Tiger Bloom

Chapters

Part One: The Filly with the Pink Ribbon
Part Two: The Dragon's Lair
Part Four: Caught in the Carrion Crow's Craw
Part Five: The Past Returns
Part Six: Reunion
Part Seven: The Reverse of the Medal
Epilogue
Part Three: Among the Blue Petals

Part One: The Filly with the Pink Ribbon

Tiger Bloom

Part One

They say cats have nine lives. I have six spares if that is the case. The end of my first was the most painful, but no, I can’t think of that; not right now at least. Instead I will tell of the story of my second life, and my death.

My first memory, or rather the first memory of my second life, was awakening in a small shallow crater. Around me were pieces of wooden boards, like the kind used to make old style crates for packing, the edges of the wood blackened from the kiss of a flame. The hollow itself was unnaturally smooth except for a series of spiral grooves that radiated away from where I had lain in a shallow puddle. Lifting my head out of the mud that had formed in the crater’s base I surveyed the area beyond.

Trees everywhere I looked, spreading away in a vast and brooding forest. Thin vines hung from mossy branches of a mix of pines and silver birches, creating a swirl of green and flashing white as a gentle cool breeze rustled past.

I smiled and stretched, bones creaking and muscles flexing away lingering stiffness.

My tail flicked, swishing through the air, and my ears turned towards the chorus of birds singing in the early morning.

And then I frowned, looking down at my large orange and black paws.

There was a hint of red matting the fur of my right paw. My insides twisted at the sight and I knew that it was blood without sniffing the substance. I also knew that something terrible had happened, but I wasn’t sure what, or to whom the blood belonged. I was fairly certain it wasn’t my own. Nothing felt wrong or hurt, just a little stiff, like I’d spent too long sleeping.

My frown deepened as I tried to remember what had happened to bring me to the odd crater, but everything was a haze of grey, like oil had been poured into my memories. I don’t know how long I sat trying to puzzle together who I was and how I came to be in that hole. No more than an hour or two from the movement of the sun. The crater held its clues jealously. Sure, I poked at the boards, noticed some markings on a couple and detected the last traces of some odd scents, but my mind remained strictly out of place. It was the insistent rumble of my stomach informing me of a need for food that finally prodded me out into the forest beyond. Sliding into the velvet shadows of the forest I decided that once I had discovered something to eat I’d go looking for answers again.

Finding food turned out to be harder than I had anticipated. With my befuddled memory I expected to have dinner just appear in front of my paws. When it didn’t in spite of my growling at the trees it dawned on me that I was going to have find food for myself. I was going to have to hunt.

Hunting; the idea filled me with giddy delight in spite of the uncertainty of my situation. There I was, alone, lost, with no memories, and I was practically bouncing down between the thick ancient trees. I fear I scared more than a few choice prospects of dinner away as I made a fool of myself. The sun was starting to slant between the trees in late afternoon before I began to settle down and take the idea of hunting seriously.

But first I tried to figure out what it is I wanted to eat. First I tried some flowers, beautiful golden blooms with wide sweeping petals that filled my mouth in a cloying bitter film. Next I tried bugs, but they were too small to fill a stomach of my size without taking hours upon hours to scavenge, plus they tasted like sour rancid balls that exploded and crunched between my teeth leaving an icky feeling behind.

Tongue hanging from my mouth, my ears turned to a slight rustle nearby. At that moment the wind shifted and my nose was filled with a new smell that excited my heart and made my stomach tumble in pleading knots. Guided by intuition and instinct I flattened myself to the soft packed ground of pine needles and grass. My mouth was dripping with anticipation as I slowly scooted forward making the barest rustle of the long grasses.

The forest seemed to grow dimmer, the light fading as the sun continued its lazy decent toward the horizon, as I shuffled forward, pulled by the mysterious scent filling my nose. Slowing down I could hear something only a few yards ahead, a gentle snuffling sound followed by a little hiccup. Parting a bush just enough that I could peek through I got my first sight of the creature making the noises.

She was small and young, an equine with butter yellow fur and a bright red mane and tail that stood out like fireworks against the drab greens and brown of the forest. She was facing a little to my left indicating I hadn’t been spotted in my approach. I felt a moment of pride that I had stalked so well on my first attempt, though on reflection my success had more to do with her obliviousness to the forest around her rather than any skill on my part. As she wiped her nose I got a good look at her beautiful pale eyes that looked like two gold rings so pure in lustre that Hephaestus would have beamed with pride to have forged them on his anvil.

Licking my lips I began to gather my hind legs beneath me for the pounce. The filly slowly stood, but quickly sat back down again as her legs wobbled unsteadily beneath her. With a little huff she laid her head down sniffling again. Just as I was about to pounce and get my first meal my entire body tensed as my eyes locked onto a tattered pink ribbon adorning the filly’s mane.

Drums pounded in my ears so loud the gentle noise of the forest was washed aside as my heart performed a complicated series of acrobatics before taking off in a race. Not to be out done, my stomach convulsed before embedding itself somewhere close to where my tail joined my body. Every muscle was a taut iron rope threatening to tear itself in two. And all I could see was a pink ribbon.

Lifting her head up and squinting the filly stared straight at the bush I was hiding within.

“Is anypony there? Ah can hear yah breathing. Oh, please be some pony, please oh please.”

That was when I realised I had started to hyperventilate, my breaths coming in rapid wheezing gasps. Any chance of surprise had been lost, not that it mattered. The filly tried to stand again but once more her legs gave out underneath her and she fell with a soft flump.

The shaking in my legs had finally started to subside when they came slinking out of the forest.

I’d never seen creatures like them before; constructs of living bark and moss with jagged splinters for teeth, all formed in a crude mockery of a wolf, long and sleek with powerful neck, wide paws, and long muzzles. Except they had none of the savage nobility of a real wolf, these things were nothing more than slavering monstrosities. Individually they were nothing to me I quickly suspected, probably half my weight, and without my claws and their fangs were smaller. But there were five of them and only one of me.

My eyes became locked onto the scene. I couldn’t turn away as those filthy creatures began to pace around and encircle the filly. For some reason they were being extremely cautious. From the hunch of their shoulders or the gleam in their glowing yellow eyes gave me a sense that they were waiting for something to happen.

“No, p-please, Ah don’ want to die.”

Her words were so soft and desperate I wasn’t certain I heard them despite my exceptional hearing. It was such a pitiful plea. One may as well demand the Fates to move back the sands of time. Hearing the sadness and despair lacing her words, looking at the mossy tongues licking bark lips, the force locking my body in place was banished and replaced by a new sensation.

It was a feeling of fear mingled with rage. Not fear for myself, nor the paralysis that had moments before gripped me, but fear for that small filly. My heart was still beating a mile a minute through my ears, but my muscles were now filled with a restless screaming energy that demanded intervention. I was angry about what those wooden abominations were going to do to her. Never mind minutes before I’d been entertaining the exact same thoughts.

I would like to tell you that my intentions were noble and pure. That the rage I was feeling was for a young life about to be taken, but that’d be a bold faced lie. The blood boiling in my veins and curling my lips up as a soft growl rumbled from my throat was elicited by greed and competition not any sense of philanthropy or self righteous protectionism. The idea of those unnatural abominations stealing something from me raised my hackles.

Flexing my back paws I burst through the brush roaring. Six heads snapped towards me as I flew through the air, a ball of black and orange anger. The five Timberwolves all reacted quickly, jumping back and setting up a wide circle around me and the filly. All except the one closest to me that is.

My claws dug into the wolf’s face tearing away bark skin and moss fur, the yellow glow in the right eye extinguishing in a spray of green ichor. Howling the wooden wolf fell to the forest floor, rolling and spraying more of its unnatural blood in its agony.

There was no time to slow down. I couldn’t stand my ground and fight still out-numbered four to one, and there was nothing that said the wounded wolf wouldn’t join any attack on me.

Snapping my head down I grabbed the filly by the neck, being as careful of my inch long fangs as I could given the need for haste. I fear that I may have hurt her as I tasted blood, the warm sweet liquid tickling my tongue and sending a shiver of anticipation and pleasure spiking into my brain. But I had no time to savour the taste nor slow down. The four remaining wolves saw me stealing what they thought was their dinner and reacted as only practiced hunters would; they pounced.

Wooden fangs bit into my shoulder and haunches as I spun, the filly dangling from my mouth and screaming in abject terror. The air was filled with the shrill scream, growling, and the howls of the wounded wolf. Legs coiling underneath me I exploded from the ring of snarling wood.

Now, I don’t like to boast, but I am fast in a sprint. The forest flew past in a blur as I leapt over logs and under branches. Blood pounded in my ears and the little form of the filly I’d ‘rescued’ swung from my jaws. Behind me, closer than I liked, sounded the grunts and pounding paws of the wolves. I could practically feel their breath on my legs.

Looking to the left and right I saw a pair of the wolves easily keeping pace with me. And I was beginning to slow down. I am a sprinter, not a marathon runner. That honour belongs to the spindly bipeds that sometimes fill my dreams like oily ghosts.

It was a race I could not have won even if I wasn’t carrying a small screaming bundle. Wolves are far more adept at running down prey. Me, I’m an ambush hunter, leaping from concealment to kill in a quick stroke. The odds were stacked in the wolves favour in every single way. I needed to escape them somehow, a way to put something between us that they could not cross.

My eyes darted left and right as I ducked beneath the trunk of a fallen tree looking for something, anything, to help turn the chase. The wolves were closing in and I could tell they had started forcing and herding me, keeping me on a slow turn to the west.

The Fates smiled on me.

Out of the dark shelter of the forest loomed a gorge, wide and yawning beneath slate clouds. I was growing tired, muscles burning with fatigue and each beat of my heart pounding like a hammer on a smith’s anvil. I had to make this leap. I put everything into that jump, legs tucking against my belly before thrusting out against the soft earth on the lip of the divide. Time slowed, the ground under my hind paws crumbling, my fore limbs stretching across the empty air, the filly in my jaws silent for the first time.

I am sure she thought I had just killed us both. I know I had that thought.

Through the clouds a single slender finger of light poked down illuminating the far side of the gorge. In that light I saw I wasn’t going to reach the edge. Not by a long shot. Closing my eyes I let my mind go blank, just feeling the moment, the warm air ruffling my fur, the gentle caress of the sun on the side of my face. Then my belly struck the edge of the gorge, my jaws snapping open as I blew out a gust of breath, the little filly tumbling across the grass.

My eyes snapped open as my claws, fore and back, scrambled to find purchase so I could pull myself up. Slowly I slid backwards, my back legs finding nothing but hard smooth stone, my weight dragging me down. I hardly had any strength left in me. Growling and huffing I tried to pull myself up but my aching muscles were finally giving in one by one to the inevitable. I was just too tired and spent too much energy in the run and jump. There was nothing left in me.

And then she was there, her big bright eyes inches from my own. Grabbing me by the ear with her mouth she pulled, her hooves digging into the ground. I don’t know how but she managed to stop my slow slide over the gorge’s edge. And then, working together, I was pulled up and over onto solid ground.

We laid there side by side for some time panting both exhausted. On the other side of the gorge the wolves prowled occasionally stopping to howl or growl at us.

“Ah can’t believe we made it,” the filly said rolling onto her side so her head rested on one of my huge paws. “We have made it, right? You’re not just gonna eat me, right?”

One large golden eye rotated up to stare at me. Rolling my own eyes I let out a little exasperated huff. I honestly have no idea what came over me as I then licked her face. Laughing she pushed my head away.

“S-stop tha’, it, ha-ha, tickles!”

Smiling I climbed to my paws, motioning with my head for the filly to follow. The sky was growing dark. It wasn’t going to be long until the sun set. We’d needed to find a shelter of some sort before nightfall. Weary hooves trudged alongside the silent padding of paws as we left the angry wolves behind.

Back under the dense forest canopy I quickly spotted a nice old tree with thick ancient roots. With the roots forming short walls against a gentle twisting wind hissing through the leaves I plopped down on my side. A moment later the slight weight of the filly presented itself against my chest.

“Thank yah. Ah’d be gone and dead if it ain’t for yah,” the filly muttered sleepily.

She gave me another look with those expressive eyes before she fell asleep.

Blinking I looked down at the filly.

What was I doing? It hadn’t been a half hour before that I had been ready to kill and eat her. So why was I letting her sleep nestled beside me? Opening my jaws I began to slide my mouth towards the filly’s exposed neck. After only a moment the pink bow again filled my sight, my stomach went to visit my colon, and my heart did a credible imitation of a humming bird. Snapping my jaw closed I looked away from the filly and instead fell asleep.

Part Two: The Dragon's Lair

Tiger Bloom

Part Two

I didn’t sleep much that night. My mind kept pacing back and forth, shooting curious glances at the soft warmth pressing against me. At some point the filly had crawled under my right forelimb, using it as a cover and a paw as a pillow. She was so cute I could just eat her up.

My mouth watered at the idea of my jaws pressing down on her throat. I was so hungry and she was prey, it should have been so simple. Yet every time I looked at her pink ribbon my blood froze and my insides re-arranged themselves in a complicated dance.

The filly wasn’t the only thing on my mind. There were three lovely little aches in my shoulder and haunches from where I’d been bitten. Unable to get at the bites on my haunches without waking the filly I settled for inspecting my shoulder. To my relief the bite wasn’t deep. In a few days it’d be well on the mend. Assuming I could get some food in my system.

And there I was thinking about how hungry I was, again.

It was going to be a long few days, I could tell.

Very gingerly I slid myself out of the filly’s death-grip on my paw and climbed onto my aching legs. Stretching to work out some of the aches and to finally get a look at the remaining bites, both shallow thankfully, I decided that I had to do something about the nagging thoughts about the filly, my stomach, and where the two intersected. Something had to be done about the persistent tug in my stomach and the potential meal the filly represented.

Unless I just abandoned her.

Looking down on the filly I felt a mix of dread and confusion. My head was swirling with emotions I had no idea how to deal with or control. Fixing my gaze firmly on her ribbon I stared at the inanimate pink thing like I could force it to reveal its secrets. After a few moments I had to turn away as my breath began to quicken and my heart hammer in my chest.

Whatever it was about that ribbon that affected me I wouldn’t learn unless I stayed and helped the filly. If I was going to do that I had to at least mitigate the threat I posed.

Marking the filly and tree in my memory I slid deeper into the forest, a whisper promising swift death that barely rustled leaves on low hanging branches. At least that was my hope. I am certain I scared off more than a few meals with the inopportune snap of a twig or swish of fallen leaves under clumsy paws. I didn’t venture far from the filly, putting another hamper on hunting. Every time I found my path taking me more than a few minutes away from where the filly still slept I found a persistent worry that’d smack me upside the brain. Turning around I’d slink back close enough to see the filly still sleeping before heading off again.

