You convinced me, so ah'll give you a chance. Rest for a while, and then we can talk business. Ah'll ask you one last time just for the sake of askin': can ah trust you on this?”
He immediately sat down and placed a paw over his chest, puffing it rather pompously almost as if greeting someone from royalty.
“Of course! I swear on my Clan's name that I will not disappoint you! Thank you, Applejack, you won't regret this!”
The earth pony opened a smile at his overdone claim. That would have to do for now, apparently...
“Well, then! I guess you two have everythin' sorted out,” Granny Smith finished as she finally climbed out of the chair. “That will have to do for now. It's also getting' late, y'know”
“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh nodded in response, helping Granny Smith get off her chair which was once again, not really needed.
“It's that late, huh. Ah didn't see time go by at all,” Applejack yawned as she watched Granny Smith make way deeper into the house. “Well then, Sillabus? You can use the bed you were in to--”
The wolf rose a paw, cutting Applejack mid-sentence. Every pony in the room looked back at him as he traded eyes of incredulity with them all, almost as if he took offense to that.
“Sorry, but I can't accept that.”
“Why not? It's a bed we're not usin' anyway.”
“You're already doing more than enough by letting me stay and repay you. Don't let me take up useful space for you, that's extremely unnerving,” he quickly explained while brushing off his frown with the back of his paw. “I'm just going to go make myself comfortable on the grass outside, that's more than enough.”
The golden-maned pony rose an eyebrow, taking a quick worried look at Granny Smith who simply shrugged back at her.
“...Uh. Fine, ah guess. I mean, ain't that a bother?”
“It could be, but I'm pretty sure the grass around here is comfortable! Heh heh heh!”
...That's not what I asked , Applejack thought to herself as the Wolf bid them all good night, walking away from the ponies and closing the farm door behind him as they could hear his weight crushing down the grass under his weight.
And then suddenly there was nothing else but silence.
“Well. That's all bound to get interesting pretty darned soon,” Applejack said as she turned around and started walking towards the aged jade pony, who was displaying an interesting, wide smile at the young-ling.
“Extra help is extra help! Can't get prissy over someone tryin' to get things done, can we?”
“That's true, but... Are you sure that this was such a good idea, Granny?”
Granny Smith faced the pony as she gave the window a quick, beaten glance, looking at the Wolf standing on the grass by the barn, face risen up to the moon with a look of contemplation on his eyes.
“No idea, sugar cube... But that's fine. Ah trust yer' gonna do the right thing. You always do.”
That's also not what ah'm worried about , Applejack thought to herself once again. ...I just have to wonder if doin' the right thing means exactly what says on the tin. An' that's the part that not always works out, ain't it...?
Through the Skin of my Teeth
WHAM
“AAAAGH!!”
...That was the very first noise that could be heard all across the Sweet Apple Acres, as soon as the sun rose from the horizon, bathing the landscape with the warmth of its light.
“H-Huh? W-What? What the hay?!”
Applejack jumped out of her bed in panic as soon as the shrieking yell of piercing pain rattled her eardrums, throwing glances of surprise in all directions, expecting the roof to fall or crumble around her at any second... but nothing of the sort happened.
“What are you doing here, huh? Are you trying to get lucky, runt? Are you? ARE YOU?”
Instead, a very familiar voice came from outside, just as soon as Applejack realized she was now awake. She gave a quick jump towards her window and bashed it open with her hooves, and her eyes fell upon that what was considered by many one of the rarest sights in all of Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash was awake that soon in the morning.
The cyan, rainbow-maned Pegasus was now engaged in a one-sided headlock with Sillabus the wolf, who was desperately trying to escape the grasp of the junior speedster. His face writhed in pain in its purest form, he clawed the grass as he tried his best to get away from his assailant, but it proved to be a complete waste of time. She opened a cocky smile as she tightened her arms even further, pulling him slightly closer to her head in the process.
“So, what's the big idea? Trying to see if you could get easy food, were you?”
“*WHEEZE* ”
“That's not answering my question! Do I have to be more persuasive? Do you want me to get serious? Because I can get serious if I want!”
“W-What? I don't even know what's going on!” he pleaded in a desperate tone as Rainbow Dash kept tightening her grasp, making him try even harder to escape. “Who are you? Let me go! Please let me go!”
“Oh. Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess it's OK in letting you go.”
“...R-Really?” he slowly commented as his head was pulled back yet again, making him whimper in shock once again from Rainbow Dash's assault. “URGH!”
“OF COURSE NOT! Do you think I'm stupid?” she asked with a fierce, demanding tone as the wolf kept trying to kick his way out of the Pegasus' weight. “I'm not asking you again! What were you doing here? Huh?”
“I have permission to be here! The Earth Pony and her family that lives here let me be here! There, are you happy now? Let me go already!”
His answer made Rainbow Dash lighten up her headlock only so slightly so he could get back to breathing properly again.
“Applejack did?”
“Yes! She let me be here, now let me-- KKGHH!” The cyan Pegasus cut him off with her headlock yet again, this time pulling him in even tighter than she was before, making him claw the grass with so much strength he was digging a small hole in the process.
“Why would Applejack let a wolf be around her farm? You're not a very good liar, you runt!”
“Maybe that's because he's tellin' the truth?”
And then Rainbow Dash threw a quick, surprised look at Applejack, who was now standing by them with a look that was mixed with both amusement and scorn, as far as the Pegasus could tell. The Earth Pony opened a smile as she then said something she never thought she would:
“Good mornin', RD. Ah'll be damned, that's gotta be a first.”
“Hey AJ! Look what I caught, snoozing around without a single care in the...”
And then she stopped talking for a good ten seconds. Almost as if she was just now registering previously heard information.
“...You said he is telling the truth?”
“THAT'S RATHER SHOCKING, ISN'T IT? LET ME GO ALREADY!”
“Let him go, Rainbow. It's OK,” the Earth Pony chuckled as her friend sighed and released her steel grip from the wolf's neck, allowing him to limp away from the Pegasus and whine in silence, rubbing his back in extreme doses of hurt.
“...Yeah. What's up with that, Applejack? I'm not gonna tell you what you should or should not do, but a wolf? Seriously?”
“Uuh... It's a lot less complicated than it looks like,” Applejack said as she threw a small glance at Sillabus, who was now whimpering loudly in pain, looking rather cross at the fact his alarm clock was a Pegasus to the face. “Long story short, ah removed a tree from his back, and he said he's thankful. He says he wants to repay me for saving him.”
“Just like that?” the Pegasus asked with an intense glare of doubt in her eyes. “Really? Do you really expect me to buy that he's trying to repay you for getting a branch off his fur? Don't make me laugh...”
The wolf coughed loudly and aggressively as both Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at him, watching him limp towards them and facing the Pegasus like one faces his enemy. She rose an eyebrow to him as he lowered his head slightly, still feeling sharp bolts of pain in every muscle of his body.
“A branch?” he painfully hissed as he tried his best to keep eye contact with her. “She removed a massive tree from top of me!”
“Whatever. So you want to repay her for that, did I hear that right?”
“If you think that this isn't good enough, then I suggest you go kick clouds or whatever is it you Pegasi do. I won't dishonor my Clan by not repaying a blood debt, no matter who the one I owe it to is!”
The Pegasus scowled fiercely at the Wolf as he didn't make a pleasant face towards her, either.
“What are you giving me that look for?!”
“Oh, no reason. Maybe it's because you almost broke my back, again. Thanks for that, I'll remember you fondly from now on for the rest of my life! A most intimate and dear memory of mine, this is!” Sillabus growled with extreme displeasure towards the Pegasus who intimidatingly patted the ground with her hoof, almost getting ready for another charge at the Wolf. Applejack quickly sighed to herself, realizing that if she didn't do anything, they would just keep at it until it got worse.
“So you plan on getting' into a fight? What about you doing what you told me last night? Aren't you gonna work for me, Sillabus?”
“...!”
It worked. He immediately stopped looking cross at the cyan Pegasus, backing away from both ponies a few steps before sighing in defeat, lowering his head towards Applejack in an apologetic manner.
“S-Sure. Whatever you say, Applejack.”
“That's better.” The Earth Pony nodded as she gave her friend a long gaze, who replied with a massive pout of her own. “Rainbow?”
“Whatever, I still don't like this!” she complained loudly as she kicked the ground and into the air, flapping her wings furiously to keep herself at hover. “Do whatever you want, but I'll do whatever I want, too!”
And with that, Rainbow Dash took flight to the skies, diving into a patch of clouds right above the Sweet Apple Acres, making Applejack shake her head slowly in defeat.
“HEY! Just don't cause trouble no more, Rainbow! ...And ah'm supposed to be the stubborn one...” she whispered to herself as she turned around and faced the wolf, who was now giving full attention to the orange pony before him. “You alright? You got hit pretty hard, didn't ya?”
“It wasn't enough to put me out of my misery yet,” he jokingly said as the Earth Pony opened a smile to him without being entirely sure if that was supposed to be a joke or not, giving her back to the wolf and motioning for him to follow.
“Then you'll go slow today. Better make use of the fact ah'm already awake, right?”
“What? Oh, r-right,” he agreed as he proceeded to follow her back to the house in small, careful steps. “You're not usually awake at this time, then?”
“Ah am. Though today was kind of one of those days ah guess. The kind of day you don't expect to wake up to Rainbow Dash wrestling with a half-dead Wolf.”