This went on for a good while, me going out, and then back empty pawed. Eventually I did find some prey, nothing extravagant like a deer or elk, but rather a couple field mice and a little white rabbit. I wasn’t exactly sated, but I wasn’t starving, the first food I’d ever tasted lessoning the pinch in my belly. Best of all the thoughts about eating the filly finally quieted down.

Feeling more confident and assured than I ever had, I returned to the filly.

She was still curled in a tight ball, shivering a little in the chilly night air, where I had left her. Smiling a toothy grin I curled up around her, draping a limb over her little body. After a couple moments she stopped shivering, rolled over, and gave a content sigh. Closing my eyes I drifted off to sleep.

In that sleep I dreamt of tall two legged creatures. There were dozens of them just at the edge of my sight moving through a hazy cloud. Among them I heard children laughing, little arms raised to point at me. Irritated I wanted to wipe away the invisible leers and laughter. But I couldn’t reach them. Every time I came close the cloud would grow solid stopping me as surely as if it was a wall.

Utterly unacceptable.

I may not have known who I was, but I knew what I am. I can feel it thrumming through all six hundred pounds of muscle, bone, and fang; I am a hunter. You don’t laugh at a hunter, not when he can rip out your throat as easy as winking. That I couldn't actually get at the creatures, which meant they did have a right to laugh, was even worse.

Growling I turned back finding a nice sun warmed rock to lay on and trying to block out the unintelligible murmur of noise filling the dream.

The spindly two-legs faded away replaced by something sitting beside me. A cloud wall separated us showing only a shapeless lump. Through the cloud, clearer than the laughter had been, filtered a strong resonating song. A male was singing about rejection and sadness, about his creations being ignored, and how he’d show others the beauty in his work. I rotated my head to look at the blurry shape leaning against the cloud. It was so very familiar, and yet, so very strange and new.

That first dream, the first recognizable fragment of my past to surface, still sits with me the strongest. The laughter, the frustration, the heavy blanket weighing down on my heart, the song; it is with me always, as are the memories that returned later.

A bug crawling across my nose shattered my short lived sleep, its little feet tickling me until I sneezed. Opening my eyes I saw a beetle lying on its back, legs kicking in the air uselessly between my paws. The sneeze had the effect of also waking the filly.

“Five more minutes, Applejack,” she mumbled into the soft fur of my paw before rolling over.

Realising she wasn’t in her bed, the filly’s eyes snapped open to be greeted by my fangs as I let out a long yawn. A shrill scream punctured the early morning air, the filly scrambling out from under my leg and up against one of the tree’s broad roots. I gave her what I hoped was a deadpan stare as she quickly looked from me to the forest around us.

“Not ah dream?” the filly asked the forest. I remained silent. She’d remember and figure things out on her own. “Wait, did... did yah foal-nap me?” she asked instead.

Rolling my eyes I got up slowly and stretched, the filly shrinking back farther against the root.

"I rescued you, remember?" I muttered with a little growl.

“No, Ah remember now, yah saved me from the Timber Wolves,” the filly said stepping back towards me. “Golly, ah don’t know how ah can thank yah.”

I nodded and smiled. So, I learned that the wolves were ‘Timber Wolves’. I prefer the alliteration of 'Wood Wolves' over the pun personally.

The filly shifted a little closer warily watching me as I continued to stretch. Slowly, her eyes filled with wonder and fear, she raised a hoof holding it out towards me.

“Mah name is Apple Bloom, what's yours?”

I looked at the extended hoof for several long seconds, the filly's face gradually descending from a wide smile, to a perplexed cant, before settling on worry. Apple Bloom looked so cute, the way her ears rotated and the tops of her eyes pinched together as she bit her lower lip. Finally a little switch in my brain flipped and I held out one paw in a mirror of the filly.

"I am... I don't know." I responded as the filly grabbed my paw in her fetlock, shaking it twice before letting go.

"It's okay, yah don't have to tell me yah name if yah don't want to."

"It's not that I don't want to, I just can't remember," I grumbled pacing back and forth.

"So... what do we do now?" Apple Bloom asked looked around at the trees crowding around us.

Before I could reply something new, but oddly familiar, slammed into my awareness with all the subtlety of an angry bear. My head snapped up as I tentatively tested the air, running all the scents and smells of the forest through my nose and over my tongue. Whatever it was drove a lance of fear deep into my heart. I couldn't place the origin of the scent, but it was something evil, and dangerous. My ears perked for the slightest noise. It didn't take long to hear the gentle hiss of leaves being brushed aside and a muffled snap of a branch.

Whatever it was that approached was large and confident, that was all I could glean.

Warnings screaming inside my head I scooped up Apple Bloom and headed south, or rather south-ish. The dull glow of the sun against the belly of the clouds made it difficult to know for sure.

“Aww, do yah have to hold me in yah mouth? Yah’ll slobbering on my mane,” the filly crossed her forelegs, her back hooves dangling. I imagine she was also scowling.

My jaw was aching from the effort and control needed to not hurt the filly, my heart shivered at the idea of tasting her blood again. That would not provide the answers I wanted however. With a roll of my eyes and twist of my head the filly was deposited on my shoulders, her chin resting on top of my broad head.

“Yeah, this is much better!”

I just smiled. Truth is it was easier with her riding on my back rather than carrying her. Plus there wasn’t the constant dangling idea to just bite down.

Along the back of my neck my hackles shivered, my ears twitching at every slight sound of the forest. The birds had stopped chirping, which is never a good sign. But whatever it was that had frightened me had fallen behind. Picking up my pace we skimmed the edge of a tall steep mountain that was almost a sheer cliff. I wasn't going to give it another opportunity.

Remarkably the filly remained was mostly quiet, just looking around at the lush greenery. Occasionally she'd ask a question, usually about some plant or flower, or if I knew where I was going. All were answerable with a monosyllable grunt.

It was during this time she took to calling me 'Mr. Cat'.

I didn't feel like arguing the name. It was as good as any other.

Overhead the clouds parted as little shafts and pillars of golden light started to peek through the canopy. Up ahead I spotted a wider area, the forest opening into a small field. Flowers of every conceivable colour, from blue to purple to green and yellow with a swath of shimmering grey mixed in, criss-crossed the field.

I was about to let Apple Bloom down so she could have something to eat when they came slinking out of the shadows around the edge of the field.

All five of the Timber Wolves strode confidently forward, their fangs showing in threatening display. I cursed myself for a fool as I realised that they had been shadowing Apple Bloom and I for the last few hours, keeping downwind to avoid detection. Quickly I scanned for an avenue of escape, only to quickly realise that we were well and truly trapped.

The cliff behind was to steep. The wolves cut off any escape back into the woods. Even if I could get passed them they had proven to have more endurance in a long chase already.

Lowering myself I slowly scooted backwards, hunching my shoulders as my ears went flat and my fangs were bared.

It was about then I felt a tug on my ear and a voice whispered, "Mr. Cat, there is a cave behind us," almost making me jump out of my skin. Even with her sitting astride my shoulders it had taken only a few seconds for me to completely forget about Apple Bloom.

I spent all of a second debating her suggestion. A cave would be just another trap, but one where I could at least lessen the angles of attack open to the wolves, and maybe keep them away from Apple Bloom. As far as plans go it was terrible, but so was trying to fight five wolves at once in an open field.

Turning on my heel I sprinted for the cave, spotting it after a couple bounds a little to the left, hidden in a long shadow cast by a pair of burnt oak trees.

“Yah need to go faster, Mr. Cat!” Apple Bloom practically shrieked as the wolves leapt after us.

Claws scrambled over loose rocks as I tried to follow the filly’s obvious advice. For the second time in as many days I felt the sickly sweet breath of the wolves wafting over my tail. Kicking off I dived inside the cave, spinning as I landed and letting Apple Bloom's momentum cause her to tumble off my back. With a yelp the filly bounced and then rolled across the smooth cold cave, coming to a rest upside down against something large and green.

I didn't spare any further thought for Apple Bloom as I raised a paw in anticipation of a pouncing wolf. Instead I saw them pacing just beyond the cave's yawning mouth.

Confused I lowered my paw and backed towards where Apple Bloom lay, the filly grumbling to herself as she rubbed her head.

"Why ain't they following us?" Apple Bloom asked as she found her footing.

"I have no idea," I replied with a swish of my tail. "Is there another way out of-"

Apple Bloom screaming at the top of her lungs cut off my question.

Twisting around I again raised a paw, claws extended, ready to face whatever new threat had found us, only to be confronted by a single, massive, amber eye larger than my head.

A great rumble echoed through the cave as, slowly, the head of a lizard began to rise, its eyes narrowed and fixated on me. Teeth long as my head and talons like swords glistened in the half-light. All my fur was standing at attention in a flimsy instinctual attempt to look bigger. I still felt like I’d barely make a snack for the monster. As it sat back casually looking me and the filly over I finally got a true sense of the size of the lizard. It was like a living mountain inside the mountain, one that was teeth and claws and wings. Big wings that were like green sails.

It was about then that I realised that this wasn’t a lizard. Lizards don’t have wings. My suspicions were confirmed seconds later.

“Uh, h-hi Mr. Dragon, h-how’s it a-all going?” Apple Bloom stammered shrinking back into my fur.

The dragon seemed to notice the filly on my head for the first time, its eyes opening wide for an instant before shrinking into even smaller pin-pricks of anger.

“A pony!” the dragon roared, the mountain shaking with the power in its voice. “Are you here to steal my gems like the purple one and her pet?”

“W-what? No! A-ah course n-not!”

My heart was pounding in my chest louder than the percussion section of a symphony as the dragon narrowed its eyes further in suspicion. They became two narrow slits on its long craggy face.

"We have no interest in your gems," I added, a frantic note in the flick of my ears.

Just as the dragon was about to say something the pack of wolves began slipping into the cave.

I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, and so did the dragon.

Seeing the wolves, the dragon exploded with rage. A great burst of heat created a flash fog as all the moisture in the cave evaporated in one quick whoosh. I reacted on instinct, turning and bounding as fast as I could towards the entrance. On either side of me was a Wood Wolf, the beasts harrying and nipping at my legs. A second later a long tongue of orange fire swept behind me licking at the tip of my tail. One of the wolves wasn’t so fortunate, its wooden body exploding in fire, sap popping and sizzling, it's companion continuing out into the streaming daylight.

My jaw fell open as I watched the dead wolf collapse. Hopping away from the burning pile of wood I almost stumbled as my brain tried to remind of something important.

Apple Bloom shrieking for all her lungs were worth smashed into my senses strides away from the cave's mouth. Screeching to a halt I looked back over my shoulder.

My eyes went wide as I saw Apple Bloom, her head whipping every direction, standing underneath the dragon. Around her the three remaining wolves tried to dart past the dragons trunk-like limbs. Massive jaws snapped at the wolves forcing the wooden things to retreat. Thick oily black smoke billowing from his nostrils the dragon continued to push the wolves back.

I wondered for a moment why the dragon didn't breath fire on the three wolves when it had destroyed one so efficiently. The golden glittering beneath the wolves and dragon was a hint I didn't notice at the time.

Coins clattering under her hooves, Apple Bloom darted towards a side passage that, probably, lead deeper into the mountain. I looked from the filly racing out from under the dragon, to the entrance of the cave, and back to the filly. Every nerve in my body was screaming to get out of the cave and away from its massive angry owner. But a voice, thin and melodic, was louder, telling me in no uncertain terms to get my stripped hide moving and rescue the filly.

It was the accursed ribbon that was the decider.

One glimpse of it flopping in Apple Bloom's mane and my legs were in motion. Bounding forward I cut between the wolf I had partially blinded the previous day and the dragon, my paws kicking up a shower of gold. The dragon's eye flashed from the wolves to me, fire curling around his teeth. Leaning down I caught Apple Bloom, flipping her into the air as I turned towards the cave's mouth.

"You came back for me?" Apple Bloom gasped as she landed on my back, hooves digging into my sides as she held on for dear life.

Any response was cancelled as the dragon’s tail smashed down in front of me, not unlike the spiked club of an ogre or perhaps a falling tree. Not slowing I leapt over the tail and protruding lime green spikes. My aim wasn’t all it could have been as one of the razor sharp edges caught me just along my left side, scoring a gash a couple feet long down my chest. Gritting my teeth I refused to acknowledge the pain as I landed.

Closing my eyes I poured on an extra burst of speed as the welcoming glow of the sun fell across my face.

A couple strides from the cave Apple Bloom gave a sharp yank on my ear, bringing me into a sharp turn that saved both our lives as deep red fire ripped across the path I had been taking. Behind me I could feel and hear the ground tremble as the dragon chased the remaining wolves out of his home.

Several moments later and the cool damp air of the forest greeted us. Fire scoured the air and trees moaned before crashing underneath the dragon's claws.

The dragon must have picked one of the wolves to chase as after a few minutes I slowed down not hearing the thunder of his pursuit. Panting I slid down in the hollow between two ancient trees. Tumbling off my head Apple Bloom gave me a concerned look.

“Yah don’t look so good, Mr. Cat.”

I just smiled before drifting off into a deep pool of black.

Part Four: Caught in the Carrion Crow's Craw

Tiger Bloom

Part Four

I honestly have no idea how to start this.

Do tell you about the dreams I had that night? Another exciting bit of my still mostly fragmented past. But that’s how I opened up the last bit of this story and I think Selena’s ghost would haunt me if I used that tired cliché twice in a row.

Poor Selena.

I wish that memory hadn’t returned.

I’m getting ahead of myself though. There will be time for that part of the story later.

Also, the remainder of that day wasn’t without more excitement and the greatest danger me and Apple Bloom had faced yet. What happened after encountering the Demon Flower, as I’ve come to call them, Poison Joke is too nice a name for something so twisted and evil, will haunt my nightmare’s until I die. Even after a day of chases, dragons, and a Wood Wolf being turned into a tree the forest had worse in store for us.

I'd rather not relate the remainder of that day. It'd be so much easier to say that we wandered in circles for hours before collapsing from exhaustion. Easier, but a lie.

“Do yah think they all are looking for me, Mr. Cat?” Apple Bloom asked.

She was again riding on my back, her back legs dangling in front of my shoulders and her head propped up on her fore hooves as she rested her elbows, for lack of a better term, on top of my head. Apple Bloom's voice was so sad and distant. She’d been quiet for the previous hour after giving the wolves the slip, this time for good I hoped. With only three of them left I was becoming less concerned if they did return. The filly had been so quiet I had started to wonder if maybe the Demon Flower had done something to her.