“...Not a common treat around these parts, I'd wager,” he tiredly huffed as he took another really quick glance upwards, spotting Rainbow Dash's bright colors resting atop a cloud in a very inconspicuous manner. “I don't usually wrestle with Ponies around my Clan either. What a wonderful lifetime experience this was! Truly, a thrill for the ages.”
The Earth Pony chuckled as they finally reached the back of the house, opening a small deposit-like area that the Wolf did not see there the first time he looked. As quickly as one used to their job would, she picked up a bunch of baskets and piled them neatly on top of each other, making carrying all of them an extremely easy task. The Wolf blinked at the surprise at how quickly she was already carrying all of them to what would apparently be Sillabus' workplace for a while and proceeded to follow her posthaste. As quickly as his wounds would allow him, that is. Not very quickly.
The silence that followed was rather strange. Applejack didn't think that she would run out of things to say, but this was ridiculous. Feeling slightly annoyed at herself, she flopped her ears as she finally remembered something that she heard from him.
Better than not saying anything, ah guess.
“By the way, there's somethin' you mentioned today that you did last night, too. What didja call it? A Clan?”
Sillabus rose his eyes to meet the Earth Pony's back as Rainbow Dash popped her head out of the cloud in slight curiosity.
“Yes, I did. Why?”
“It's that ah never heard of that before. What is one of those Clan doohickeys? Is that your family or something?”
The Wolf opened his mouth in pure, complete incredulity as Applejack tilted her head slightly in confusion to his response, wondering if she said something wrong. It took him a few seconds, but he finally snapped out of her question, almost as if he just remembered something completely obvious.
“Oh! Of course you wouldn't know... Urgh. Sorry about that.”
He sniffed the air with interest as he pondered upon her question in silence for a small while. Applejack and Rainbow Dash traded looks of both interest and wonder at this reaction as he finally let go a small cough, looking at the orange pony as if he wasn't entirely sure the would be helpful.
“Hm. Perhaps the most common term you would be using for it would be a 'pack'... But even that isn't entirely correct. Wolves from the same Clan don't always stay in the same pack.”
“So it's like a family?” Applejack asked again. Sillabus denied it with a slight head shake.
“No. We're not always blood-related either. Just like how Earth Ponies and Pegasi aren't always related, nor the same...” He said with a glance of disapproval towards Rainbow's cloud, who clacked her tongue in irritation, going back to hiding poorly inside it.
“...It's kinda like a group, then?” Applejack asked again, making him inhale loudly in denial.
“We are also not made like that. One becomes one of the Clan - it's not the Clan that tells someone who should be in it or not. It's about the individual, not the group itself.”
Applejack rose an eyebrow in confusion. That wasn't making any sense at all.
“That don't make much sense to me. How does that even work?”
“...What does this have to do with me repaying my debt? Can't we just go straight to picking apples?” Sillabus said with a glint of miff in his voice, and Applejack opened her eyes in surprise. They were already at the orchard!
Well, at the very least the trip was made shorter via the power of dialogue! ...Now it was time to get to work, Applejack style.
The Pony happily shone as she was now within her own element. Brightening up like a light bulb, she placed basket after basked beneath the Apple Trees in a speed that could only be described as blurry. The Wolf watched as she placed all of the baskets so fast he didn't even have proper time to ask if he could do something about it, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Applejack patted the ground with pride and claimed loudly:
“Time to get to work!”
“Oh! Uuuuh...” Sillabus opened his eyes in pure shock as he patted the ground nervously, looking left and right without a hint of direction. “S-Sure! Ah... W-What do I do?”
“What do you mean, what do you do ? What do you do while pickin' apples?”
“...You pick them?”
“Exactly!” Applejack said with gusto as she gave her back to the nearest Apple Tree, preparing her frontal hooves immediately after, throwing her weight backwards in a powerful buck and bashing the tree with enough strength to make it shake violently, dropping the apples above with an uncanny accuracy inside all of the baskets around it.
...Not missing even a single one.
Sillabus watched the scene with an expression that bordered the uncanny valley of frowns and admiration. He rolled his tongue inside his mouth for a few seconds, his mind processing the information he had just been fed over and over again, almost as if his brain could not accept nor comprehend what he just saw.
But it didn't last long. He pointed at the tree with one of his eyes half-closed, his head hurting from the war going on inside of his head.
“You just bucked a tree,” he begun to repeat out loud to Applejack, who was now looking at him as if he just said the obvious. “...And the tree dropped all of its apples accurately inside the baskets around it.”
“What, did ya see me sing a song to it?” The Earth Pony mockingly said as he looked at her with a mix of fear and admiration. “Now it's yer turn! Get to it, partner!”
“Eh? Oh... S-Sure. Just... Just kick a tree and watch apples fall. Of course.”
The Wolf sighed in defeat as he approached an Apple Tree with a look that translated directly to this is not going to work at all . He touched it. Sniffed it. Coughed and looked nervously at Applejack, who motioned with her hoof for him to go for it. And he nervously nodded at that.
He gave his back to the tree, preparing himself to... Kick it. He touched the tree a few times with his back feet, getting a feel for the motion. He did it once, twice, three times... And then walked away from it, growling in annoyance at the situation he was in with a bad taste in his mouth.
“This isn't going to work.”
“What? But ya didn't even try!”
“I... I know. B-But I'm not a pony! Do you expect me to kick the tree? I'm gonna break every bone in my legs if I try this!”
Applejack rose her hoof as she prepared to counter his point, but it was a valid one so she put it back down immediately after. Sillabus whined in defeat as Rainbow Dash could be heard above, laughing out loud at that what she just saw.
“Hahahahaha! That's what you call helping? You're such a massive flip-flop! Hahahaha!”
“Hey, Rainbow! That's not very nice!” The Earth Pony complained as her voice was completely ignored by her friend who kept laughing from the bottom of her heart rolling on the cloud like a child on her bed, the Wolf growling in irritation as her mocking voice ringed on his ears.
“Oh, Celestia! This is rich! This is too rich~! Hahahaha! Why don't you try digging a hole? Maybe you'll find some apples you can pick!”
“Stop mocking me, you annoying loud-mouthed donkey!” Sillabus finally turned his face upwards and waved his fist in Rainbow Dash's general direction. “I don't see YOU trying to do anything useful other than pissing me off!”
“Come ON, I can pick these apples in my sleep!” she claimed boldly as she kicked the cloud she was in, taking flight back to the ground and landing with her usual grace. “Unlike you, Rainbow Danger Dash here is a straight up, grade A package of awesome!”
“I didn't mention anything about you picking apples. Why did you think I said anything about you picking apples?”
“Because that's what you're obviously terrible at! Come on, you don't seriously expect me not to make fun of that, do you?”
“Oh, so you can only make fun of that what others are bad at. That might explain why you're not doing anything useful yourself.”
Rainbow Dash's face closed immediately as she spread her wings in a menacing manner at Sillabus, who lowered his head in a similar aggressive way, growling fiercely at the Pegasus...
And then both of them were instantly pushed aside by Applejack, who was now displaying a scowl of her own, glaring fiercely at the two before her who were looking back at her, surprised.
“Enough! This ain't the time and not even the place for this kind of attitude, y'all! If yer gonna get into a fight, then do it where it doesn't get in the way of Applebuckin'!”
“But--” Rainbow Dash resumed talking, but was cut off immediately by Applejack's stern authoritative tone.
“No! If yer jus' gonna get in the way, then please go away! Both of you! Ah don't need you to cause problems where problems ain't wanted!”
And that was that.
The Wolf's face contorted in shame as he stepped back at what he just heard. Him, getting in the way? Annoying her with the fact he was getting into a scrape with her friend ?
T-This is... The complete damn opposite of helping! ...What the hell am I doing?
The Earth Pony's gaze turned him away with extreme displeasure. He lowered his face to the ground, giving his back to both ponies behind him as Rainbow Dash grunted and opened her wings in defeat, preparing herself to fly away again... And then he looked one last time at the closest apple tree, opening his eyes in realization and shock.
...He just had an epiphany.
He rose his head immediately as he approached it, making both ponies look at him, curious. Sillabus took a glance at the leaves, at the branches above... Stepped backwards a few times, lowering the whole front of his body...
And then kicked the grass, jumping up at the tree and climbing uncannily quickly.
“Whoa Nelly!” Applejack exclaimed in surprise as the tree branches begun to rattle and shake, the rustling sound of his movements in it getting louder and louder as the apples finally begun to fall down. Some missing the baskets, some of them not... but all of them unmistakeably falling from it, successfully harvested.
Sillabus let go a triumphant cheer to his own stupidity as his head and torso popped from the leaves of the tree, swinging his arm and punching the last apple from a branch down to the baskets below, looking at his own handiwork with both pride and shame.
“Yes, try kicking the tree, Sillabus!” he mockingly taunted himself as he couldn't believe how simple that was. “It's not like you can climb it or anything! ...What an idiot! Hahahaha!”
“Would you look at that, it worked!” Applejack complimented him with surprise as he jumped down from the tree, landing on the grass and making a face that was filled with pain from the effort he just displayed. “Oh. Don't do that! Yer still hurt!”
“Urgh! Yes, I realized it. Oooowwowow...!”
He complained from the pain, but at least he felt like he accomplished something. A slight feeling of happiness filled his chest as Applejack looked at him with approval, but Rainbow Dash chuckled a little, pointing at the tree with a slightly mocking glint on her voice as she spoke.
“Well done, you did get ONE tree. Anyone can get ONE tree!” she taunted once again, making the golden-maned pony shake her head in censure. “What? It's true!”
“Indeed it is, isn't it? But at least I did it. One tree! How many have YOU picked, Pegasus?”
And then Rainbow Dash finally snapped.
She opened her wings fiercely, flying towards him and shoving her head really close to his face, his irritatingly mocking grin spread all over his face as her eyes sparked with the fury of competition.
“I CAN GET WAY MORE THAN YOU EVER COULD!”
“Oh, really? I'm one apple tree ahead of you,” he sang while scrubbing Rainbow Dash's mane in a patronizing manner, making Applejack rise an eyebrow in confusion as to what the hay he was doing. “But that's OK, you don't have to get annoyed over it. Leave it to the professionals, go back to kicking clouds or whatever is it you do.”
That was the last straw. She spread her wings and arms at the same time, pointing at the orchard as fiercely as she could, almost as if she was pointing at her worst enemy.
“NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! YOU AND ME AND APPLE TREES! Who picks the most is the winner!”
“Oh, you want a competition now? I'm not sure, it's not my place to agree! What do you think, Applejack?” Sillabus sang to her while keeping the same cocky grin slapped on his face. The pony looked at them with interest, raising an eyebrow as she nodded in response.
“That's fine, but don't fight anymore! If Rainbow wants to pick apples, then that's what ah wanna see. Is that clear?”
“Crystal clear, AJ!” the Pegasus cheered as she literally dashed to position, motioning the Wolf to do the same by her side. “Come on! Get ready to eat my dust, buster!”
“I'm shaking, I'm shaking,” the wolf cackled as he walked to position, patting the grass, imitating the mare's competitive position as best as he could...
And it didn't take long for the Earth Pony to whoop behind them, signaling for Rainbow Dash to kick the ground with violence, propelling her towards the trees allowing her to buck them, making apples fall at a significantly slower rate than Applejack did and filling the baskets below. Sillabus did the same in a rather slow, wounded and somewhat relaxed manner – climbing trees, shaking the branches, making the apples fall and then climbing down.
And finally, they started doing what they were supposed to be doing in the first place. Picking apples.
The competition spanned the duration of hours. Applejack, Sillabus and Rainbow Dash were all making apples fall rather effectively. The Pegasus' lack of stamina made her stop a few times during the competition to catch her breath while the Earth Pony's strength and constitution allowed her to just keep on doing what she did best at top speed at all times. The wolf's wounds didn't allow him to work too quickly and he knew it, so he worked at his own pace: slowly, carefully and steadily.
And at the end of the morning, at the start of the afternoon, when the sun was high and mighty in the skies and everyone's bellies bellowed, begging for baked goods... Rainbow Dash was dancing in victory over the wolf, the clearly defeated one by a few dozen trees at least.
“Yeeees!” she exclaimed in superiority as she kept on dancing over her victory against her competition. “How many apple trees did I pick? How many? That's right, thirty trees! Thirty! How many did YOU pick? Oh, what was that? Seven? Ooooh, what a shame! Just SEVEN? I feel so sorry for you! Hahahahaha!”
She was enjoying herself way too much, puffing off her chest and patting it with her hoof in a pompous manner. Applejack merely chuckled as Sillabus made a dramatic pose of defeat, covering his face with his paw as he sang along the Pegasus' streak of superiority, his grin never getting any smaller.
“Oh, truly... I've been soundly defeated! Truth be told, Pegasus – I'm no match for your skill and speed!”
“You can say that again!” she cackled as her wings flapped happily on her back, making her hover slightly above the ground as she kept on smiling and laughing. “Now who's the professional one? Maybe this will teach you to respect Rainbow Dash, you mangy mutt!”
“Oh, my respect has soared sky high, there is no doubt about that. You truly are the champion at Apple Bucking. All of my respect has been taken.”
“Heh! At least you admit it!” she patted the ground with confidence as she pointed at him with a victorious pose. “So you can shut that grin in your face! Go to your corner and sulk!”
“Why? I've done what has been asked of me – I've no reason to sulk.”
“...What?”
“Applejack asked me to pick apples, and that's exactly what I did. Thanks for the help, by the way. You proved to be most helpful.”
“...”
It took a whole scene for Rainbow Dash to finally get what he meant. ...And when she did, she opened her mouth in shock, the wolf's smile getting even larger as he stood on his back legs and started to dance mockingly, his tongue hanging from his mouth as he laughed from the bottom of his heart at her reaction.
“Y-YOU...! You made a fool of me!” she furiously growled at him as he kept on dancing, gradually getting away from her as he did it. “NOT FAIR! Come back here! I ought to grind you into smartass cider!”
“Heh heh heh heh heh! Come on, Rainbow Dash! Where is your sporty behavior?” he sang from the bottom of his heart as she huffed and puffed from being made a fool of. “You still picked more apples than I did, didn't you?”
Applejack let go a heavy sigh as she watched Sillabus and Rainbow Dash going back at it, annoying each other almost as if they secretly were enjoying every second of it. She threw a glance at the work they all did however... And simply shrugged in defeat. She couldn't say that they didn't do their job, could she?
“...Oh, Nelly. Well, at least they actually worked! That's good enough for me, ah guess.”
Now... To bring those apples back to the farm. ...This is gonna take a while, ain't it?
“Well, then! This' the last one!” Applejack whooped as she placed the Apples on their designated place, closing the door of the storage room with a slight kick as she finally saw the working day's end. “Thanks for the help, y'all.”
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh nodded gladly as Rainbow Dash clacked her tongue in irritation.
“Sure, whatever.”
“This is much harder work than I thought it would be,” Sillabus said as he rubbed his back yet again, feeling like he was much older than he actually was. “But I guess it's gotta be done, huh...”
“No kidding! You didn't do even half of it, you dimwit.”
“Rainbow, we've been through this already,” Applejack pointed out as her friend slumped her shoulders in defeat. “But thanks for the help. You did a lot today, even if you didn't have to.”
“Heh. It's cool, AJ. Helping friends is what Rainbow Dash does,” she nodded as she threw another glance at Sillabus, who rose an eye to meet with hers. “...And you! I'm still going to keep an eye on you! I'm watching you like a hawk!”
“...Why? Can't you watch me like a Pegasus?”
She immediately blew him a raspberry as she spread her wings and took flight back to the skies and towards Ponyville, finally leaving the general area of Sweet Apple Acres behind her. The Earth Ponies both laughed in unison as Applejack gave the wolf a slight pat on the back for a job well done... For as much of it that was actually his.
Getting Rainbow Dash to work was sort of ingenious, though. She had to give him credit for that.
“Don't mind her. RD's a bit thick-headed, but she's a nice gal.”
“Yeah, I can tell. Good people tend to attract good friends, or... so I'm told.”
“Heheh! Well, then! Ah guess we earned a bit of a grub, didn't we?” the orange pony sang to herself as both ponies begun to make way towards the house, Applejack motioning for Sillabus to follow them, making him raise both eyes in surprise. “Sillabus? Come on! What are ya waitin' for?”
“W-What? Uuuh...”
“Come on! What's up with ya, now? You think we're leavin' you to feed for yerself out here? Don't be ridiculous.”
“Are you serious? ...I mean...” Sillabus wondered for a moment as Applejack chuckled in surprise at his response, making him open an awkward smile of his own.
“Those that work, get fed! That's the way it works down here at the farm!”
...Sillabus then dropped the resistance, opening a genuine smile of his own as he followed the ponies back to the house, where the thick, strong scent of apples could be felt from all across the fields.
He wasn't sure exactly if that what he was doing was working. He wasn't sure if he was repaying what he owed the ponies properly. But at that time, he was simply glad he finally got to start with something.
As far as I have something to work with... Then I can make my time worthwhile. And that's where things matter the most in the end, isn't it?
Through the Skin of my Teeth
3 - The Wolf that Cried Pony
The wolf Sillabus opened his eyes, slowly blinking in the haze of his own mind as rays of sunlight penetrated his eyelids, signaling that it was already daytime.
He mumbled in irritation as he covered his eyes with his paw, shuffling in the grass as he felt his body complain in pain. He shuffled, and shuffled... But he couldn't fall back to sleep. The wolf sighed deeply in his state and scratched the back of his head in deep frustration.
“Stupid sun...” he grunted to himself as he let go a massive yawn, stretching his limbs as far as he could. “Why did you have to wake me up...?”
Sillabus rolled his tongue all over his teeth as he blinked tiredly at the distance... And as his eyes finally adjusted themselves to the brightness of day, he realized that he wasn't up and running already. It was... late.
As late as late mornings could be.
“Uh?”
He mumbled in confusion as he stood up, looking around him in wonder. Birds chirping, water running... He was in complete loss. It was definitely not as soon as he would have hoped it could be.
The wolf shot a glance at the Apple Orchard but all he saw were the trees. No one was nearby. No one was around. And more importantly, Applejack wasn't there.
“Where's... Where's Applejack?” he wondered to himself aloud as he felt his paws sustain his weight, carrying him over the Sweet Apple Acres. “This is actually rather late, isn't it?”