“They should ah found me by now, right? Ah mean, the whole town’s got to be searching for me, right?”

I remained focused on the path and the woods being careful to avoid all plants, shrubs, bushes, weeds, and even trying to avoid touching the trees as Apple Bloom continued to air her thoughts. My skin crawled at the slightest brush through my fur. An idle part of my mind had taken to the idea that the entire forest might be animals that had been turned into trees by those evil little flowers. It was a very small portion of my thoughts going over that idea, but still enough that I was jumping at shadows and missed the next couple minutes of the filly talking.

“Miss Sparkle must have some spell or other in her library that could find me. Ah mean, she is the Most Faithful Student of Princess Celestia. She has it written on a plaque in the library and everything. So, why ain’t they found me yet?”

What could I say to that?

I didn’t know anything about comforting a lost cub, or filly in this case. Not having eaten her was already something of a minor miracle. We’d spent a little over a day together, which already was more time than I spent with anyone other than Czarina and Selena. No comforting words came to mind as Apple Bloom sniffled on top of my head.

Even if I had any to share, she wouldn't have understood me.

I couldn’t stand to see her so miserable. New emotions bubbled just below the surface tugging at my heart with every sniffle. What could I do to help her out of her misery? Scattered memories pulled up gave no hints.

So I did something so unnatural and insane it just had to work.

I sang.

There were no real lyrics, or structure, I just started to hum as I padded towards what I hoped was the forests edge. After a few moments I started to sing, at first just about what I was doing, namely walking. Yes, I was in the middle of a dark creepy forest with a filly perched on top of my head and I was singing about how I was putting one paw in front of the other. Worse, I was terribly off tune.

Birds grew silent as my cracking voice began to filter through the forest. Even the filly was covering her ears. High notes were the worst, my throat protesting the abuse as I tried to squeeze out the makeshift song. Then in my ears an ethereal tune began to play, a whisper of a memory that guided my singing with the slow notes of an orchestra away from the simple description of walking through a haunted forest. Horns mixed with violins, cellos, and clarinets in a dance of sound so pure I can still hear it when I close my eyes.

My voice stopped cracking from being forced it into a range it wasn’t suited. Instead it turned into a low rumble that shook the ground beneath my paws. Illuminated in a golden finger of light peaking through the canopy I stopped walking. Lifting myself onto my hind legs I stretched up towards the sun high above as the gentle rumble of the lyrics continued to poor forth in a wave describing my many strengths and power. Apple Bloom was no longer plugging her ears and grabbed onto my shoulders tighter so she didn’t slide off my back as I propped myself up using a nearby tree.

Tears stung my eyes as I launched myself into the second verse of the song with barely a pause. Around me the forest seemed to grow smaller as I swept my free paw through the clear afternoon air. In my mind the music slowed to a mournful crawl lamenting a longing for something never known as my deep voice trailed off pleading for a release from the empty world. Just as I felt like the song was about to end my voice leapt into the branches again exulting my strengths and talents, all of them so tiring and worthless. A great weariness seeped out of my bones and into every fiber of my being as I fell back onto all four paws.

At the corner of my lips I tasted the salty tang of tears running freely down my face. Yet the song wasn’t done yet. A mournful flute tugged my voice lower still as I felt the finale approach. At last my voice trailed away into nothingness. My heart was hammering in my chest like I had just been running, feeling so heavy and yet empty. I was hollow, and I had been for years I realised.

“That... that was uh... interesting Mr. Cat,” Apple Bloom said after several moments of silence.

I shrugged wiping away the remaining tears as I closed my eyes.

“Were yah singing?”

A curt nod in response.

Oh, how I wish in that moment that I could look up at her and say with a cheeky smirk ‘no’. We’d fall to the ground rolling and laughing at the clever bit of teasing before getting up and continuing our journey filling the forest with our chattering voices. But the simple fact is I can’t speak in the same manner as the filly. There was and always will be a wall between us. At least I can understand her even if she’ll never hear me. So I just gave a little shake of my head and tried to hold back the welling loneliness.

Sitting still I took a shuddering breath as the emptiness continued to grow. It’s hard to put into words what it is like to learn that you’ll never be able to share your innermost thoughts and feelings, or something as simple as a greeting, with another. A part of my world, one taken for granted, was missing and there was no way to fill the hole it created. Never would I be able to share a joke with the Apple Bloom. Nor would I be able to tell her how pretty her name sounded.

“Where’d yah learn to sing like that?” Apple Bloom asked leaning forward to look me in the eyes. “It was kind of like a deep rumbling landslide, or something.”

I just shrugged at Apple Bloom’s question. I had no answer, and even if I did I couldn’t share it with her. I wasn’t even sure I had ever sung before in my life. When I had been walking and ‘singing’ it certainly hadn’t felt normal or natural. With the music flowing through my mind it felt more like I was lost in a memory and was just an outlet for the past. Neither made me believe that singing was something I ever did, and certainly in the few memories I had regained I hadn’t sung.

At last I opened my eyes again and what I saw stole my breath away.

Standing only a dozen paces away half hidden in the shade of an old willow was one of the spindly creatures from my dreams. The creature’s left side was hidden by the willow’s natural curtains. Slender in build, more so than most of the creatures in the dream, it was greyish in colour with long auburn hair that hung down nearly to the waist. The creature was so familiar with its oval face and large brown eyes.

My insides twisted in a knot as I took a step closer to the creature. I felt so certain that I knew it, that I knew her. Realization struck me that this was a woman. She beckoned me to follow slipping away down the path. Without thinking I began to move, my paws kicking up dirt as I broke into a quick trot.

She was moving fast, easily keeping ahead of me even as I sped up into a short loping run. Whenever I got close she vanished with a laugh only to reappear further ahead.

“Mr. Cat, where ah we going?” Apple Bloom asked from atop my head.

I didn’t respond as I tried to keep the woman in sight. She was so familiar and I had to know who she was and why just the sight of her was enough to make my heart shudder in delight. I couldn’t remember feeling such a pure sweet sense of joy before, which I understand isn’t saying much given the condition of my memory at the time. My paws seemed to float across the forest floor as I continued to follow the woman.

“Mr. Cat? Mr. Cat!”

To the west the sun began to set behind the mountains. Only dimly was I aware of the fading light, not that night bothered me. The woman continued to laugh and beckon me to follow as we went deeper into the forest. Overhead the branches of the trees grew gnarled, twisting together to form an impenetrable weave. No light shun in this part of the forest. Even the little critters were absent. I continued onwards not noticing the changes.

“Mr. Cat, what’s gotten into yah?”

On my head Apple Bloom began to pull on my ears. I felt the tugging and slowed a half step rotating my head to look at the filly. For a brief moment I wondered what she was doing on my back. Growling at the filly I tried to shake her from my back. Yelping Apple Bloom clung tighter to my neck. A soft laugh from the woman drew my attention away from Apple Bloom and back to the path. During Apple Bloom’s distraction the woman had put more distance between herself and me. A moment of panic tripped my heart and forgetting about the small pony on my back I took off into a run to catch up to the woman.

“Snap out of it, Mr. Cat!”

Apple Bloom’s voice was a distant sound as my senses focused in on the woman. As I began to run so had she, weaving and bobbing among trees that crowded closer and closer together. Many were so close as to form walls of black bark and moss covered limbs. Then the forest opened into a little clearing, red bellied clouds hanging low overhead. Underneath my paws little stones clicked together. In the center of the clearing was a single dead tree, its old brittle branches hanging down to the ground.

“Ah’m sorry to do this Mr. Cat!”

I’m only vaguely aware of what Apple Bloom said, I was too focused on the woman. She was sitting on one of the low branches. Her smile was like golden honey poured onto a thick cut of steak. A goofy grin tickling my face I trotted towards the woman. Just as I neared the dead tree Apple Bloom bit my ear. Yelping I jumped straight up and landed with a clatter.

“Sorry,” Apple Bloom said still straddling my back.

Slowly getting back to my paws I shook my head slowly. I felt like I had been in a fog and run full speed into a wall. My head was hammering with a dull ache as my eyes focused back on the tree. The woman was gone, replaced by a large black bird. I blinked backing slowly away as my vision cleared and I saw that the bird had teeth and large red eyes that shimmered with an unnatural light. Underneath my paws the ground shifted. Adjusting my gaze I saw that I was standing in a circle of sun bleached bones.

Before I could ask Apple Bloom what was going on the tree began to move. Its seven long branches lifted themselves up, the twilight filling with a groaning crescendo of moving bark. The trunk of the tree split open revealing a gaping maw filled with rows of yellow teeth.

To say I was less than thrilled to be confronted by what appeared to be another hungry flesh eating plant would be an understatement. Spinning on the spot I began to run. I hadn’t even gone two strides when the black bird exploded into my face in a flurry of feathers, cawing, and snapping talons and beak. Roaring I tried to swipe the bird out of my way, but it easily dodged my paw.

"Get out of here, yah mangy crow!" Apple Bloom yelled, her small hooves swinging through the air above my head.

Letting loose a deeper roar of anger, not for myself but for Apple Bloom, I lunged jaws snapping. This time the bird wasn’t fast enough, my teeth clamping around one wing as the little black nuisance tried to flip out of my way. Before I could do more than bruise the wing something wrapped itself around my hind legs pulling me off balance. Apple Bloom shrieked and the comforting weight on my shoulders vanished.

Panic turned into terror as I rolled over onto my back to get a look at what had grabbed me and I saw Apple Bloom in the evening air above me. The frightened filly was being suspended in a thick branch-tentacle. Hooves kicked and scraped at the bark to no effect. Slowly, to the groans and creaking of moving wood, Apple Bloom was lifted towards the trunk’s gaping maw.

Growling a minor profanity that I alone understood I got back onto all four paws.

A second branch snaking towards Apple Bloom spurned me to action. I couldn’t let this abomination eat the gentle little filly. The branches around my back paws had been trying to drag me towards the trunk. When I suddenly started to charge the center of the mass of branches the abomination didn’t seem to know what to do for a moment.

Landing on the wide trunk with claws extended I wasted no time. Kicking with my back legs I raked the trunk in long strokes as I held on with my front paws. My jaws rushed forward my long fangs snapping again and again trying to find a good biting angle. With a massive tug the tree pulled my from its trunk leaving long wounds that bled thick green pussy sap. My mouth burned with the foul fluids. I could have gargled a lake and I don’t think I would have gotten rid of the taste.

I landed with a grunt half a dozen paws from the hungry tree on my back my breath escaping in a gusty whoosh. Winded I struggled for a few precious moments to reclaim my breath instead of acting. Still held above Apple Bloom continued to scream and kick to no effect. A second branch had wrapped itself around her front hooves and neck. A load sickening pop filled the air as the two branches began to pull the filly in opposite directions. Apple Bloom screamed louder than I thought a living creature capable. The branches around my hind legs began pulling in diverging directions as well. It was literally trying to rip us apart I realised as I struggled.

Before I could save Apple Bloom I’d have to get one of the branches off of me. Putting every ounce of strength into the move I rolled and twisted to bring my teeth in range of a branch. Not caring about how the tree’s ‘blood’ burned my mouth I clamped down with all the force I could muster and twisted and wrenched. If this didn’t work than the filly was going to die. The branch continued to hold its grip on my leg for a moment before it grew slack. Crushed and mutilated the branch slithered off my leg the end hanging limp and dead.

Apple Bloom shrieked again. I didn’t hesitate. She was too high in the air to reach now. Roaring as I hurled myself at the trunk. Apple Bloom was saved not because I was determined, or had some strategy. She was saved by luck alone.

As I few towards the trunk the remaining branch wrapped around my leg tried to pull my away, succeeding only in altering the angle of my trajectory. Instead of landing in the center of the trunk I hit the side right beneath where the branches holding Apple Bloom joined the abomination. My teeth found the base of one of the branches trying to pull Apple Bloom apart while my back legs kicked the other. The branches squirmed as I continued to apply a thousand pounds of pressure from my powerful jaws. With a great snap the branch broke its internal workings crushed.

The dead branches released Apple Bloom, the filly yelping pitifully as she impacted the bleached bones strewn around the tree. To her credit she tried to stand but the moment Apple Bloom put weight on her right foreleg she screamed and blacked out. Kicking off the remaining branch I turned away from the trunk. The abomination’s branches were whipping through the air striking the ground to send up cascades of bones. It had given up trying to tear us into bite sized parts and had settled on bludgeoning us to death with its remaining four limbs.

With no intention of staying in range of the deadly weapons I ran straight to Apple Bloom, scooping the filly up in my aching jaws. A couple of steps later one of the black branches crashed into my side. Apple Bloom tumbled and bounced out of my mouth and thankfully out of the range of the branches. Without time to think I rolled over and scrambled across the loose ground, a branch smashing into the earth only inches from my muzzle. Kicking off again I cleared myself of the abomination.

The bird had retreated to the edge of the clearing, tending to its bruised wing. It watched me retrieve Apple Bloom, beady red eyes glaring balefully at us.

Limping I held the unconscious filly as I had when I first rescued her. The sun had set while we fought for our lives and as the rush of adrenaline left my system I could feel a terrible weariness creeping through my strained and battered muscles. My entire body groaned at every movement and my chest ached from where the last branch had hit me. Blood pattered around my paws and trickled down my leg from the gash I'd received that morning from the dragon. But I knew that staying near the tree, even if it seemed to be unable to move from where it sat, was insanity.

Silence permeated the chilly evening as I continued to limp for what felt like hours away from the clearing. Finally when I could move no more I collapsed into a fitful sleep laying my paws protectively around Apple Bloom.

Part Five: The Past Returns

Tiger Bloom

Part Five

To die, to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause.

I remember Selena quoting that line to me many times. It was something of a mantra for her. Why she often spoke those words in that order eluded me for the longest time. I think I know now.

That night, as my body ached through every fiber it possessed I gave serious thought to the idea that I was dead. All of this was punishment for an act that was within my nature to commit. Never had I felt so weak and powerless, never had I known such fear as when Apple Bloom had been dangling out of reach in those evil branches. I had come to know many types of fear in one short day. Of all of those fears, being afraid for another and feeling unable to do anything is the worst.

Is this how that ebony man felt as he shielded his offspring from me in the moat? I am certain it was.

So much evil and sorrow came from that day, and as my mind finally slipped into the depths of dreams I remembered them all.