He stood alone in the middle of the fields, staring at the distance with absolutely no direction. He walked in circles, sniffed the air, coughed and tiredly rubbed his own eyes... Alas, the orange pony was nowhere to be seen. He was feeling extremely confused.
No. Instead of Applejack, he saw a gold, scarlet-maned pony there. Walking around the bushes of the farmstead while... Doing that what seemed like playing with a loop? The small pony with a big, adorable bow wrapped around her mane was focused intently in keeping the loop around her hips, swinging left and right with the accuracy one would have if they had lots of practice with it.
And almost as if he was hypnotized, Sillabus walked towards the filly, raising his paw to his mouth and coughing, making her yelp in surprise and look at him almost as if she was looking at the boogeyman.
“Wah! Hey! Don't scare me like that!”
“...But then all of the meaning would be lost, right? There is no actual fun in that.”
The young filly blinked confusedly as she lowered herself away from him in coy awareness, stepping back while keeping a cautious eye on the wolf, who analyzed the filly from top to bottom.
Her name was Apple Bloom, the younger sister of the pony that saved his life. On the time he's been in the farm so far, he had seen her around the table during lunch, dinner and he's also caught glimpses of her every now and again around the farm - but he never actually traded words with her. Granted, he hasn't even been a whole two days at the farm yet...
But the way she was scurrying away from him seemed a little bit too interesting. He rose an eyebrow in wonder at her behavior as he approached her a little in response to her backing away.
“What's the matter? I want to ask you a question.”
“Applejack says ah shouldn't be talkin' to you,” she shot immediately at him without even waiting too long, taking him aback slightly so. “So ah'm not gonna!”
...Applejack did? Interesting.
The wolf shot a sideways glance at Apple Bloom as he scratched his chin slightly, making her step back even further in response. She looked at him with confused eyes as his face continuously expressed thoughts of interest, delight and ultimately, mischief. He turned around to face the filly directly as he opened a rather large grin, intentionally showing off his fangs as he did.
“So,” he melodically sang as he walked with confidence around the filly, making her lower herself in self-defense. “Applejack said you cannot talk to me? Do you mind telling me why, Apple Bloom?”
The filly lowered her eyes to the ground as she stuttered on her own words. What was up with this wolf? Didn't she tell she shouldn't talk to him?
“Ain't it 'cuz you're a scary wolf?”
“A scary wolf! Oh, you wound me! I'm not scary,” he chuckled as he approached the youngster even more, narrowing his eyes at her as a rather rasp growl could be heard behind his voice. “Though I can be if I want... Do you want that? Do you want me to be scary, young one?”
“...No ah don't.”
He opened a glad, sly smile at the filly as he proceeded to slowly walk around her, almost as if cutting away any routes of escape she would otherwise have. Apple Bloom kept chasing him with her eyes as he chuckled yet again, making her sweat nervously at the situation she just found herself in.
“Well, of course you don't. I am a big bad wolf after all, right? Choosing me not to be scary was good of you, Apple Bloom! You're a good kid.”
His tone of voice was failing miserably at hiding the sheer scoundrel in it. The filly scowled as she kept looking at him, still trying to back away from Sillabus as often as she could.
“But that doesn't mean you should judge others so quickly. There was no reason for you to call me scary, was there? My word, some of us might actually have taken offense to that! But not good old Sillabus! I am better than that, of such I can assure you.”
Apple Bloom still stood there in silence, watching every move from the wolf with intimidation and curiosity mixed in her eyes.
“Well, I am actually a rather well-spoken gentle...wolf as you can see,” he lightly hissed towards the filly who stepped back so much it almost seemed like she jumped away. “So I feel rather protective when I see a young filly so far away from her sister! Isn't it dangerous around here, Apple Bloom?”
“No it ain't. And Applejack ain't far either! She's in Ponyville!”
“Pony...ville?!”
The wolf blinked in surprise as he stopped moving for a few seconds, getting to the conclusion he wasn't hoping to get and bringing his paw to his face, almost slapping it so hard he did it. Apple Bloom yipped in surprise as she jumped away from Sillabus, who now was scratching his head in an exasperatingly annoyed manner.
“Urgh! What in the name of the great Everfree...!”
“W-What?”
“She left for Ponyville! Well, of course she did, right? Now that explains why I couldn't find her anywhere...”
Sillabus grunted in annoyance, dropping from his confident pose completely and sighing heavily, dragging himself away from Apple Bloom. Her confused expression only got even wider as he seemingly lost all interest in her - enough to make her get away from her defensive posture and walking a little towards the wolf in wonder.
“...Wait, ah don't get it.”
“Oh, you... Forget about it. Just...” Sillabus let go yet another sigh as he rested his weight on a nearby tree, laying on the grass and covering his face with his own paw, annoyed. “What the hell were you thinking, Applejack...?”
And then nothing but silence followed for the next few minutes, with the scarlet-maned pony watching the wolf rest by the tree both attentively and curiously.
She stepped closer. Patted the ground. She walked around him at a reasonable distance and then closer... the wolf didn't budge at all. The filly's mind was plagued with energetic curiosity as she approached the wolf even further, and finally caught his attention by rising her voice.
“Yer lookin' for Applejack?”
“Why do you ask? Was I too subtle?”
The filly approached the wolf even further, her initial surprise she received from the wolf was seemingly wholly gone. He opened his eyes to meet her own as her weight crunched the grass around him.
“Well, if that's the case, then why don't y'all go to Ponyville? It's not very far.”
“Yeah! That sounds like a grand idea,” Sillabus lowly grunted as he rose his head from between his paws, still laying on the grass as he complained without budging. “Let the wolf with sharp canines native to the Everfree Forest roam around a town of ponies, freely! Clearly, nothing could go wrong!”
“Well. When you put it that way...”
“Forget it. I'll just stay here and do nothing productive all day. It's not like I have a debt to repay or anything.” Sillabus grumbled in irritation yet again, burying his own face back on his paws. The filly rose both eyebrows in interest.
“A debt? What debt?”
The wolf half-opened his eyes as he launched yet another look at the young one. She wasn't going to leave him alone, was she?
“I thought you shouldn't be talking to the bad, scary wolf? What's about this change?”
“I am a big pony. Ah can make a decision on mah own!”
“Whatever. ...You know what happened two days ago, right? Applejack decided I could stay and help her, in order to repay the act.”
“Oh yeah, ah remember,” Apple Bloom answered as she patted her chin with her hoof, the events of that day coming back to her as she launched a childish look at the wolf. “So... You said you're stayin' to repay her, right?”
“I'm pretty sure that is what I said, yes.”
“Then!” She interrupted him with a strangely energetic voice, making him raise his head from his paws again, looking at the expectant glee on her eyes with curiosity. “Then can you help me, too? Can ya? Can ya?!”
“...No.”
“EH? W-Why not?”
“My duty is to Applejack, and not to her family. I am grateful for the help you all have provided due to circumstance, but I owe nothing to you. There's no reason for me to help.”
His answer made the young filly tilt her head slightly in wonder. He lowered his eyebrows a little.
“Why do ya have to owe us somethin' if we ask ya to help? Doesn't the word 'good-will' exist with them wolf fellas?”
“The Clan doesn't help anyone out of good will. Wolves help themselves, and if circumstance decrees that we help each other, it is always for something in return. That is why repaying debts is so important to us. If the Clan isn't strong, the Everfree suddenly becomes impossible to live in.”
“The Clan? Whatsit?”
Sillabus sighed. He shook his head slightly and buried his face back in his paws.
“...Your sister didn't understand the explanation when I told her. You can forget it.”
“Ah'm not my sister.”
“And that's why I'm not helping you.” He finished in a tone of dismissal that completely failed to meet its point. Apple Bloom pouted as she stepped back in an annoyed manner, still not giving up on talking to the wolf.
“...Sounds more like yer just givin' away an excuse so you won't help.”
“Believe what you will. It changes nothing.”
“What if I tell Applejack on you? That yer' not doin' anythin'?”
“You can complain to Applejack for me if you want. She's the one that left me here without saying anything!”
“Then if you have nothing to do, why not help me with somethin'? At least yer gonna be doing things!”
Sillabus rose his head yet again. This filly was persistent, he'd give her that much.
“And what exactly do you want my help with, Apple Bloom?” his response to her made the filly beam with joy as she nearly pounced on him in excitement.
“You'll help?”
“I don't even know what you want help with!” he grunted in confusion, making the filly walk away from his personal space and sit in front of him with lots of expectation on her eyes, almost as if she reminded herself of something.
“Oh yeah,” she yipped happily as she patted the grass with both front hooves. “What do you know 'bout Cutie Marks?”
The wolf blinked in confusion to her question. Cutie Marks...?
What, did she mean those symbols on their flanks?
“I know little. Aren't those things that what ponies get when they come of age?”
“When we find out what is it we're good at!” she corrected him in annoyance. Sillabus rolled his eyes in response.
“Sure, that. What about it?”
“Ah want help to finding out what is it ah'm good at!”
...The wolf blinked in silence as his eyes took a slide through the filly, landing on the area where the Cutie Mark should be at. Seeing nothing there but her bright, golden coat, he realized the nature of her question and opened a massive, irritating smile.
“Oh, I see how it is, Ms. Blank Flank.”
“H-Hey! That's what ah'm asking help for!”
“I can see that,” he mockingly said as his grin got even wider, making the young filly blush furiously in irritation. “So you don't know what is it you're good at? How does it work?”