He was trying to scream beneath me. Trying because all that came out was a wet gargle as his breath mixed with blood around my teeth. The sensation was euphoric. Never before in my short life had I taken another life. The man tried to punch and kick me, but it was like feathers against my thick muscular body and fur. Clamping my teeth tighter I began to drag the limp body and the screaming child away from the observing creatures.

"Cheater," Czarina grumbled to herself before following.

In the shade of the stone wall where the doors to our dens sat hidden I laid down with my prizes. The little girl was alternating between sobs and screams as she held her father. The man himself twitched and gurgled a few times showing that he still was somehow alive. My bite hadn’t been as accurate as I first thought. By some miracle the jugular hadn’t been torn. Czarina took up a position nearby watching what I did with my prizes. Hunger wasn’t a problem then, we’d been fed only hours before the child fell into the moat. Not one to play with my food I instead just watched and waited curious about what would happen next.

The wait wasn’t long, no more than a few minutes. Sirens began to blare in the distance and the larger door the caretakers used to enter my territory swung open violently. Czarina and I both raised our heads at this. Caretakers never entered our territory while we were in it. They always waited until we had entered our dens before entering the territory to do whatever it was caretakers did. A small moment of fear entered my stomach as I saw that the caretakers were all the large males and carried the long metal sleeping tubes. Selena was nowhere to be seen.

A quick ‘pft’ of noise was followed by a sting in my shoulder. I looked over as Czarina growled and saw a tuft of bright red sticking out of her orange shoulder. Drowsiness almost at once started to seep into my head. I’d seen the Caretakers use the metal tubes once before, when old Spar had been taken away and never seen again. I wondered if I was about to be taken away too before, within the memory, I fell into blackness.

There was a subtle shift to the memories as I was propelled along.

Around me there were bars and the linked mesh of wires that formed a wall around my den. Nearby I saw Czarina. She was cleaning her paws and avoiding looking in my direction. I got the sense that she was upset with me for stealing the kill. With a little huff she rolled onto her side. From nearby voices penetrated a slow clearing of haze around my senses.

“Is he going to make it, Tom?”

I recognised the voice at once and it sent a tremor of pleasure up my spine. It was soft and sweet, but with a certain inner quality that made one respect the speaker. There is no way to explain it, but I’d have done anything to please this voice just to get a moment of adoration or praise. For just a single second of hearing that voice speaking to me I’d pluck a star from the sky and set it in a bouquet of flowers carved from jade and amethysts.

“It’s not looking good. He lost a lot of blood before the paramedics could get to him. We’re lucky your pet missed most of the arteries. Less than half a centimetre and there’d have been nothing we could do.”

Tom was a male caretaker that often spent time with Selena. He came into my field of view around a stack of beige wooden crates. Usually Tom had a carefree easy going countenance about him, one that masked the casual aloofness he and all the other Caretakers held towards me and my sister. Of all the caretakers beside Selena he was the easiest to like, but still couldn’t be trusted.

Running one of his long dextrous hands over the stubble dotting his gaunt face Tom gave me a long dark look that conveyed little beyond underlying anger, but if it was directed at me or elsewhere I was unsure.

“He’s not my pet,” replied the gentle yet stern voice of Selena.

“You sure treat him like he is. Constantly playing music and showing him movies and shows on your laptop. I don’t know why you bother. It’s not like he can understand any of it.”

“They are more intelligent than you give them credit for, Tom,” snapped Selena as she rounded the same crates Tom had moments before.

My heart did a little twist as I got my first good look of Selena. She resembled the woman I had chased through the forest that had led me to the flesh eating tree. I learned later that I had been chasing an illusion cast by the bird that made me see something I desired or yearned for more than anything else. Sitting up I gazed longingly at the woman, her auburn hair held back in a bun. She had the gentlest brown eyes and skin pale like fresh milk.

“Uh huh, sure.” Tom rolled his eyes in that sarcastic gesture. “You used to swear he was reading over your shoulder when you used to host those D and D sessions in here before Hostettler found out about them and threatened to fire you if you didn’t stop.”

“Yeah,” a whimsical smile cast itself on Selena’s soft round features as she slowly glided towards my den. “Remember the way he’d sit in my lap back then? He was so cute.”

“He was also a cub, and not a man-eater.”

“Come on Tom, you can’t blame him for this! He was just doing what comes naturally to him. Even I won’t go into the cages with him now unless he is sedated.” Selena rested her forehead against one of the bars comprising my den. “And that’s not because of this incident.”

“Lena, this ‘incident’ as you so blithely call it could bankrupt the park. I’d be shocked if the family doesn’t sue the pants off us. Never mind it was his own bloody fault.”

“Do you think they could win? You have a brother who has been studying law, right?”

Tom scratched the back of his neck as he looked towards me. “I don’t know. Everything was to code, but sometimes that doesn’t matter. It’d depend on the lawyers I guess.”

Memories flowed past in a sudden blur. I recognized events, mostly sunning myself on my rock or sleeping in my den with Selena leaning against the side of my cage. In her lap a tall L-shaped device that would have images flicker across a screen and play music. One of the songs I recognised as the same one I had tried singing to Apple Bloom in the forest. That particular song was played more than any of the others, Selena often adding her strong voice to the rolling sad tones of the male vocalist.

The speeding memories slowed back to a regular crawl showing me once again sunning myself beneath a wonderfully clear azure sky. Near the reinforced and heightened fence on the far side of the moat stood two men. The first I recognised as Hostettler from his cream suit, matching bowler hat that Selena said was a hundred years out of date, and thick bristly white moustache. He was a short pudgy man who had a genuine love for all his prisoners. Next to him was a younger man that was tall and lean like a walking skeleton. This man’s piercing black eyes looked on me with a predatory glint.

Hopping off my rock I began to pace back and forth occasionally growling at the interlopers. There were no other people around; not even the caretakers. The area had an eerie silence that was broken only by the occasional roar of the nearby lions and the ape cages in the distance.

“So, he is the one?” the second man asked giving a slight nod at me as I continued to pace.

“Yeah,” Hostettler said dabbing at his face with a white handkerchief. Poor Hostettler, he always sweated whenever it was hot, or cold, or he was stressed, or he was happy. Basically he just sweated all the time.

“Magnificent specimen.”

“Yes, he is. One of the main attractions for the park along with Zeus and Heracles,” Hostettler said smiling at me with a broken toothed grin. “The silverback gorilla and lion respectively,” he added when the second man gave him a questioning glance.

“So, is it agreed upon then?”

“I-I don’t know. It seems so wrong, so very wrong,” Hostettler bit his lip and gave me a long pleading look.

“Do not worry so much, Mr. Hostettler. The tiger will be fine in my private facility. Besides, this will save your park, will it not, after all that nasty business with the lawsuit?”

“Yes, but all this under the table stuff, it’s all so... I don’t know.” Mopping his face Hostettler turned away from me. “You just want one, right? Czarina gets to stay?”

“Didn’t I say not to worry? The male will be sufficient for my needs.”

My hackles had risen with every word this new man said. Hostettler was frantically scratching his head, looking from me to the other man and then to the rest of the park at large. Licking his lips Hostettler gave me a final look and seemed to deflate.

“I suppose it’ll save the others. You have a deal Mr. Howard.”

Memories shifted forward again, this time to the evening of the same day. Czarina and I were in our dens resting after being fed. Idly I watched her tail as it twitched every few minutes. She hadn’t taken the discussion of the two men well. Every few minutes she’d shoot me a furtive glance before looking away again. For my part I just laid in the dark with my head resting on my paws. A key turning in the door the Caretakers used to enter and leave the area where Czarina’s and my dens were kept drew both of our gazes.

A hinge squeaked, my ear flicking back in irritation at the noise intruding on my rest. Tom flitted into the room looking over his shoulder before slowly making his way towards my den. He paused next to the door that the caretakers used to give me my food. Pulling out a keychain Tom began to fumble with the first of two locks used to secure the entrance. This was highly unusual making me lift my head from my paws and regard the caretaker. Tom was sweating profusely and biting at his lower lip until it was almost bleeding. The stink of fear practically wafted off the tall caretaker.

Placing the key into the second lock he headed over to the cabinet where the Caretakers kept the metal rods that could put Czarina and me to sleep. A new male entered the room, one I had never seen before. He was tall and muscular with a short cropped head of blonde hair. Behind him came another man, this one pushing a trolley with a large wood crate. With them came a scent, that ghosted on the edge of familiarity, but that I couldn't place. Looking from the new men to Tom I turned my head to the side and give a little huffy grunt, one that Selena always interpreted as me asking what she was doing or happening. Tom looked over at the noise and gave a sad sigh.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, his voice cracking a little. “I-I gotta do this. If the park closes and I lose my job I...”

“Are you talking to the cat?” one of the new men asked with a decided note of mocking in his voice.

“Guh, yeah, okay, yeah, Jesus, let’s just get this over with before anyone sees us.”

Tom turned away from me and began loading the metal tube with one of the fluffy red tailed sleeping darts. Growling and unsure what was going on I looked again from Tom to the other men. I had no idea what was happening, but this was new, and I just don’t like ‘new’. Czarina was also on her paws and growling at the newcomers.

“Hey, Tom, I saw the light on and... What’s going on here?” Selena asked stepping into the room from the same door the men had used.

“Lena, what are you doing here?” Tom whirled around trying to hide the metal tube behind his back.

Selena looked from Tom, to the other men, the crate, and my den with one lock open and the other with a key sticking out of the bottom. Her eyes widened and she started forward balling her small hands into fists. I’d seen Selena angry at other Caretakers a few times. Each time her voice had taken on an edge like steel and her eyes seemed to smolder with an inner fire that put everyone on the defensive. Those looks had nothing on the indignation she poured onto the three men in front of her.

“What the bloody Hell is going on here Tom?” She practically screamed the question.

“It’s not what it looks like ‘Lena, honest,” Tom said raising one hand to try to fend off his enraged friend.

“Well, it looks like your trying to steal one of my tigers! Tell me that isn’t what you lot are doing? I should report you right now to Hostettler and the police.”

At the mention of the police the stance and demeanour of the unknown men drastically altered. Their shoulders became set, as did their jaws. Sharing a look the second man nodded to the first, who nodded back. From inside a fold in his fur he pulled out an object. I couldn’t tell what it was or looked like as his body blocked my view. The change in Selena though when she saw the object was even more drastic than that in the men had been. Where before she had been angry and filled with righteous indignation Selena was now afraid. Extremely afraid. Selena’s legs shook violently her knees knocking together like a rattle as she backed away from the men.

A sharp pop filled the room followed by Selena falling to the floor.

“Oh, Jesus Christ!” Tom moaned backing away from the other men his face draining all its blood until he looked like a pale ghost. “You killed her? Why did you kill her?”

“Shut up,” growled the man who had pulled out the object.

I was sitting in stunned silence. I couldn’t understand what Tom meant when he said that they had killed Selena. Caretakers didn’t hurt other caretakers. Not ever. They went out of their way to protect each other, especially from the hunters and predators like Czarina and I. To think of a caretaker killing another caretaker was bordering on blasphemy.

Then I smelled the blood. Selena’s blood.

Understanding ratcheted into place in my brain. These new men were not caretakers, they were intruders and had harmed my Selena. My beloved, gentle, sweet Selena. Smashing my body against the chain wall of my den I let out a roar I wouldn’t rival until Apple Bloom hung in mortal peril in the branches of the killer tree. From her den Czarina added her voice to mine.

“Shut the damn tigers up,” the man who had hurt Selena shouted.

Tom was almost catatonic with fear, a quivering mess slouching in a corner that reeked of urine to my keen senses. The man who had pushed the trolley into the room sighed retrieving the metal tube Tom had already loaded. Turning towards me he leveled the device. A gentle ‘pft’ that couldn’t be heard over my roaring, a little pinch of pain in my chest, and the world started to go dark again. Czarina was calling my name as I collapsed onto my side, but I couldn’t make out the words. I did make out the last thing the man who had hurt Selena said.

“Put the girl in the box. The tiger will have a meal waiting when it wakes at least.”

The world spun for a moment before blackness claimed me as I watched the final lock to my den fall open.

When the dream finally re-solidified I found myself surrounded in pitch black. All around me was a deep roaring rumble of pure noise that made my bones tremble. Worse, I could smell the strong scent of blood. Edging forward I felt something soft and pliant in front of me. Shaking my head to clear the last vestiges of the forced sleep I waited for my eyes to adjust. A few pinpricks of light came through the top of my cage, just enough to show a slender form rolled into a ball at the end of the cramped space.

Nudging the shape my heart fell and did a flip. Even in the shroud of black I would know the auburn tresses that only belonged to Selena. Nudging one of her arms out of the way I saw the large bloody patch on her grey hide. Carefully I began to lick and tend to the wound as I would one on myself. After a few minutes Selena groaned, her eyes slowly flitting open.

“Ugh, is that you boy?” she asked.

Her voice was so weak, so tired. In the poor light I could see her eyes unable to focus on my face only inches away from hers. She’d not been this close to me since I’d been sick. Before that only the short time I was a cub had I been closer. Back then she would let me sit in her lap and had even bottle fed me warm milk. Those are some of my fondest and most precious memories now.

“I can’t feel my legs,” she said after a moment blinking back some tears that shimmered in the faint light. “Why can’t I feel my legs?”

Selena lifted up an arm and draped her fingers across my face. Her unfocused eyes slide across me. I don’t think she was able to see me in the darkness of the cage. Instead her delicate fingers fumbled around my muzzle and ears, a little smile pulling at Selena’s face.

“It is you, isn’t it,” she sighed in a voice barely detectable above the endless roar all around us.

Rolling her head a little she coughed a few times. I felt something wet hit my muzzle. Selena moved her fingers from me to her lips. She looked at them, or tried to look at them, before giving up and leaning back against the solid wall of the cage.

“Blood,” she whispered, a second set of wet coughing wracking her body. “So cold.”

Whimpering I tried to nuzzle Selena. My heart was twisting and turning faster than a swarm of bees. Selena tried to push my head away, but there was no strength in her arm. I pulled my head back as another fit of coughing overtook her body.

“I wonder if I’ll dream.”

Her hand went limp as Selena’s eyes slid closed.

I sat numb in the cage whimpering as I nudged her with my large head praying to the Fates that Selena was just sleeping. So pre-occupied with Selena was I that I didn’t even notice the change in the noise permeating the cage. I did notice when I was suddenly flung against the cage’s roof. From beyond the cage there was a long tearing noise of metal parting followed by a rush of wind. Inside the cage Selena and I tumbled. With a long crack my head impacted one of the cage’s sides and I was swallowed by darkness.

The next thing I’d know would be waking up alone in the cursed forest with no memory of who I was or how I got there.