“...I don't know too much! Ah'm supposed to find out what is it ah'm good at, so ah can get my Cutie Mark! Ah'll finally be an adult!”
The explanation seldom served to explain anything as the wolf scratched his head in confusion.
“That... Sounds awfully arbitrary,” he muttered in complete loss as he pondered upon the concept for a few seconds. “Can't you just practice a lot in something and then you'll be good at it? Can't you earn your Cutie Mark that way?”
“That would take too long! And ah'm not even sure if it works like that.”
“Of course it doesn't,” he dismissed with disdain. “So you want help to finding out what you are good at?”
“Well, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are both busy today, so we can't go to Crusadin' like we usually do. So I was getting' kinda bored. You're bored too, right? We can help each other out of our problems!”
“What? I don't think it works like--”
“Come on! Yer not doin' anything, anyway! It's better than to just lay down and be miserable, right?”
Sillabus threw a rather hesitant look towards Apple Bloom as he sighed in defeat. That way to pressure others... It seriously sounded a lot like how Granny Smith pressured the Nurse into giving in, or how Applejack was so fierce with him and Rainbow Dash yesterday.
It's a family trait, I guess. No use in denying that now.
“Fine, you won. ...What do you want me to do, Apple Bloom?”
“YES!” she cheered to him giving in as she beamed with childish hope and excitement. “We have to try doin' things! Anythin' ah'm good at!”
“...But you don't even know what you are good at!”
“So we'll find out by tryin'! Come on!” she said as she pushed him away from his spot, making him stand and walk as she kept on pushing him with her. “By the way, what did you say your name was again?”
“I didn't, and it's Sillabus! Hey, don't push me! That hurts!”
And so, the filly managed to push the wolf all over the place, her Cutie Mark hunt started as soon as they managed to find things that she didn't try hard enough yet, or didn't even try to, still. Much for the wolf's chagrin.
Duck feeding, harpoon fishing, wrestling, leaf gliding, tunnel-digging and many more, the filly was relentlessly pushing the wolf around and partaking on crusading with the kind of energy Sillabus didn't have at that point. The fact he wasn't close to being healed yet made it so their progress was slow, but it happened anyway, and he was finding himself in the most random predicament of his life. Helping a young filly to find her Cutie Mark.
...It proved difficult. Very difficult. Not the fact they couldn't find what Apple Bloom was good at, but the fact his wounds wouldn't cut him any slack.
Alas, no slack was had for a very long time. The day passed in a rushed flow of attempts and failures, all with different results and all with no Cutie Mark in sight. What surprised the wolf more than anything, however, was the fact that the filly didn't seem to care. She was having... Fun. Even as she couldn't find what she was good at, she seemed to be enjoying herself greatly.
Perhaps that wasn't a bad thing, after all. She was a kid, right...? Isn't having fun kind of the whole point of it all?
Late afternoon, a few hours after the search for the Cutie Mark started.
“Urgh...” the wolf complained loudly, shaking himself off of the pain and the slime off his fur. “This is unreal... How come most of your plans ends up in both of us covered in tree sap?”
“Good question! ...Scootaloo kind of asked the same question once, though.”
“Maybe you should listen to this Scootaloo more often,” he grunted yet again, rubbing his arm on the grass as he removed the substance from it. “Getting covered in sap isn't exactly sanitary, you know!”
“Stop complainin' like an old wolf! Come on, we didn't try this one yet!”
Sillabus rose his face, his eyes falling over the recognizable lake they were nearby. He sniffed the air once as he saw Apple Bloom hand over to him... A fishing rod. With yet another large, excited grin.
“...What?” he asked with incredulity as she tilted her head and asked the same thing. “That's FISHING! We tried doing that with harpoons already, and it didn't work!”
“But this ain't a harpoon, it's a fishin' rod!”
“No, really? I couldn't realize that on my own, never! Urgh! Where did you get those things from, anyway?!”
“Well, you see – Pinkie Pie have told me where she stashes some of her things, you see? So she told me where ah could find fishin' rods!” she stopped for a few brief seconds in full silence before completing her own sentence. “In case of Fishin' Rod emergency.”
"Fishing rod emerg... What...?"
"Oh, y'all should ask Pinkie Pie 'bout that. She's one of Applejack's friends! Maybe you'll met her one day, I dunno."
Sillabus covered his face with both paws as a fishing rod landed in front of him, making him pick it up and watch as Apple Bloom happily sat by the lake and cast the lure into the water, pure glee emerged in her face as she looked expectantly at him.
He sighed in defeat once again, picking the fishing rod up and sitting a couple meters away from the young filly. He pulled the lure, looked at it and swung the rod, casting it into the lake, seemingly uninterested.
And then, time passed.
Time passed indeed. And nothing happened.
Nothing happened at all. Apple Bloom was already beaming red with anger as she kicked a nearby rock, bellowing from the bottom of her lungs in frustration.
“URGH! WHY WON'T THEY BITE!?”
“...Maybe it's because you keep yelling at them to,” Sillabus said with a monotone, static voice. “Now I doubt that'll happen at all.”
“HHHRRGGH! This is so frustratin' and annoyin'! Ah don't like this at all!”
The young filly launched an angry and frustrated glare at the lake, shaking her head left and right. Her eyes filled with pure disbelief as she watched the wolf not demonstrate even an inch of the same feeling as her.
“How can you stand this? This is so boring! I know ah'm the one that brought you here, but...”
“That is because you have to learn how to exercise patience, Apple Bloom. This is actually rather interesting, when you think about it.”
“...What?”
“You're way too hasty to fish something, and that's why you graze over what's important. Listen up, here. Fishing... Is the ultimate test of a true hunter.”
He took a deep breath as his eyes focused on the lure at the lake, almost as if he was entranced by it. The filly was now paying attention to Sillabus' every word. With disbelief.
“May it be on a goal in life... Or even while hunting your prey. The most important thing you have to exercise is patience. Attacking your prey head-on, or even your goal without being prepared will only make you bump heads with that what you could have avoided if you waited for the right moment. Patience... And execution. Those are two of the greatest everything for success at what you want to do.”
“What?”
“Keep your eyes on the prize... Wait for it to make a mistake... And when it finally does, you catch it,” Sillabus hissed in confidence as he threw a glance at Apple Bloom, who was looking at him as if he was talking in another language. “This is a flawless method to catch your prey. It works on accomplishing your goals, too... I guarantee it. Fishing is no different. It's a trial of your patience and skill at hunting, for it embodies everything I just said with perfection. Perfection, I say.”
The filly threw a glance at the empty space of nothing by his side, raising an eyebrow in dismissal.
“...You're saying that when you didn't even get yourself a fish.”
“True, but I never said I was good at fishing,” he said with a small smile on his face, making the young filly do the same in response.
“...Ah guess that doesn't make you a great hunter either.”
Apple Bloom sighed and grumbled in a strange mix of annoyance and amusement as the wolf chuckled to the answer of the filly. They felt like there was not much else to talk about. Not much else, but to just stay there, and fish.
And without trading more words, they decided in their silence to stay there. Fishing for a while longer, trying to enjoy the exercising of patience...
…
And of course, they did not fish anything. Apple Bloom ended the day slightly more frustrated than the usual.
The day was close to ending already. The sun was setting, the sky was orange by the light of dusk.
Both Apple Bloom and Sillabus returned to the Sweet Apple Acres at that time. It wasn't a day filled with accomplishment, but it was a day nonetheless. The filly skipped across the grass as their eyes fell upon the landscape... And they saw some pony that anyone would recognize from a mile away.
“Applejack!” Apple Bloom called with enthusiasm as her sister opened her jade eyes in surprise, patting her sister's head with a hoof. “Welcome back!”
“W-Whoa there! ...Apple Bloom, what were you...!” she stuttered as her eyes fell on the wolf, whose playful grin made her lower her eyebrows in worry. “What was it that ah told you? What were you doin' all day?”
“It's fine, Applejack. Ah was playin' with him! He helped me to try an' get my Cutie Mark, but...” she said with a glint of disappointment hidden beneath her voice, one that she quickly dismissed with a shake of her head. “It's fine, though. Cheerilee's taught me to be patient! Yep.”
“That's fine, but... What did ah tell you 'bout...”
“About the big, scary wolf that might end up being a bad influence for your small sister, that is? She is more thick-headed than you might think, Applejack. I'm not THAT contagious.”
Sillabus interrupted them with a small cough. The gold-maned pony lowered her eyes and met his right in the center as he sat on the grass while making a rather serious face. She rose a hoof in wonder.
“Yeah? If that's the case, then what's wrong?”
“Oh, I wouldn't know. How about a heads-up? How about telling me where you were going before you actually left? No big deal, right?”
She turned her face slightly as his question took her completely by surprise.
“...Where ah was goin'? Since when that's any of yer business?”
“I'll admit it isn't. You can go where you want, but come on! You could have shaken me and said you weren't going to be in the farm today! Would that hurt to do? I mean, it's not like I have a debt to repay you or anything, right? It's not like I'm committed to this until I'm done repaying you, right? What in the name of the great Everfree were you thinking, leaving and not telling me anything!? That would have been nice!”
All three of them felt a small bit of discomfort in the air as traded looks with each other, almost as if they were trying to read their minds.
“What the hay are you talkin' about?” Applejack hissed in stunned confusion, raising an eyebrow at his small shout-out to her. “Committed? Maybe you are, but I ain't! Ah'm not sure what yer tryin' to say here, Sillabus!”
“I'm not saying anything. All I am doing is asking for a little bit of this commitment you clearly claim you do not have! I can understand you fearing having Apple Bloom talk to me, but seriously? This is almost as bad as if I wasn't even here! I don't know what is it you think of all this, but I'm not your pet, Applejack! I'm not your guard dog!”
A small bit of silence soon followed as he scratched his head in discomfort. Apple Bloom blinked, surprised, and patted the ground with her own hoof as he stumbled around for a few seconds, looking worriedly at both of them with confused eyes.
Applejack was the first one to break the silence.
“...Ah see. That's how you felt with all this? Ah'm sorry.”
“No, it's... It's fine. It's not even that big of a deal in the end. I just got a little bit annoyed, that's all.”
“Same difference. You got annoyed, so you complained. Ah can understand that.”
Sillabus sighed and threw an awkward, thorny glance at Applejack, who did the same thing in return. Their tone of voice wasn't helping any, either. Not in the slightest.
“So you want me to be a little bit more committed to this?” she asked out loud once again, catching the attention of the wolf's eyes. “That's fine. Ah can do that.”
“No pressure,” he claimed in return, raising both paws a little as if to asking her to calm down. “All I want is a bit of acknowledgment from your part. Just a little bit of it. Can it happen?”
“Sure.”
“You certain?”
“Didn't ah say so already?” she snapped back at him as he stepped back from his stance.
Clearly, he had made his point already. That was more than enough for him.
“You did. That was all, really. Thanks for understanding, Applejack.”
“Sure, Sillabus,” she returned with the same tone of slight discomfort in her voice, patting her sister's back with her hoof. “Come on, Apple Bloom.”
“...S-Sure! Aaah...”
She awkwardly looked at her sister and the wolf, who were walking in rather opposite directions. She thought it was all fine...? What was going on?
“Applejack? Ain't he comin' home to eat with us?”
“Ain't he?” she asked without a lot of interest, throwing a glance at the wolf who was walking at a rather odd direction. “Hey! Where you goin'?”
“I'll go get something to eat. Maybe a fish...? That sounds good.”
The gold-maned pony lowered her gaze to the grass as she turned around to walk towards the farm, acknowledging where he was going with a nod. She felt a little bit irritated, though she couldn't take all of the reason away from him at all.
“Applejack? What's the matter?”
“...Ah don't get it myself. Ah pumped a bit o' steam for no good reason, ah guess.”
And so did he. And ah guess we both know that, don't we?
She couldn't shake that feeling out from behind her ear as she looked once again at the silhouette of the wolf in the distance...
Maybe ah should apologize tomorrow. Right now... Ah don't think anythin' we say will get past as a valid excuse. What was that all about, anyway...?
Through the Skin of my Teeth
4 - Argue For and Against
The day started unusually and painfully slowly. The continuously increasing rays of sunlight beamed through the leaves of the trees and bathed the landscape of Equestria like soft strokes of a paintbrush, bringing the usual breath of life upon the roof of Sweet Apple Acres.
With the rise of the sun, the farm was awaken by the crow of the roosters, setting the gears of work back in motion for another day of honest, hard labor. The Apple Family's routine was the same as always in the morning... Get up, make food, eat and then go straight to work. No dillydallying whatsoever.
However, Applejack's routine seemed to come to a strange little twist that particular morning...
“Hello there, Applejack! Good morning! 'Tis a lovely day, is it not?”
For the first face she saw that didn't belong to her family was that of the gray wolf Sillabus, standing outside the house with a rather wide, drowsy grin slapped across his face.
“Uh... Howdy,” she greeted him while pausing for a second, analyzing him from top to bottom. “Well, yer up awful early.”
“Oh, don't mind that,” he replied with a small, dismissing gesture, still keeping the same cheerfully drowsy aura about him. “What matters is that today is the day for you and me! To work, and maybe even work some more! Repaying debts, and all that wonderful plethora of other things Ponies and Wolves like you and I do in our useful, meaningful lives!”
Applejack stepped backwards slightly in stunned bewilderment, contemplating his rather odd behavior with skeptically worried eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, nothing! Please, let us not waste our precious time indulging ourselves in such minor things, Applejack,” he said while once again, dismissing her question with a small gesture from his arms. “We have much to do, yes? Let's get to it!”
The golden-maned pony let go a heavy sigh as he turned around and started to happily walk towards the deposit at the back of the house, almost as if he was dancing. She followed him without saying a word, figuring she would only find frustration if she tried to say anything.
Without too much of a hassle, they collected the apple baskets and brought small wagons with them this time, figuring that since Rainbow Dash wasn't there to get in the way again, progress in the harvest would be much better than before. The wolf looked like he was having the time of his life as he placed the small baskets inside the wagons and helped Applejack - who was still gazing at the wolf in silence - carry them all the way to the orchard.
And so it happened. The Earth Pony found this little trek to end up being eerily quick, as it didn't take long before they found themselves in a rather familiar situation as two days ago; surrounded by trees surrounded by baskets and empty wagons alike.
“Well! Up we go...!” the wolf exclaimed in excitement as he resumed climbing the closest tree and shaking the branches one by one, punching and slapping the stubborn apples to the baskets below. The Earth Pony watched with interest as he finished up the tree and climbed his way down, darting another glance towards her with a strange, drowsy energy. “Hmm? What's the matter? Is there something on my face?”
“...Ah'm not goin' anywhere, ya know.”
Beat.
Her words removed all of the drowsy energy away from his face so quickly it was eery, like they were a brutal slap to the face. The Earth Pony opened her eyes in shock as he let go a massive sigh, looking at the grass with extremely stressed eyes, almost like he had no sleep at all last night. His physiognomy turned absolutely horrible as he rose his face towards her, the sunken sockets that she guessed were his eyes flaring impetuously at hers.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“W-What the hay?!” she exclaimed loudly as he groggily slapped a nearby apple on the grass, making it roll around with no real target. “What's gotten into you?”
“Nothing.”
“Don't go it's nothin' on me now, not after makin' that face 'o yers, mister!” she forced her voice towards him with impact, making him raise an extremely distressed face, sitting on the grass and crossing his arms in complaint. “Yer lookin' like you just swallowed a bunch 'o rotten apples! What are ye so saddlesore about?”
“...”
He stood there in silent contemplation as they just traded looks of absolute incredulity, the image of one another fixed in their own orbits.
“You already said what was it that was bothering me. Are you asking me why just to be nice?”
“Ah'm askin' you why 'cuz there's no way ah can do anythin' about it if you don't tell me what the hay is the problem in the first place!”
“...Makes sense,” he replied without any kind of interest or energy in his voice whatsoever. His tone made Applejack feel a nerve on the back of her head heat up. “I'd guess you leaving me alone here yesterday without saying anything would be a first step towards what the hay would be going on, apparently.”
“Figures,” she rebuked with a rather unusual and forceful tone. “Though ah have to wonder why you keep bringin' it up! Ah didn't think it would bother you that much!”
“What makes you feel that it did? All I've done was make sure it didn't happen again! If you planned on going somewhere today, for example, at least I'd be warned about it! It doesn't hurt to be prepared, does it?”
“Well, ah'm glad you were so prepared, then! Though it's weird that you get so prissy over this! Why did you even bother makin' this such a big fuss? You found a way to kill time yesterday, anyways!”
“What...? I didn't find anything!!”
“Oh, so what do ya call what you'n Apple Bloom were doin' yesterday?” the Earth Pony claimed in a rather accusatory tone, making a nerve on the back of the head of the wolf heat up. “Ye clearly had so much time free in yer paws I bet ya couldn't wait to just find somethin' to spend time on!”
“She practically dragged me around like a toy! Do you think that I followed her around out of my free will?”
“Ah think so, yes! If not, you wouldn't be annoyin' me about leavin' you alone here! Yer must have been SUPER bored, Sillabus! So bored you had to find somethin' else to do, right? Ye couldn't wait to get somethin' done, couldn't ya?”
“I don't have to do ANYTHING other than repaying my debts! Everything else does not matter! Do you think I'm playing a game, here?”
“Ah think yer blowin' way too much steam for no real reason!! Stop pushing yer stuff over others before you start getting' on my nerves, do ya understand me?”
Sillabus stopped talking, as if his tongue was suddenly cut off. He took a quick, silent gasp muffled by the rustle of the grass, swaying calmly at the wind as it suddenly resumed its flow through the fields of Sweet Apple Acres.
His jaw hang agape for a few broken seconds as he sat on the grass, looking absolutely stunned. The Earth Pony rose an eyebrow, still feeling that nerve on the back of her head pulse, constantly reminding her of the feeling of irritation.
“I'm...” he silently voiced as he rose a paw to his head. “I'm forcing this over...?”
Applejack stood at attention, slightly raising a hoof from the ground in wonder.
“What didja say?”
“Forcing it? T-This,” he slowly stumbled over his own tongue, almost talking in a language that Applejack could not understand. “I am forcing you to accept me repaying you?”
“That's what it's feelin' like, if you ask me!”
The wolf's eyes sunk into their sockets like the life was sucked out of them. He breathed in slowly as he rose his face to look Applejack right in the eye, who was still standing strong on her ground like a predator, glaring fiercely at him. He stood there in silence for what felt like minutes, and as soon as Applejack blinked, he rose his frame from the grass.