Part Six: Reunion

Tiger Bloom

Part Six: Reunion

Several things each contributed to bring me out of the sea of memories; Apple Bloom’s gentle whimpering as she shifted her position between my paws, the thrumming beat of my heart hammering in my chest, the knife of hunger digging deep into my insides, a gentle misty rain threatening to open into a true downpour, and the salty tang of tears tickling at the corner of my lips. No one event alone could have brought me back to reality, but together they shot me out of the nightmarish memories.

Grunting I blinked away the remnants of sleep as my mind turned over everything that I had recalled since collapsing in fatigue.

All I could think of was the ebon skinned man and his daughter, his daughter with the pink ribbon in her black hair. I was certain, and still am, that he died despite the attempts of the caretakers to save him.

My eyes alighted on the pink ribbon in Apple Bloom’s mane and a little smiled tugged at my face.

My heart didn't suddenly race, my breathing, strained from the aching flowing through my body, wasn't coming in fast sharp gulps, nor was my mind blanking. I felt a release, despite the despair clinging to my heart like frost in winter, a sense of peace in understanding my past life. I had the answer I wanted those days ago, and now I had no reason to keep Apple Bloom safe.

Stretching slowly I felt every muscle give a mute protest. The worst was a sharp pain in my side from the cut caused by the dragon's tail. I was battered and bruised, but alive, and I felt complete, not like a lost cub mewling for my mother.

I had started to slink away from Apple Bloom when the hunger again stabbed at my senses. Pausing I turned and looked back towards the filly. Liking my lips I turned around and slowly approached the sleeping form of Apple Bloom.

Stopping above her I paused wondering just what I was about to do.

On one paw; She was prey, I was a hunter. Traveling with her and protecting her was wrong. She was also hurt, perhaps crippled. If not me then one of the dozens, or hundreds, of other predators in the woods would get her.

On the other paw; She was the only friend I had, and she was hurt because of me.

My tail slapped into the begging of a shallow puddle in irritation. I knew what the me from the memories would have done. He'd have eaten the filly on the first day. A pounce and snap of the jaws securing dinner.

But I wasn't that tiger anymore.

For one thing I could think so much clearer than I ever could in the caretaker's prison. It's hard to fully describe, but things, concepts, ideas, basic arithmatic; all of them seem so simple after waking in the forest where before I hadn't even considered them. I was more intelligent, and by a tiger's standards I hadn't been a slouch before.

Frowning I leaned down to at least get a better assessment of Apple Bloom's condition before making a decision.

Apple Bloom had at least one dislocated shoulder, most likely from the branches pulling on her legs. I hoped that it was only dislocated and not broken.

Czarina had broken a leg once trying to leap out of our territory. The Caretakers had taken her away for a couple days. When she was returned Czarina had been kept in her den with a white skin of hard plaster covering the break. When the cast, as Selena called the hard skin, was removed Czarina was good as new, like there had never been a break.

I had no idea what the caretakers had done to heal Czarina, and even if I did, I didn't have anything to make a cast. I was unsure what to do about a dislocated leg either, but from my memories of overhearing Selena talking with other caretakers I gathered it involved ‘popping’ the joint back together.

Looking down on the whimpering and wincing Apple Bloom I had not the foggiest idea how to accomplish relocating her leg. Careful not to wake her I moved a paw towards her back thinking that, maybe, if I braced her with one paw I could use the other to sort of push her shoulder back into place. I didn’t get to try the idea, however, as I noticed something very, very, very wrong with my paw.

It was blue.

Not a dark blue, not a royal blue, or a navy blue, those would have not been so terrible, but rather a brilliant azure blue like the sky on a crystal clear summer day. Worse my black strips were gone, replaced by glowing bright pink spots shaped like clovers.

A panicky yelp burst from my lips as I scrambled backwards, forgetting about trying to not wake Apple Bloom. Craning my neck and spinning in a circle I saw that the blue with pink clovers extended across my entire body and even down my tail. With a defeated ‘whump’ I sat down on the damp stone all thought draining from me like the rain washed it away.

For once I felt nothing, not panic, or fear, just... nothing.

This was a blow to the foundation my being.

I am a Tiger; pinnacle of millions of years of evolution to be one of the most perfect hunting and killing machines alive. Part of that, a big part, is the natural camouflage of my fur that lets me blend into the background scenery to stalk my prey. Having it ripped away and replaced with this garish blue and pink would be the equivalent of walking around with giant bells around my neck. But there is more to it than just the hunting aspect.

Our stripes are signs of our strength and lineage. If I was a pony, it's be like having my cutie mark changed. Old Spar had taught Czarina and me the importance of our strips before he’d been taken away by the caretakers, and it was one of the few lessons from the cantankerous old tiger I had taken to heart. To have it ripped away by the forest was just typical.

I sat there, the mixed emotions of despair, loss, anxiety, fear, anger, and regret all vying for dominance in a stressed morass. It all became too much for me to handle. The return of my memories, the events of the past two days, and now the loss of my beautiful orange and black stripes, all of it cracked down the last vestiges of strength I retained.

Lying down beside Apple Bloom I cried.

I cried for Selena.

I cried for Apple Bloom.

I cried for myself.

I just cried, and cried, and cried until I could cry no more. The rain had picked up as I laid next to the shivering filly mixing with my tears so it seemed like I had created a small stream. A shiver ran up my own back as I regarded the huddled form of Apple Bloom.

She had woken up at some point while I poured my soul out onto the stone we had collapsed on the previous night. The filly was regarding me with a single red-rimmed eye, her hooves curled up close to her body, except for her fore right leg which hung limp and useless beside her. The sight snapped me out of my self-pity.

Standing back up I saw that she was smiling up at me, though the edges of her smile were tight as Apple Bloom fought back against the incredible pain lancing through her small frame. She even managed a hacking little laugh as I took a step closer and positioned a paw behind her back as her golden eye roamed over my mutilated and disgraceful fur.

“Poison Joke, Mr. Cat, Poison Joke,” she said in a weak and strained voice that broke into a hissing intake of breath as the words caused the pain to blossom.

I looked away from her and if I was capable of blushing I’d have turned red as a beet from embarrassment.

It was then that I noticed that at some point the previous night while escaping the flesh eating tree I had wandered into a series of old ruins. Instead of tree trunks and leaves there were the broken remnants of walls and pillars. Where once a roof had blocked the elements only open sky remained. It wouldn’t be much longer until the forest completed reclaiming the ruins. To my right sat a lonely stretch of disconnected wall, little pieces of weathered coloured glass littering the ground where an ancient window had once been.

“The Castle of the Pony Sisters,” Apple Bloom wheezed through clenched teeth as she also surveyed our surroundings. “At least ah know where we are.”

Abandoning surveying the change in the forest I returned my attention fully to Apple Bloom. How I wished I could break that wall of silence that existed between us as I raised my other paw. I knew what I was about to do was going to hurt her, but if I didn’t she was going to be in pain for far longer.

She seemed to realise what I was about to do however, her large eye darting from the paw hovering over her dislocated leg and the offending shoulder. Biting her lower lip Apple Bloom turned her head away from what was about to be done.

“Just make it qui-AHHH!” her voice broke into a high pitched scream of pure agony as I forced the bone back into the socket.

For several minutes Apple Bloom just laid on the ground panting and groaning. I politely lifted her head up when she threw up a small bit of bile as the pain became too much and she passed back into oblivion. Hoping I had done the right thing I picked her up in my mouth like on the first day. I had only taken one single solitary step when a light orange form rounded a corner a little over a dozen lengths away from me.

I lifted my face slowly to assess the new threat and realised with a little shock that it was another pony, but one much older than Apple Bloom. The new ponies orange coat was slick with mud and rain, her long blonde tail full of sticks and burrs where it had been dragged across the ground. Curiously, perched atop of her head was a wide brimmed hat in a style I had seen being worn by the not-Caretakers that would pass by my territory. To my hungry eye, she looked fit and healthy with strong lean muscles that rippled underneath her matted coat.

She took one look at me, at Apple Bloom hanging from my mouth, and then back to me and gave out a strangled cry.

“Apple Bloom!” the newcomer shouted digging her hooves into the muddy ground to launch herself towards me.

The sheer insanity of this new pony’s actions caught me almost flat-pawed. I had to be easily over six times her size and weight. Even weakened as I was from the encounters of the past few days she had no chance of overpowering me. Careful not to aggravate Apple Bloom’s shoulder, I set the filly down and braced myself to repel the charging mare.

From somewhere behind the new pony another voice raised up a sharp protest, but I was too focused on the orange and blonde ball of anger bearing down on me to pay attention. A part of my mind, the part responsible for sorting and sizing up prey while hunting did take note however categorizing it as ‘female’, ‘afraid’, and ‘near’.

That was all I had time to do before the charging mare reached me, and in a stunningly stupid move, planted her fore hooves in the mud less than a length in front of me. She tried to pivot around in a graceful ark, but instead her hooves lost all purchase on the smooth stones the mud hid with their brown sheen and she continued to slide towards me even as her back end began to tumble over her own head.

On instinct my paw snapped up intercepting the tumbling mare before she could crash into me and the still unconscious Apple Bloom between my forelegs. To my shame, in my surprise at seeing another pony and having her charge me, I didn’t keep my claws retracted. I felt the soft pliancy and give of skin and muscle as my long claws slashed into the orange mare’s side and shoulder. To her credit all she did was grunt as she collapsed and skidded across the wet stone coming to rest beneath the arch of an ancient window.

Working somewhat on instinct, as well as a desire to prevent any real fight, I launched myself after the orange mare.

My entire body ached from the simple action, the gnawing pit in my belly reminding me of my hunger. The weight of my blue paw crashed down onto the orange mare even as a little voice in my head reminded me of a salient point; I could end the hunger now. There under my paw, glaring daggers from her wide emerald eyes, was a potential meal. I had no connection to her, not like I had with Apple Bloom.

But I couldn’t, no matter how loud my instincts and hunger screamed in my head to go ahead and clamp my jaws around the ponies throat.

Looking down at the wounded pony, her blood leaking out under my paw to mix with the rain and mud, I instead saw the ebon skinned not-Caretaker. I saw how he had tried to shield his daughter from me. Turning to look over at Apple Bloom laying with her head resting on a mossy rock I saw the torn and muddied remnants of pink tied into her mane. And then I wasn’t seeing Apple Bloom, but rather the small chocolate coloured girl who had fallen into the moat clutching her dying father. The filly’s eyes fluttered open, connecting with mine before shifting down to the figure I held pinned to the slick ground.

“Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked, her voice distant and confused before realisation struck her. “Applejack!”

Apple Bloom hadn't seen the blood, but she was clearly concerned given my posture over Applejack. Struggling to her hooves Apple Bloom started to stumble towards me calling the other pony's name again.

“Apple Bloom, git back, yah hear!” called the pony under my paw.

It’s a funny thing; Fate. I was a believer in destiny and that our lives are plotted out for us before we are even born. It gave me comfort while trapped in my small territory. This was the way of things, I was never meant to roam the vast expanses of my father and his father, rather I had been born to be a showpiece for creatures I couldn’t begin to understand. I only had the company of my sister, Selena, and for a brief time, old Spar. This was the Fates plan for me, and who was I to question it?

I don’t believe that anymore. The Fates put tests before us every day, big and small, and it is up to us to either succeed and be rewarded, or fail and reap the punishment.

I failed that day in the moat as I sank my fangs into that father’s throat.

The punishment for that failure has been long and arduous. It cost me the one life I valued above all others. It cost me my home, such as it was. It cost a little girl her father and probably a mother her mate.

But, perhaps, the Fates had given me a second chance, a way to make amends.

“It ain’t safe, go on an run.” Applejack continued trying to raise her head to look towards Apple Bloom.

Lifting my paw I released Applejack. As if her action in charging a full grown tiger hadn’t been enough proof of family between the two ponies, their names certainly were. I wasn’t going to be responsible for breaking another family apart. I knew that pain all too keenly as I thought briefly about Czarina and Selena. I took two steps towards the struggling filly before there was a flash of purple and suddenly my view was taken up by a third pony.

The first thing I noticed were her lavender eyes that were a shade lighter than her coat and the smell of ink. The second was her glowing horn. After seeing wolves of wood, dragons, and flesh eating plants, I barely batted an eye at this development. My mind was already getting used to the idea of this forest throwing weirdness in my face. What was a pony with a glowing horn on top of the pile?

“Stand back, Apple Bloom,” the new pony growled keeping herself interposed between me and the filly.

I gave one of my signature eye rolls. As sore and hungry as I was another pony wasn’t going to be much of a threat. So I just ignored the new pony that was several shades of purple. Continuing to pad towards Apple Bloom I started to brush past the mare. It was then I was hit by a bone jarring force the sent me tumbling back past the still prone Applejack.

Shaking my head to clear the stars that had burst up behind my eyes, I gave the newcomer a startled look. She continued to stand with her hooves firmly planted and splayed, her horn glowing with a nimbus of purple-white light. Selena would have been squealing in delight at this development, she always had a thing for fantasy. All little girls love unicorns, or so Selena had once claimed during a session of that D and D game. A smile managed to break through the shock of being tossed like away I was a cub without being touched at that memory, and the sight of the defiant pony in front of me.

What was I to do? I could try again to approach Apple Bloom, but the unicorn clearly had no intention of letting me near the filly. Neither was I about to leave. Apple Bloom and Applejack were both hurt and the unicorn, for all her strength knocking me back, didn’t look exactly fit. In fact she was rather scrawny looking all-in-all, especially compared to the muscular Applejack.

It was Apple Bloom who put an end to the stalemate.

“Stop, Twilight, he’s a friend,” Apple Bloom said, tugging on one of the purple mare’s legs.

Twilight’s resolve faltered for a moment, her eyes darting from me to Apple Bloom.

“That’s a Panthera Tigris Altaica, they are not friends with anything,” snapped Twilight. “At least I think it is based on size and cranium structure. It is hard to tell with it being blue.”

I winced at that part.

“He’s blue on account of carrying me across some Poison Joke,” Apple Bloom responded tugging harder on the unicorn’s leg.

“What ah yah talking about, Apple Bloom,” Applejack grunted slowly pushing herself back onto her hooves.

From a glance I could tell my swipe had hurt her more than I had at first thought. Muscles in her shoulder were lacerated and would need the attention of a Caretaker, or someone equally skilled in healing, if it was going to mend. In the mean time she’d find walking extremely difficult and painful. Worse, with the amount Applejack was bleeding predators for miles around would begin to smell the opportunity for an easy meal.