“What?” the pony asked in an authoritative tone as his eyes made contact with hers again.
“You're right.”
“...Pardon?”
“I said you are right,” he repeated with a strange growl to his voice that Applejack rose an eyebrow to. “I'm forcing it. The way I'm supposed to be repaying you, this...commitment I'm asking of you. You're right, I shouldn't do this. I'm sorry.”
She threw another confused glance at the wolf, who now stood up without any trace left of that strange drowsy energy he displayed in the morning. The image of that wolf now seemed like an odd ghost in Applejack's eyes as she accompanied his frame for a minute, watching him trying miserably to climb a tree, only to fail repeated times.
“Sillabus? What the hay are you doin'?”
“...Picking apples.”
“Ah can see that!” she remarked with an unnaturally sarcastic quip, still scowling at the wolf fiercely. “But why'd you jus' turn yer back like this? Ah'm not done talking to ya!”
“Really?” he puffed through his tired, muffled voice as he finally managed to get up a low branch upwards. “But I am, so I don't care. ...I'll do what's been asked of me, and that's it. That's what you want of me, isn't it?”
The Earth Pony didn't answer as the wolf shook the branches and slowly harvested the apples from the tree, making them fall one by one as expected. She kept on watching him as he crawled his way out of the leaves and down the tree, all while keeping the same damp look on his eyes, almost as if he was working on automatic.
She thew a leer of confusion at his behavior as he didn't look in her direction anymore through his constant work. She whipped her tail around in anger, turning her back to Sillabus and going back to kicking the trees with the expertise granted to her through years of practice – both of them not trading words anymore...
The atmosphere of the orchard suddenly became really uncomfortable. Not even birds were around by the time afternoon hit.
“Sigh. ”
“...Wow. That's gotta be the hardest I've seen you sigh, Applejack.”
“Uh? Oh. Sorry, Twi. Just getting' a bit o' steam off my chest is all,” the golden-maned pony replied with a concerned glance at her lavender unicorn friend, sitting in front of her with a concerned look of her own. “What were we talkin' about again?”
“...About the preparation for the Running of the Leaves? You know, that event that will happen a few months from now?”
“Oh yeah, that. ...The Runnin', of course. What about it again?”
“You mean you weren't even listening to me? Come on, Applejack! You've been spacing out a lot the past two days!”
“...Have I? Can't say ah noticed.”
Twilight Sparkle let go a small, bothered sigh as her horn flared with a light purple hue, making the nearby, massive book shine in the same tune and close on its own. Her eyes set on her apricot friend with a focused, analytical look as Applejack returned her gaze without any enthusiasm whatsoever.
Right after the work at the farm was done, the Earth Pony did whatever was it that she could with her free time. Recently, it's all been to spend time with her friends, or to just be very helpful, overall. She had a trophy on her room for being super-dependable, after all. She polished it practically every day.
However, not even her pride in being helpful was keeping her spirits up at the recent clash she had with Sillabus. His words ringed on the back of her head like how an annoying fly dances in front of your soup when you're trying to eat without expecting it to go inside your mouth, and it was aggravating. She felt the backlash of stress hit her harder than usual, and as she found herself laying on the floor in Twilight's library – right in front of her friend who chose to lay on a pillow instead – she could not bear to pay as much attention to her friend's plans on making plans for an event that she was decided on planning plans for.
Needless to say, the Earth Pony's distress was visible to the naked eye, much for the lavender Unicorn's worry.
“Something's bothering you, Applejack. What is it?” she asked as soothingly as she possibly could, lowering her gaze to try and meet her friend's.
“...Nothin'. It's nothin'.”
“It can't be nothing if it makes YOU sigh that hard. Is it the work? Have you been working yourself to exhaustion again? Is that wound on your back taxing you?”
“No! It's not...”
Applejack stopped talking. She knew Twilight Sparkle way too well for her to believe that her friend would just shrug that off if she said it was nothing. After what happened before? With all her friends chasing her across the border just to know why something was bothering her? None of her friends would take something like “nothing ” for granted that easily.
The Earth Pony let go a small cough as Twilight whipped her tail in mild curiosity, tilting her head as she awaited for Applejack's answer. She fidgeted in place as she patted the floor with her hoof, playing with the words on her head as her jade eyes danced on her half-closed eyelids without something to focus on properly, and it didn't take long before she heard her own defeated sigh, giving in to the silence and raising her face to her friend's level, who still had her full attention focused on the Earth Pony.
“It's not the work. It's who ah have workin' with me.”
“Working with you?” she replied almost as if to confirm that what Applejack said. “What do you mean, a farmhand is giving you trouble? I had no idea you actually even had those.”
“And we don't,” Applejack replied almost instantly before pausing for a beat moment, letting go a small, annoyed cough. “...Well, now we kind of do. That wolf ain't bad at what he does, but the way he attaches himself to my own schedule...! It gets on mah nerves!”
“Attaching to your schedule? What do you mean, exactl-- wait. Did you say a WOLF?” Twilight snapped back at her friend, feeling the sudden curiosity bomb skyrocket through her eyes. “...I don't get it!”
“And ah'm surprised y'all don't know 'bout it already. Ah guess RD's been keepin' herself quiet about this for some reason.”
The lavender Unicorn rubbed her hoof on her forehead slightly as she proceeded to make a rather abstract mental image of the information she was just fed. Applejack stretched out her hoof and patted her friend on the leg as she started to sweat uncomfortably, making Twilight jerk in surprise.
“Whatever is it yer thinkin' about, just stop doin' it. Please.”
“S-Sorry. It's just... How did that even happen? You didn't say anything to us yourself yesterday!”
“I-I know. And it's way less complicated than it sounds like,” she reassured her friend while readjusting herself comfortably again. “He was dyin' from an accident in the Everfree Forest. Ah found him. saved him, and he says he's grateful for it. Now he's workin' for me at Sweet Apple Acres.”
The Unicorn blinked in awkward surprise. It really was pretty simple of a story.
“T-That's it?”
“That's it.”
“I-I still can't see how that would irritate you. I mean, you said he was good at what he did, right?”
“Right,” she replied with a darker, irritated tone in her voice. “And why in tarnation is it that's not all that he does? Why does he have to say I'm committed to his quest to repay me, and why do ah have to keep him constantly updated on what ah'm doin' that day? Ah thought he was tryin' to repay me for savin' him, not tryin' to anchor me to his own debt, as he calls it!”
Twilight rose an eyebrow in bewilderment to Applejack's sudden burst of anger almost as if it was out of place, lowering her eyes to meet her friend's, trying to analyze her irritation as best as she could.
“And that's not all,” Applejack continued with audible anger as she banged the floor with her hoof, making solid wooden thud echo all across the library. “He had the stones to actually ignore me when ah told him he was getting' on mah nerves! He said that since workin' is all that ah want from him, then that's exactly what he was gonna do! Did he even listen to me? By Celestia's flowin' mane, I swear ah controlled mahself just so ah wouldn't knock him upside the head!”
The Earth Pony huffed and puffed in an angry stupor as she caught herself yelling at Twilight, who had her head pulled back with a look of absolute astonishment in her eyes. She blushed in embarrassment as she lowered her head to cover her eyes, whispering barely audible apologies to her friend, who now let go a small, awkward cough, catching the golden-maned pony's attention.
“So... He says you are committed to his debt until he's done repaying you? Did I get that right?”
“Ah didn't ask for him to tag with me the way he did, so ah don't want him to ask stuff of me that's none of his business! Can you believe this?”
“That sounds... rather extreme, true,” Twilight replied while raising a small, unsure frown. She trusted her friend, but she knew just how hot-blooded she could be when she was fed up the way she was... Jumping to conclusions like this would be a terrible idea. “Y-You said Rainbow Dash also knows this wolf? Would you know why she didn't say anything?”
“No. Maybe she figured no one should even bother? RD didn't like him anyways.”
Twilight blinked in wonder as Applejack seemed to open a small, sly grin as she mentioned the Pegasus.
“She didn't like him? Was there a reason for it?”
“Besides him bein' a wolf?” Applejack asked while her friend simply nodded in confirmation, making the Earth Pony widen her smile in response. “He actually made her work on the farm while sayin' it was a competition to see who would get more apples from the trees. You shoulda seen the look on her face when she saw what he did! Ah'm not one to fool people at all, but ah have to say that what he did was pretty clever, actually havin' RD to help...”
The Earth Pony caught herself smiling once again as her expression almost immediately returned to a moodier one. The Unicorn opened a smile of her own as she fidgeted in her pillow for a small while, organizing the bits of information she had gathered until now.
“Seems like you don't really hate him, Applejack,” she confirmed with a small glint of confidence on her voice, if only to give her own statement more weight. Her friend let go a small confirming grunt as she didn't return Twilight's look, making the lavender mare drag herself forward slightly. “But you're mad at him anyway.”
“...Like ah said, he does what he does well. The problem ah have is simply how he don't understand that he ain't supposed to interfere with mah own life.”
“Have you thought about this, Applejack? That maybe he doesn't even think like that at all?”
Twilight's question caught the Earth Pony's attention again as she brought her bright jade eyes up to meet the Unicorn's. She rose an eyebrow in perturbation as she took a moment to think about it. Long enough for her to shake her head, dismayed.
“What do ya mean?”