“He saved me from Timber Wolves, a dragon, Poison Joke, and a Carrion Crow’s Creeper Craw.”

Apple Bloom smiled at me happily. If I had been able to talk to the ponies I’m not sure I would have pointed out that I was the one who dragged her into the danger with all of those monsters save the wolves. The two older ponies looked between me and the filly with uncertain looks on their faces.

“He saved yah from what?” Applejack asked her mouth falling open a little.

“Then what was that scream about?” asked Twilight glaring back at me.

“He, uh, set my leg after it was dislocated.”

“He what?” the mares shouted in unison.

“It was no big deal,” muttered Apple Bloom as she limped past the two mares stopping right in front of me. “He’s really a sweat heart, ain’t yah Mr. Cat?”

There it was; the moment of truth as Selena would call it. The Fates were tempting me one more time. Not much of a temptation at that point even with the screaming ache in my guts. But I couldn’t help but have a little twinge of mischievousness that caused the corners of my eyes to crinkle. In a quick fluid motion I leaned forward, grabbed Apple Bloom as the two mares called her name, and swung her onto my shoulders.

“See? Mr. Cat is really a big softy.” With her good leg Apple Bloom ruffled the top of my head before lying down, her chin resting just between my eyes.

Both Twilight and Applejack stood there, their manes matted to their necks and tails dragging in the muddy ground, mouths hanging open in unison.

“But... he clawed Applejack,” Twilight protested pointing at the claw marks stretching across Applejack’s side and shoulder.

My ears flicked back and I lowered my head at the accusation. It was impossible for me to explain that it had been a mistake, that I’d been surprised and after the events of the last two days hadn’t even thought to retract my claws until the damage had been done. It’d have been a flimsy excuse and a part of me is glad I couldn’t stammer it out. Instead I had to rely on Apple Bloom figuring it out.

She didn’t.

“Wait, what? Why did yah claw my sister?” she asked, and I felt her shift backwards on my neck.

"I didn't mean to claw her," I started to protest automatically, my deep voice coming as a series of grunts, and my tail snapping from side to side.

I heard the distinct slap of a hoof meeting a face from above my head.

"Of course, yah can't speak Equestrian," Apple Bloom muttered.

I felt a heavy weight cling to my heart again at Apple Bloom's statement. It was replaced by confusion a moment later when she asked, "Is Fluttershy near? Ah'm sure she could understand Mr. Cat."

Twilight and Applejack shared a look before the unicorn said, "She and Rarity are at the hospital with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle."

I heard Apple Bloom gasp, "They're both alright, ain't they?"

Nodding slowly Applejack took a slow tentative step towards me and Apple Bloom, "Yeah, they'll be fine, sugarcube. Now, why don't you come down off that, uh, nice kitty, and we'll go see them. I suspect I'll be needing some time there myself, and you could as well."

Lowering myself so Apple Bloom could slide off my shoulders I gave the gashes I had given Applejack another look. They weren't too deep, but I could see the pain dancing behind the mare's eyes, mixed with fear and suspicion. I knew that they wouldn't trust me, no matter what Apple Bloom said. I also felt like I had done far more than I should have for the filly.

Apple Bloom limped to the two mares, stopping to look over her shoulder towards me when she realised I wasn't going to follow.

"Ain't you coming, Mr. Cat?" she raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly to one side.

"No, I think I will rest for a bit before I go hunting." I shook my head and smiled. Lifting a paw I made a shooing motion.

"Apple Bloom, I don't think it's a good idea to bring him to Ponyville," Twilight said, chewing on her lower lip as she looked me over. Her horn still glowed making it clear she didn't trust me.

"But," Apple Bloom began to protest, but was stopped by Twilight shaking her head. "Well, what about his fur? Can't we do something about the Poison Joke?"

Twilight again looked me over, but she gave me a reassuring smile, saying, "That should pass in a few days, a week at most from what Zecora told me after our encounter with the plant. It's effects are less severe on non-magical beings."

I found that immensely reassuring, a tenseness I hadn't realised I was carrying flowing out into the cool morning. Apple Bloom tried several more times to convince Twilight and Applejack that I should go to Ponyville. Eventually she gave up with a pout.

Hugging my neck, Apple Bloom said, "Good-bye. Yah saved my life, and I'll never forget that."

"And I'll never forget what you helped return to me. I wish you knew what you've done for me."

Wiping her nose, Apple Bloom slowly trotted away, flanked by Twilight and her sister, Applejack limping but putting up a brave front.

Hungry, wet, and strangely content, I sat and watched as the three ponies slowly made their way out of the ruins, and out of my life.

For some time I continued to sit and look at the bend Apple Bloom had vanished around. The rain had stopped and a damp breeze blew through the forest. Just as I turned to begin hunting for a meal I smelled it, the pungent odor I had smelled previously in the forest. This time I knew what it was; the creatures that had killed Selena.

Stretching out my senses I tested the wind, ears flicking for any source of noise, but the ruins were eerily silent and the air clear of the smell. For a few minutes I stood there, waiting for the scent to appear again. When it did, with it came the smell of fruit and ink.

Part Seven: The Reverse of the Medal

Tiger Bloom

Part Seven: The Reverse of the Medal

And so we come to the final part of this story. The final few hours, and the days afterwards.

Apple Bloom, I am sorry for what happened. I am sorry for my betrayal. I believed I was in the right. I believed what I was doing was justified.

I lost a dear friend. I lost a potential home. I lost you. I have regretted what happened every day since.

Heart hammering in my chest I slipped through the ruins and out onto the ledge of a deep chasm, probably the same one I had leapt my first day in the forest. A rotten old bridge hung precariously over the foggy depth, offering passage to the far side. Testing the air, I followed the scent of Apple Bloom and the two mares to the bridge.

Cringing I tested one of the wet boards, the ropes groaning under the slight pressure.

Looking left and right along the gorge I tried to spot another way across. Maybe a path the lead down and up the other side, or a place narrow enough I could leap across.

Then I heard a sharp crack like two rocks smashing together.

The echo had barely started to ring in my ears when I surged across the rotten wood bridge. Stumbling a few times as boards broke beneath my weight, and with the old corded rope groaning under the sudden pressure I made it across the bridge. It continued to sway and creak as I hurried into the damp underbrush.

Keeping my body low to the ground I slipped like an oily shadow through the forest. My nose was filled with the scents of the three ponies and the creatures that had killed Selena. Fighting a desire to run faster and crash through the brush I continued my slow methodical approach.

I heard them before I saw them. Four voices raised in a heated argument. I detected the drawl of Apple Bloom's sister, and more frantic jabbering of Twilight, being rebuffed by two deep voices. Moving slower than I ever had before I tenderly slunk through a salmon berry bush barely rustling the wet leaves. Finding a small exit I peered out onto the path the ponies had been taking back to their home.

Applejack still leaned on Twilight for support, and, to my relief, Apple Bloom hid behind the two adults. I couldn't see the creatures from my position and slowly began to disappear back into the bush to find a better vantage point.

"Look, little unicorn. We ain't asking much, just that you help us out. If not, then, well..."

I heard a threat in the voice that quickened my pulse.

After all, I knew exactly what these creatures did to those that got in the way of what they wanted.

Keeping to the shadows I moved slowly, but surely. I was like, well, a hunter on the prowl. Leaves barely rustled through my garish blue fur or under my massive paws. Poking my head out from beneath another bush I got a good look at the creatures.

There were three of them. The two who had taken me from my home and killed Selena, as well as one with a white coat who stood behind the others. One had a Sleeping-Stick resting on his shoulder, the other had an odd L-shaped thing in its hand. More concerned with the Sleeping-Stick I began to test the air.

It was going to be a long pounce, and the white one was partially in the way. I wasn't worried about that one, he was small and grey haired. No threat.

"Well, I guess we could take you to Ponyville," Twilight said, but her voice clearly held reservations.

Applejack, however, vehemently shook her head.

"I don't like it, Twi'. You saw what they did to scare that Timber Wolf. Weren't natural."

Twilight chewed on her lower lip looking from between her friend, the three creatures, and a cluster of bushes on the other side of the path.

"Ah think they kind of deserved it," Apple Bloom grumbled from behind the adult mares, head poking around to stare curiously up at the three new and interesting creatures.

"So, we have a deal? You take us to this Ponyville and we'll be on our best behaviours. Upstanding even. We promise."

My ears flattened as I waited for Twilight to respond. She still seemed a little hesitant, and Applejack looked down right angry. That could have been more due to the pain from her wound though. Apple Bloom, however, stepped around the two mares and approached the three creatures.

My blood ran cold at the sight of her approaching them, my breaths becoming quick and ragged. I was certain that at any moment they would kill Apple Bloom like they had killed Selena. Apple Bloom said something to the creatures, her face shining with hope and delight. But she didn't know what I knew. She didn't know to run away or to be afraid.

"Here, why don't you let my friend here carry you and-"

The moment the creature with the L-shaped thing took a step towards Apple Bloom I burst from the bushes. There was no roaring or growl, just the double thump of my paws churning up loose earth before I was in the air.

I impacted on Sleeping-Stick, wrapping my forelegs around his torso and bearing him to the ground as my teeth found his neck. Blood; hot, wet and sickly sweet flooded my mouth. The next several seconds were a confusing blur of shouts, screams, and a single loud pop followed by a sharp burning sensation in my shoulder. There wasn't time to really maul and rake the creature like every fiber of my being was screaming.

Two more pops echoed through the forest, followed by more pain in my other shoulder and flank. Ideas and conceptions more than words flooded through me on a sea of adrenalin.

Move. Kill. Danger. Protect.

I let them guide me into the air as more of those popping sounds reached my ears.

L-shape's scream as I bore him to the ground, those annoying pops still sounding, was the sweetest sound I'd heard since waking in the forest. His screams quickly descended into a final wet gurgle before I released him.

White, I found when I at last released L-shape's limp body, had retrieved the Sleeping-Stick. With careful precise motions he slid back a part of the device, a ratchet audibly clicking in place. We each paused for half a moment, then I pounced and the Sleeping-Stick emitted a crack of thunder. The top left side of my head exploded with pain as I flew, my mouth widening.

It was all over several seconds later, White's leg twitching sporadically.

Surrounded by the three dead creatures, their blood mixing with my own, I finally became aware that I was hurt, badly. My head throbbed and there were sharp stabs of pain all through my body. The corners of my vision grew a little blurry as the adrenaline began to recede. Staggering, I turned to make sure the ponies were alright.

The looks of pure horror and terror on their faces still haunt me.

That was the moment I died for the second time.

I can't close my eyes and not see her face. Her eyes so wide and petrified. The few drops of red that had splattered across her coat. The shaking in her young legs. And the betrayal. The betrayal was the worst.

I'm not certain what happened next, it's all so fuzzy and just blurs together. I believe Apple Bloom or Applejack yelled, screamed, or perhaps both. Maybe I tried to explain myself. Not that it would have mattered.

All I know is I stood there, my chest heaving ragged breaths, and then I was staggering through the forest, bumping from tree to tree, leaving a trail of crimson as I went.

I couldn't go far. I was too hurt, and collapsed on the side of a river.

As I laid there, my life draining into and staining the pristine crystalline water, I thought back on the crazy few days I had shared with Apple Bloom, and the life I had stolen from me in... where ever my prison had been. Two faces filled my fading vision; Selena and Apple Bloom.

A part of me hoped that I would be able to see Selena again. Her laugh would fill me and we'd be able to run and play in the grass like when I was a cub.

Apple Bloom I hoped would come to understand my actions, and maybe forgive me. I smiled as I thought back to when I'd first seen her, crying, alone, and afraid in the forest. Her pink bow tied in her bright red mane.

Something moved, and for a moment I thought I heard a voice. Colours, pink and cream yellow, with two great azure blue disks, entered my field of vision.

I blinked, as the pain reached through me and the colours vanished.

Then there was nothing but the black and the feeling of falling.

* * *

I came too slowly, rising out of the sea of empty dreams and into brown warmth. Carefully, I tried to raise my head and look around at my surroundings.

Wooden walls greeted me, along with peaceful windows trimmed in green curtains. Cages, bird houses, dens, and baskets covered almost every available spot. Many had occupants, all of whom stared at me with large frightened eyes.

My entire body ached when I tried to move my head to get a better view of the room, only to stop when something nearby moved and let out a little gasp.

"Oh my, you're awake? Don't try to move. You were really hurt and lost a lot of blood."

A winged pony, a creamy yellow in colour with soft pink hair and three butterflies on her flank, stepped up in front of me. She had a stethoscope around her neck, and the kindest look in her eyes.

"Where am I?" I tried to ask, only to find it difficult with one ear pressed against my bed and the other seeming not to respond to the necessary twitches of tiger-speak.

"You're in my home," the pony responded, shining a light into my eyes and then moving out of my line of sight. I could feel her small hooves moving over my body. "I found you on the bank of the Everfree River," she continued, and something in her voice made me feel at peace, calm, and secure.

"I was looking for Apple Bloom, but then Twilight gave the signal that the filly had been found so I was flying home with Dash when we saw you, and I just couldn't let you die."

My eyes, half closed as sleep threatened to steal me away, shot back open and I almost leapt from the bed at the mention of Apple Bloom.

"Apple Bloom?! She's okay? Is she safe?" I practically shouted, my legs giving out and sending me crashing onto the wood floor.

"Shh, yes, she's fine. She's in the hospital with Applejack. Poor thing, the Everfree really beat her up." The pony sighed, and then called for a 'Mr. Bear' to help her.

Into the room rumbled and rolled a huge mass of brown fur and two beady black eyes. He gave one look at me half fallen on the floor, and laughed.

"Oh, you such a sight, big fierce tiger, eh?" Mr. Bear chuckled as he ambled over to me and helped me back onto the bed.

"If I was feeling better, I'd swipe that smirk off your face," I grumbled half-heartedly in response.

"Ha-ha, sure you would, cub, sure you would," Mr. Bear said before he sat down in a corner of the room, picking up a golden and red striped pot of honey.

I couldn't help but smile. This was the best conversation I'd had since waking in the Everfree. Me and Mr. Bear have had something of a friendly rivalry ever since.

"You two should stop teasing each other," the pony said as she again began checking me over.

I blinked a little at what she had said, then looked over towards Mr. Bear and asked, "She can understand us?"

"Of course I can, speaking and helping animals is my special talent."

"Fluttershy? You're Fluttershy?"

"Yes, h-have you heard of me?"

A cold chill swept my body as I thought back to Apple Bloom and when she had mentioned Fluttershy. How the filly had looked so happy to have deciphered my meaning, and how she had checked her flank for a 'cutie mark'. Fluttershy was a friend of Apple Bloom. I wondered for a moment what she'd think if I told her what I had done in front of the filly.

"A... friend mentioned you, once." I looked away, shame making my face burn, and descended into a sullen silence that was rarely broken over the next few weeks.

"Oh, that's good, I suppose," she murmured as she continued her examination.

If Fluttershy learned about what I had done, I don't know. She never once gave any indication that she was upset or mad with me, always the opposite in fact. Never have I met any pony as gentle and brave as her. It takes a certain character to treat and heal an animal that typically hunts your kind.

Twice a day she would bring me a large fish to eat. Not my usual meal, but I knew she wouldn't have approved of me eating any of her animals. Not that I could have caught them in my condition. Especially the White Terror that was Angel. Nothing that small and cute looking should be that frightening.

Eventually my strength returned and I learned to full extent of my injuries.

The worst had been the loss of my left ear along with a lot of the skin around it. I have some hearing on that side, but it's not great. Fluttershy had also pulled out more than half a dozen pieces of metal from various places. For a little while she was worried some new metal spitting monster had taken up home in the forest. Then one day she stopped mentioning her fears. I suppose she learned from the others about the creatures. I don't think they mentioned my involvement.

Healed, but feeling weak and depressed, I left Fluttershy's cottage in the dead of night as she slept. I didn't want her to worry about me, and I was terrified that one of the other ponies would find me in her home.

I returned to the Everfree, and it has been my home and my prison these past twelve years.

I've done my best to keep the forest's dangers away from the town of Ponyville or the nearby farms. Especially Apple Bloom's farm.

Often I'd see her, playing with two other fillies. From afar I watched her grow and earn her cutie mark. But I never managed to speak to her and apologize for what I'd done. I couldn't do it. A couple times I started to make my way through the endless rows of apple trees. But my nerve always failed me and I returned to the Everfree.

The Wood Wolves no longer roam my part of the forest. They know better than to challenge me. Every few years I'd have to pick one or two off to remind them to stay away, but otherwise, we leave each other alone.

As for the other monsters in the forest; I've learned what places to avoid.

Fluttershy found me, eventually, living in the ruins of the Everfree castle. I suspect Mr. Bear played some role in her finding me. His heart is always in the right place, but he's not the brightest tool in the shed.

It was Fluttershy that taught me to read and write, something she was astounded I was capable of learning. Apparently I'm something of the Neighonardo of animals. He was some Renaissance era pony. Famous painter, sculptor, engineer, and magician.

One day Fluttershy arrived with Twilight beside her, and saddlebags filled with books. Twilight watched me warily, her eyes showing a mix of distrust and anger. She had figured out that Fluttershy was up to something when the pegasus kept checking out odd or unusual books. On a hunch, Twilight had followed Fluttershy until she saw the pegasus meet me in an open field. She'd almost rushed out straight away to protect her friend, but had stopped when Fluttershy had laid down beside me, opened a book and started reading it to me.

Twilight didn't visit me much, once or twice with Fluttershy. Both times were when Fluttershy was heavy with her first foal. Fluttershy would laugh and say that Twilight was afraid that I'd go back to my natural ways. It had been many years even by that point since I'd felt the call of my instincts strongly. Twilight's fears were perhaps natural given what she knew I had done.

Then there is Zecora.

If I have a friend other than Fluttershy and Mr. Bear, it's Zecora. I've had to be careful over the years visiting her, mostly as Apple Bloom was her apprentice for a while. Since Apple Bloom 'graduated' it's been easier to visit the zebra herbalist. There were a few close calls where Apple Bloom almost walked in on my and Zecora having a discussion about the forest, or the weather, or one of many sundry topics.

Her rhymes and stories never failed to brighten my day, and I did my best to keep the real threats of the forest she called home at bay.

This story is rambling, I know. I get like this when I am nervous. I suppose I should finish this before I start recounting the adventures Mr. Bear and I have had over the years. The idea's that get into that bear's head...

I'm dying. I'm old, very old, and I know that I won't see another spring. My vision has become poor, my hearing is failing, and it's been months since I stalked anything other than the fish Fluttershy brings.

I've asked Fluttershy to bring Apple Bloom this journal after I have passed on. Maybe, with it, she'll understand why I did what I did.

If you're reading this, Apple Bloom, I hope that you can forgive me.

~Mr. Cat

Epilogue

Tiger Bloom

Epilogue

The wind gently caressed Apple Bloom's long mane, the rich red hairs dancing in its playful grasp, even as they were pulled back and tied in an identical manner as her sister. She looked over the side of the sky-carriage down at the endless sea of green treetops of the Everfree, a little frown tugging at her lips. They weren't that high, underneath the clouds, but at just the right elevation where she could spot key details.

Below, twisting and turning like a drunk snake, was the Everfree River. A flash of purple showed the river serpent, Steven Magnet, as he merrily swam along. Looking up, Steven gave the carriage a wave and yelled a greeting. Apple Bloom returned the wave.

Far to the left an open field of flowers surrounded the yawning mouth of the Everfree Dragon's cave. Thin tendrils of smoke occasionally drifted up into the sky as the dragon napped. He had mellowed over the years, and had even taken to teaching Spike about draconian history. An abrupt change from the only time Apple Bloom had ever met the dragon.

Another open space of glinting white, broken only by the trunk of an ugly black tree that looked as if it had once been set on fire, came into view. In the tree's branches sat an equally ugly black crow, the bird's beady red eyes peering up at Apple Bloom. She suppressed a shiver and unconciously rubbed her shoulder. It had never properly healed, and she still sometime had moments to hours of shooting pain that would make her limp and curse. Luckily, it hadn't effected her work on the farm, and she'd just grit her teeth, take some of her pain medication, and carry on.

Movement in the trees drew her gaze, a pack of Timber Wolves leaping and bounding after a deer. Apple Bloom said a silent prayer to Celestia, asking that the deer would escape. Even after all these years, she still hated the wolves. They crashed through the trees and then slowed, looking up at the carriage as it passed, and the deer got away.

A wide groaning chasm swept beneath them, a well maintained wooden bridge crossing its expanse. The chasm's depths were hidden by a rolling thick cloud of fog, but Apple Bloom didn't need to see the bottom to know it was filled with jagged rocks and broken trees with a small stream trickling past.

"Where are you taking me?" she called, cupping her mouth with her hooves to shout over the wind to the two pegasus' pulling the carriage.

Turning to look over her shoulder, Rainbow Dash shouted back, "Just wait and see, AB! We're almost there!"

Almost as soon as she'd finished responding,they began to descend. Frowning a little, Apple Bloom saw that they were headed towards the old ruins of the Everfree Castle. She wondered why they were taking her there, and on such a chilly fall day. She should be back at Sweet Apple Acres helping with the last of the harvesting. Winter was coming quicker than usual this year, and if they didn't hurry all the apples wouldn't be harvested in time.

But it had been Applejack, of all ponies, who had practically thrown Apple Bloom into the back of the carriage, with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy already hitched to its reigns. A sputtering series of protests had left Apple Bloom's lips, mostly centered on the harvest, or who would look after the foals if both her and Fluttershy were going to be gone for the day. Applejack had just waved off the protests, said that she and Mac had managed to harvest just fine when Apple Bloom was younger, and that Twilight was coming over with her own foal to look after Fluttershy's.

It seemed like a well planed and co-ordinated attack had been launched on any protests or objections Apple Bloom could conjure, and so, still grumbling about losing a day, she'd sat with crossed hooves as the carriage had lifted into the air and out over the Everfree.

Tires bouncing a little as the carriage touched down on the old moss covered stone of the castle's courtyard, Apple Bloom got her first look at the structure in years. A lot had changed. Some pony had been keeping the place up and repairing it, she quickly realised as she stepped out of the carriage while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash helped each other out of their harnesses.

Walls had been restored, pathways cleared, and a beautiful flower garden planted around a statue of Princesses Luna and Celestia. Mouth hanging slightly open, Apple Bloom moved around, gently lifting some of the flowers, or poking various places in the walls where it was obvious that old stones had been replaced and mortar applied.

"Is this where you've been going every Sunday, Fluttershy?" Apple Bloom asked in wonder.

Smiling a little half-hearted smile, Fluttershy nodded.

"This way, Apple Bloom," Fluttershy said, waving for the younger mare to follow.

Rainbow Dash leaned up against the carriage pulling out a Daring Do book from a bag. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask why Rainbow Dash was staying behind.

"So, Fluttershy, mind telling me what's going on now?" Apple Bloom asked as they entered the old hall that lead to the castle's throne room.

Again, Fluttershy didn't answer the question.

They passed through the hall into the throne room quickly. Once, so long ago, it had hosted a battle between a mad goddess returned from exile and six brave mares. Then its windows had been mostly shattered, the roof filled with holes, and the floor slick with wet sludge.

Now, however, the shards of stained glass had been removed from the ground and the window frames. In their place, plain white panes of glass let shafts of light into the chamber of dark basalt. The floor was dry and swept, thanks to the repaired roof overhead. Apple Bloom just blinked at the transformation that had happened to the castle in the years since the only time she'd ever seen it.

But most curiously of all were the pictures that covered the walls, the bookcases covered in thick encyclopedia volumes and books, and the odd devices that rested everywhere. There was a largish half-wagon, half-ship, a tarp covering most of the back and a mast leaning against its side. Beyond it was a strange contraption that sort of resembled Pinkie's flying machine, but with seats of every size, from those for mice to ones fit for an Alicorn.

Tools littered the floor in one corner of the throne room, and a work-table and bench had been set up where the throne itself should have been. Half finished projects littered the table, and Apple Bloom was tempted to go and investigate.

Some of the pictures showed Angel, or one of his many sons, and other small woodland critters. A few had the great big cuddly grizzly bear that occasional came onto the farm to get a massage from Fluttershy. But most had an orange and black striped face that Apple Bloom could never forget. In each picture his head was turned in such a way that only his right side was visible.

Questions rising in her throat, Apple Bloom snapped her eyes away from the pictures and instead continued to follow her sister-in-law.

Up a set of stairs they went, winding higher and higher until they reached the top of the castle's only remaining tower. There they came to a wide landing, one filled with animals.

Angel Jr. sat there, a white handkerchief held in his paws and dabbing at his eyes. The ancient rabbit, on seeing Fluttershy, shoved the tear stained cloth behind his back and tried to look stoic. His expression came across pinched, like some pony had stolen his last carrot. Around him were squirrels, a beaver, a great big moose whose antlers rapt against the ceiling, two horned owls, and Mr. Bear. The last looked away from a closed wooden door and towards Apple Bloom. Ambling over, he nuzzled the much smaller pony, and through the contact Apple Bloom could feel the silent sobs the old bear tried to contain.

Looking at all the gathered animals a sense of dread engulfed Apple Bloom. Turning to Fluttershy, she asked, "Sis, what's going on, and tell me the truth."

Fluttershy just looked a little sad, and pushed open the door.

"You should come in and see for yourself."

The feeling of dread growing, Apple Bloom did as she was asked.

Inside she found a cozy fire crackling away in the tower's hearth. Curtains had been drawn over the only window, creating a dark, and yet somehow welcoming atmosphere. More bookshelves lined the walls, the spines of tomes bulging and spilling onto the floor. Next to a bed containing a suspiciously large lump was a writing desk, a single brown leather book resting open upon it, a quill and bottle of ink laying at its side. A weaved carpet covered the floor, muting the two ponies steps.

But more surprising still was Zecora sitting on a cushion between the fire and the bed. Long ago she had stopped wearing her mane in the sharp mohawk, instead if fell about her neck and shoulder in a cascade of silvery-white.The Zebra looked up, and her blue eyes twinkled as she nodded to her old apprentice. There was a bag of herbal medicine beside her, and she dabbed a cloth on the out of sight occupant of the bed.

Apple Bloom stood just inside the room as Fluttershy crossed over to Zecora and shared a quick whispered word.

"He does not have long left I fear, the endless sleep draws quickly near."

A little sad whimper escaped Fluttershy at Zecora's words, and she nodded slowly.

"Apple Bloom, would you like to come over here, please? It's really important."

Her heart was beating so loud in her chest Apple Bloom was certain that the animals waiting outside could hear it. Suspicions of what she would find raced through her head as Apple Bloom put first one hoof, and then another, forward. Before she knew it, she was at the beds side and looking down at someone she thought she'd never again see.

Orange fur had become almost white with age along his muzzle, and the tiger took only slow very shallow breaths. He rolled over in his sleep revealing a terrible scar that covered over a quarter of his head. Apple Bloom put a hoof over her mouth to contain her voice as she stared at the remnants of that day so long ago.

A day she had tried so hard to forget, but never could.

"H-how long have you known he was here?" she asked, a gentle hoof stroking the tiger's head. A head she'd once proudly rode upon.

"Eleven years," Fluttershy replied, her voice so quiet Apple Bloom wouldn't have heard her without years of practice and time around the shy pegasus.

"Eleven years," Apple Bloom repeated. "Ah never expected... I always thought he... H-he was so beat up, and Ah was so angry, and..."

Tears fell from Apple Bloom's eyes, staining the covers and the tiger's neck.

She wanted to be angry at all three of them; Zecora, Fluttershy, and the tiger. Apple Bloom certainly had been angry at the tiger for many years. How many times had she dreamed and fantasised about this meeting? The things she'd say to him, maybe kick him, and then she'd be free of her demons. But as she looked down on his sunken face, Apple Bloom found that all the anger just halted. It didn't vanish. Years of pent up anger didn't just disappear in a moment, as much as she wished it could.

His eye flickered, and the emerald orb opened. Where once it had been lustrous and full of power and life, now it was hazy and milky. It first went to Zecora, then to Fluttershy, and finally Apple Bloom. It stayed on her for a moment, genuine confusion swimming through the haze, and then the tiger went rigid, the pupil dilating in fear.

He began to speak, his voice a slow torpid rumble that Apple Bloom had never forgotten.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay. I brought her here. It's okay," Fluttershy said, taking the tiger's head in her hooves and stroking his face so softly his fur hardly moved beneath her touch. "You need this, she needs this. You both have to let it go."

Apple Bloom didn't know what to say. Here, before her after so many long years, was the animal that had both saved her, and scarred her. The sight of him flying through the trees, bringing down those three strange not-ponies, it had never left her. She still woke up some nights screaming, though they had become farther and farther apart as the years passed.

But she never would have made it out of that forest without him.