“I am not claiming that I know what he thinks, because I don't know him at all,” the lavender pony continued as she rose her hoof and pointed at her friend with a small smile lit on her own face. “But it's possible that all he wants is for you to approve of what he is doing. You said he wants to repay a debt of life to you, right? How exactly does one repay such a thing? Does he pick enough apples for you, and then that's it?”
She was met with no response from her friend, so Twilight saw no issue on keep giving her two bits on the matter.
“I don't think that it's that simple. A way one would think is a good way to repay such a debt is to make sure you appreciate the help that it's given to you. How can he make you appreciate his help if you're not around to see it?”
“Maybe somepony could just tell me when it happens.”
“I agree, but maybe that's not how he wants it to be,” Twilight rebuked with another puff of confidence, making her friend frown in amusement. “There's always the possibility, right?”
That's... That is true, ain't it?
“...Yer always surprise me how you can say stuff like that with so much certainty without really knowin' what's goin' on...” Applejack sighed at her friend as she watched Twilight giggle happily at her friend's remark, making her open a wide smile of her own.
“I'm not saying anything! I don't even know him at all – all I am doing is giving my honest opinion to an abstract subject.”
“Honesty is good,” the Earth Pony confirmed with a very satisfied nod. “It always makes up to be excellent business practice.”
Gloom.
The Wolf's mind was static. Frozen. Irritated as he felt nothing but lack of joy on the fact his breathing made too much noise. Noisy enough for him to notice it.
His ears were completely dysfunctional as he rested his head on the grass, laying on its giant sheet of nature, spread around as if he was resting on his own grave. His own motion was that of the very little he was breathing. His fur flowing at the slight breeze of the wind.
...Sweet Apple Acres never looked so gray for him. The feeling of solitude and the harsh words of Applejack banging on his head like a jackhammer made him feel like he was on a cemetery, surrounded by fog and dusk. The absolutely haunted trace of dismay on his eyes were devoid of any light whatsoever.
And he was not alone. He heard the rustling sound of steps on the grassy fields around the house, where he was laying as if expecting the ground to open up and swallow him, but he did not move to see who it was. Not that it was needed, anyway.
“What'cher doin' layin' 'round the grass for, young'n?”
The distinctive voice of Granny Smith came from nearby as the wolf paid her no heed. He was way too bothered to do anything right now, let alone speak.
“What's the matter? Cat got yer tongue, young'n?”
She was greeted with more silence from his part. Enough silence to actually made the aged mare sigh in discomfort, proceeding to ignore him and do whatever was it that she was doing. The Wolf couldn't tell what that was.
The rustling of leather objects and apples in the background soon filed the Wolf's ears as he rose a paw to cover his face, fidgeting on the grass like he suddenly just woke up. He blinked after a period of time that felt like ages, and he felt his orbits burn with the refreshment from the act. It was almost rejuvenating.
“I don't have anything else to do,” he said with a low, grizzled voice, almost like a barely audible grunt. Granny Smith turned around and threw a gaze at the wolf, both eyes focused on his back as he was still lying on the grass, the chill of the grave emanating from like almost like poison.
“What was that, young'n?”
“You asked what I was doing lying on the grass,” he responded with the same tone of voice, not feeling any kind of energy to improve the enthusiasm in it. “That's because there's nothing else for me to do. So I won't do anything else.”
“Well,” Granny Smith chuckled as her eyes fell back on the job she was partaking on before. “Yer not goin' to repay Applejack if all yer doin' is goofin' around instead of workin'.”
“...No kidding.”
His response brought the elder's eyes upon him once again. She placed one of the apples she was carrying back on the pile she was rummaging on, resting her rump on the floor.
“And yer not doin' anything because...?”
“Because there is nothing for me to do.”
“Balderdash! This is a farm, young'n! There's always something to get doin'!”
Granny Smith met her claim with silence, much for the elder's chagrin. She sighed even harder as she resumed choosing apples from the stocked pile, her weary but experienced eyes picking the best ones from the pile faster than any other pony could and adding the good ones on a separate, quickly growing mound.
“Applejack didn't tell ye to do somethin'? Like helpin', for instance?”
“...Applejack doesn't want me to do anything,” he said with a slightly more haunted shake to his voice, almost as if the mere thought of such a thing terrified him. Granny Smith kept on working at the apples, her ears focused on the wolf as best she could. “So I'm not going to do anything.”
“Oh? ...Right after she said she agreed on you repayin' yer debt to her? What happened?”
More silence filled the air as the elder pony opened a small smile, throwing quick glances at the wolf just to make sure she wasn't talking to thin air.
“Did you fight?”
“...I'm not sure.”
“Hah! What kind o' answer's that? Yer not sure if you two squabbled?”
“I don't... All I asked of Applejack was for a bit more effort on helping me repay her. She said she didn't want me to do things beyond that, since everything else seemed to be forcing the fact I'm supposed to do something for her.”
His voice sunk back, almost as if he was speaking into his own throat. He buried his face in his paw as he narrowed his eyes so much he almost closed them, feeling the breeze of the afternoon flow through them like fire.
“Is my life truly this insignificant...? If I am such an annoyance, why even bother saving me in the first place? Why keep me around? I don't get it...”
Granny Smith rose her eyes in shock as she felt her jaw try to open on its own. She watched as the wolf seemed to have stopped moving again, drowning on a question that she thought it was absurd to even consider. ...However...
He was a wolf, coming from a different place in the name of Everfree Forest. He said it was tradition for them to repay their debts as best as they could. But failing to do so, or being told to do otherwise was as good as receiving a death sentence?
“Ah don't think that Applejack meant to say that what you think she said, young'n.”
“...What? What do you mean?”
“Ah mean... Look at where y'all are. Both of you are dealin' with things yer not used to dealin' with. No one here is tryin' to defy anyone's tradition. That's why you agreed to her askin' you to back down, ain't that right?”
“Y-Yes. I mean...”
“Applejack's a stubborn girl, so maybe she said somethin' blunt and that might have shocked ya. But think through her point of view for a spell. Do you really think she don't appreciate yer help? And even if she didn't, don't ya think that guessin' that she don't value yer life to be a tad extreme? Ah don't understand how yer culture works, but that is just unreasonable.”
“Maybe it is,” Sillabus grunted as he finally moved from the position he was in, feeling his blood flow to his head as he sat on the grass, his vision going black for a small, split moment. “But the great Everfree isn't really a forgiving place. Helping the Clan and repaying debts to it is that what makes us actually survive amongst the larger, stronger species. If I can't manage to repay a debt... I suddenly become the anchor that drags the Clan down. My presence loses all of its meaning.”
“So you value loyalty to yer cause more than anythin'?”
“...Uh, yes.”
The Wolf suddenly felt a massive weight fall on his side on the grass, making him jerk sideways in shock and look at the bag of apples that quite frankly seemed to have spawned from thin air. He rose his face to watch the elder Earth Pony open a unusually energetic grin, carrying saddlebags that looked way heavier than she probably should be carrying.
“Isn't that a little bit too heavy for you?” he commented as she marched with a strange elegance with the cargo, seemingly unhindered by her age. “These look heavy...”
“Don't they? They are a bit heavy, so please be a darlin' and carry those things for me, will you?” Granny Smith chuckled as Sillabus's expression grew more and more stunned, watching the aged mare point at the apple bags by his side with enthusiasm. “A young wolf from the forests won't have a problem carrying those bags for me, right?”
“...B-But Applejack said--" he started talking with a small stutter, but he couldn't finish his sensence, being interrupted by the mare's irritated voice.
“Aagh, ponyfeathers! Why do y'all have to make things more complicated than it needs to be!?” Granny Smith complained harshly while giving the wolf a good nudge on the head making him back away in surprise. “Y'all like to moan and complain about how things don't go the way y'all want, but when it comes to makin' things right you never do what you gotta do to make it happen!”
“W-What?”
“You said you value loyalty to yer cause, right? That's all good and honorable, but that will you do if you find yerself in the situation yer in? Do you want me to play ya a song in the world's smallest violin?”
The Earth Pony's claim made the wolf step back, perplexed, keeping his eyes fixated on hers in such a way he found himself trapped in her leer, almost like she was hypnotizing him.
“T-Then what am I supposed to do? Confront Applejack? S-She's the one that saved my life! I don't want to do anything that might disrespect her!”
“But that depends on both you and her, not me, whippersnapper. Me? All ah want is some help to bring those bags back inside. Are ye helpin' me or ain't ya? Didn't you hear? Those who do good are appreciated by others.”
And that was it. Granny Smith opened a wise and fun-loving smile at the wolf, who now was looking at her like he was still processing that what he just heard, watching her signal him to follow her to the storage area in the back of the farmhouse. His mind stormed with thoughts as he stuttered in place awkwardly before raising a bag from the ground, feeling a sharp, annoying pain strike his back like a reminder of the reason why he was at the farm.
Those ponies were so odd. They always replied in ways that made him wonder what kind of differences did they have exactly. They lived completely different lives than he did... Lives that were not under the great pressure of the Everfree Forest; lives that rewarded you for helping others for the sake of doing so.
Perhaps... There is much more for me to learn in this place than I gave it credit for?
...No.
Of that I am certain. There is no doubt about that anymore.
And so, carrying bags with a wounded back proved to be Sillabus' greatest enemy so far. That, or apple bags. He could not tell.