The conflicted swirl of emotions was almost too much, a lump in her throat stealing Apple Bloom's voice. So, she just laid her head against his neck and cried. For minutes or hours she stayed like that, sobs wracking her body as years of pent up emotion finally found release. A hoof touched her shoulder, and Apple Bloom lifted her puffy red eyes to look over to Zecora.

The zebra had also been crying, which partly confused Apple Bloom. Why was she even here? How long had she known about the tiger as well?

A rumble from the tiger made Apple Bloom look back to him. Both of his eyes were open, and Apple Bloom could see that his other eye was almost entirely milky and blind. He said something again, then looked to Fluttershy expectantly.

"H-he, he says that he wants you to know that he is sorry. That he has tried many times to visit you, but he just couldn't, that he was too much of a coward."

Apple Bloom gave a wet snort.

"He's not a coward. He was the bravest pony Ah ever met. The things he did to keep me safe those few days."

Fresh tears began to trickle down her face.

Again, the tiger spoke, Fluttershy translating.

"He wants you to have his journals. He says that maybe you'll be able to understand, even if you still can't forgive him."

A little smile crossed Apple Bloom's lips, the mare leaning down to kiss the tiger on the cheek.

"Ah forgive you," she whispered.

The tiger looked shocked for a moment, then he smiled, and was gone. He fell back and seemed to shrink into the covers and pillow, the last remnants of light leaving his eyes. Apple Bloom clutched him and just cried, listening as Fluttershy and Zecora joined her, their hooves wrapping around and engulfing her in loving warmth.

After a while, Apple Bloom got up. Where her head had rested the covers and become soaked and clammy. The other animals had entered the room at some point, and sat at the foot of the bed. Trotting to the desk, she closed the journal.

On its face was written only a few words.

Tiger Bloom, by Anonymous

Picking up the journal, she clutched it to her chest.

A short while later she and Fluttershy made their way back to the carriage. Rainbow Dash didn't say anything as the two mares approached. She just nodded in understanding, gave them both a hug, and then started the preparations for the flight home.

The flight home was quiet and sullen. Apple Bloom looked down at the worn journal in her hooves, and the others taken from inside the desk. A few times she thought about just tossing them over the side, that she didn't need to know the tiger's side of things. He had done what he had done, and murdered those three not-ponies. Nothing could change that.

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to do it. There was something sacred about the journals. She had been entrusted with their safety.

That night, in front of the roaring fire in the Apple Family homestead, surrounded by her sister, brother, nieces, and Fluttershy, Apple Bloom opened the first journal, and began to read.

The End

Part Three: Among the Blue Petals

Tiger Bloom

Part Three

That afternoon I dreamt, and I remembered.

The first thing I noticed as the haze of the dream fell into the more solid shapes of memories was the crowd of brightly coloured creatures watching me from the far side of an empty moat. Their side was raised a few feet higher than mine so that they looked down on me, guarded by an iron fence. Behind me was a tall stone wall that curved around to meet the ends of ramps leading down into the moat.

I was a prisoner.

Just as I was finishing my observation of my surroundings a shrill shriek followed by a collective gasp from the far side of the moat ripped through my ears. The dream was filled briefly with a short little tearing sound of fabric being ripped. My head snapping towards the sounds, I saw a large ebony creature looking down into the moat. But of more interest was that all the other creatures were looking into the moat and not at me. On a prong at the top fence danced a scrap of pink in the gentle afternoon breeze.

A second shrill scream filled the memory, this time coming from the bottom of the moat. Blinking in surprise I realised that someone was in the moat; my moat. From the depths of the memory I felt an alien thought surface, one that wondered if large ebony creature had given me a treat. Smiling a curved smile, I stood eliciting a collective gasp and fearful murmur from the growing crowd of creatures. To my left I saw another orange and black shape also begin to move.

Czarina.

The name came clear into my mind in the dream along with another word.

Sister.

Side by side the two of us made our way to the edge of the moat. The spindly creatures went silent at our approach. The large ebony one had started to climb the fence, but was being held back by three others.

“Brother, this is new,” Czarina's tail flicked with excitement as she reached the edge of the moat and looked down on a sobbing pink and milky brown girl.

“I don’t like new. Caretakers only ones that enter territory. They wait until we sleep in den,” I responded with my ears flat.

I could feel the uncertainty and fear towards the caretakers bubbling through my more primal self. I wish I could have asked Czarina about the caretakers; who or what were they? What were these creatures? Why did they keep us as prisoners? Questions I couldn’t voice as Czarina and I descended into the moat.

Above us the collectively held breath of the creatures broke into a torrent of jeers and shouting. An aluminum can connected with my shoulder bouncing harmlessly next to my massive paws. Looking up at the wall of colour above me, I felt a wave of anger directed at my tormentors. Ears back I let a roar rumble towards the top of the moat. A few of the creatures flinched, but most continued to wave their arms and shout.

They are trying to drive my sister and me away from the girl, I realised. She wasn’t supposed to be here. The large ebony male was trying to scale the fence again, his mouth was practically frothing as he yelled and screamed. The others could no longer hold him back and as a second collective gasp escaped the crowd he tumbled down into my moat.

Now I could feel the deep thrum of thoughts that were incensed, and strangely excited.

This was new, and while it was true I didn’t like new, this had become a good kind of new. This was interesting. My territory was being invaded and I could actually defend it. My muscles burned in anticipation and my smile grew wider as I growled at the large ebony creature.

“The Caretakers aren’t going to be happy,” Czarina growled from her belly as she began to circle around the two intruders.

“Caretakers aren't here,” I snarled in response drawing out a questioning look from my sister.

“What of Caretaker Selena? She will be angry,” teased Czarina as she stood on the opposite side of the creatures.

Caretaker Selena; the name conjured a wave of images of a lithe pale skinned female creature smiling at me. Something about her made me a little weak in the knees. Maybe it was the way she’d reach through the chain links that formed my cage and bed in the cave behind my territory to scratch me behind the ears. Or it could be how she'd hold me in her lap when I was a cub while she read. She was the only caretaker that wasn’t afraid of me and one of the few caretakers I remember as an individual, all the others being an amalgam of grey and silence.

But not Selena. She had even sat in my little cage when I was ill and too weak to pose a threat. Her firm nimble fingers kneading the sore tender spots in my neck and shoulders, she sang to me all evening as my body fought the disease. When not off doing whatever it was caretakers did she spent much of her time with my sister and me. Czarina politely ignored my infatuation with Selena.

As the wave of deeper memories passed, I saw that the male had picked up the girl. I presume she was his offspring. What a fool for letting her fall into my territory. He was trying to shield her with his thick arms while looking for a way past my sister and me. Claws clicked on the hard white surface of the moat as my smile widened.

“Kill gets rock for one moon?” Czarina asked licking her chops.

“ I already own rock,” I snarled even as I shifted my back legs to get ready to pounce.

Huffing derisively Czarina said, “I could take rock any time I want.”

“No, I am stronger,” I stated judging the short distance between me and my target.

As Czarina began another verbal jab I leapt with a roar.

“Hey! Not fair!” she yelled as I impacted on the male.

Wrapping my paws around his broad back I smothered the girl’s screams in the fur of my chest. He was large and muscular among the creatures, but still only half my own size and weight. Coupled with trying to shield his offspring there was no contest in this fight, if it could be called one. Mouth wide my head darted down as the crowd above let out a torrent of noise. Through my teeth I felt the rapid pulse of the male. Still smiling I bit down.

It was then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of pink tied in a bow holding back rich brown hair.

Roaring I erupted out of the dream and back into the forest my eyes flying open wide.

“Mr. Cat, Mr. Cat, are yah alright?” came the frightened voice of Apple Bloom.

Momentarily confused by the change from dream to reality I looked around for the ebony male or crowd expecting to still be in the moat. Instead all I saw were the little fingers of golden light filtering through the branches high above and the little filly with the torn pink ribbon, a torn pink ribbon with a couple splotches of grey on its surface. Sniffing I detected the distinct metallic aroma of blood. Someone had been bleeding. Shifting my weight I realised it had been me.

"I'm alright, Apple Bloom," I grunted wiping away the remnants of sleep from my eyes. "I was just having a bad dream, or memory.

Apple Bloom looked up at me with her large golden eyes, head tilted to one side. Kicking a hoof at a couple stones she asked, "Uh, are those growls yah talking?"

I looked at her for a long moment after her words registered.

She couldn't understand me.

Which made sense. She was far more vocal and I can't form words in the same method. I thought back on her body language when she had been talking earlier. After considering the past conversations I gave my head a nod.

"Oh," she said, her ears laying flat. "But yah can understand me, right?"

Again I nodded.

"Well, that's good, ah guess," she said, then her ears suddenly perked up an excited light coming to her eyes. "Hey, that means ah can talk with animals, like Fluttershy! Maybe talking with animals is my special talent!"

Lifting up a hind leg she peered at her flank. After several seconds her shoulders slumped.

"Aw, phoey. Ah'm never going to get my Cutie Mark."

"What's a 'Cutie Mark'?" I asked in my peculiar combination of growls, facial expressions, and tail twitches.

Canting her head at my indecipherable question, Apple Bloom asked, "Yah're asking about Cutie Marks, ah suppose, right?"

Once more, I nodded. At least I could give her an affirmative. It was something.

A half-hour later I was so glad I had asked about 'Cutie Marks' as Apple Bloom finished describing every insane plan conceivable she and her two friends had tried. I was amazed by her descriptions of such things as 'zip-lining' or 'gliding'. The image of Apple Bloom suspended beneath a piece of yellow and red cloth, descending like an eagle, made me laugh.

Laughing, I found, hurt.

Looking down at my chest I saw Apple Bloom had created and placed a compress of leaves against the long cut I’d received from the dragon’s tail. The green of the compress had become mostly grey as I bled. This was bad, very bad, I realised. We had to keep moving if we wanted to avoid the wolves, and probably an irate dragon as well now.

“Don’t yah worry none, Mr. Cat, Ah took care of yah while yah slept,” the Apple Bloom said proudly. “Ah found some Healwort moss,” the filly continued, puffing out her chest and pointing a hoof at the compress. “Zecora showed me how to collect and apply it. Yah should be good as new in a day or two.”

She had such a happy honest smile that I couldn’t bring myself to shatter her victory. We couldn’t wait there while I healed. We needed to put some more distance between us and the dragon's cave, and those wolves showed an unhealthy determination to track us. I had little doubt that if any of them survived the dragon they’d re-group and begin the hunt anew. It’s what I would do if the positions were reversed.

Slowly I rose to my weary paws letting the soiled compress fall to the forest floor. At once Apple Bloom was in front of me glaring with those bright golden eyes.

“Oh no yah don’t!” she admonished and I felt my ears flick back in embarrassment. “Yah ain’t in no condition to be running about.”

I could have protested, but she wouldn't have understood anything I said. Checking the wound I saw to my surprise that it was closed with a healthy looking scab. I’d not want to do anything too strenuous in case it re-opened but I was sure that I’d be able to keep a decent pace without too much to worry about. Smiling at this development, I was fully expecting to have to find a better hiding place while the wound closed enough to allow travel.

Motioning with a paw for Apple Bloom to follow, I headed off.

“Ah don’t think this is a good idea, Mr. Cat,” she sighed walking along beside me. “Yah really should rest a bit longer and let the Healwort do its work.”

I shook my head, and even though I knew it would be meaningless to her, I said, "We can't stay that close to the cave. The dragon will be able to smell my blood. I'm surprised it hasn't found us already."

"Ah hope that was yah saying yah think Ponyville is this way."

Apple Bloom's remark didn't register as over and over the memories replayed themselves in my head. I wondered what had happened to the girl with the pink ribbon in her hair. The memory of biting was clear in my mind. But what had happened afterwards? Had I gone after the girl after mauling her father? The similarities between the girl and the filly didn’t escape my notice.

That gave me a moment of pause. What precisely was I doing? Was I trying to get Apple Bloom home? Sate my own curiosity? Why hadn't I eaten Apple Bloom yet, and would I when I fully understood the mystery of my past. I had two clues, my reaction to the bow in her mane, and the still lingering image of the bow in the dream. But it wasn't enough. I hadn't felt anything killing the rabbit and mice the previous night. There was no reason attacking one of those things that kept me trapped would affect me any differently. Food is food, and prey to be hunted.

Was it some latent guilt that compelled me to save the filly and protect her? Was I even capable of feeling guilty? I believe I am, but how am I to know? It’s not like I can say ‘Yes, I feel guilt!’ if I have no conception of what the emotion truly feels like.

After pondering matters for several minutes I couldn't come to any clear decisions. For the time being I'd continue onwards, and maybe the Fates would help sort it out.

Now that I was awake and back on my paws I was becoming aware of my old friend, hunger. A few rodents and a rabbit really wasn’t enough with all the running and trudging I was doing. As I began to make my way east I hoped that Apple Bloom had been smart and found herself something to eat. At least unlike me it was relatively easy for her.

At some point Apple Bloom had scampered back onto my shoulders. She really enjoyed the view the added height provided, humming slightly off-key as she rested her head on top of mine.

I was so lost in my thoughts I failed to keep track of where I was going. One paw moved in front of the other in an automatic motion as I wandered through the forest. Apple Bloom had fallen asleep resting on my back lulled into peaceful slumber by the rhythmic motion of my shoulders. She had even started to snore. It was so cute my heart almost collapsed in on itself.

Half-way through a patch of lovely blue flowers that clung like a dense carpet to the forest floor beneath the shading arms of trees the wolves caught up to us. They were learning, no longer howling when they caught our scent. Apple Bloom snapped awake as growling began to filter through the trees as the pack closed in for the kill. With my wound I wasn’t keen on running or fighting and for once found myself at a loss as what action to take.

The wolves were pounding down the path towards us. I had only moments to decide what to do but my brain was stuck helplessly spinning in circles. Then the wolves stopped dead in their tracks at the edge of the patch of flowers. Giving the flowers a wide berth they started to pace back and forth snarling and growling at the filly and me. To say I was dumbfounded would be an understatement. The wolves had us dead to rights, and yet they had stopped.

Then Apple Bloom looked down and shrieked.

“Poison Joke! Yah’re standing in Poison Joke!” she yelped trying to climb higher on my back to escape the flowers.

Now I was really confused. Why were the wolves and the filly so scared of some silly flowers? Oh, how I wish I had known then what I know now. I’d have been climbing the nearest tree in blind panic if I had understood just why the denizens of the forest avoid that devilish little flower. Instead I just turned and started to trot away from the wolves at a slightly quicker pace, but not enough to endanger re-opening the wound.

Seeing me get away the smallest, and I presume youngest, of the wolves let out a snarl and gave chase through the flowers. It made it only a few steps before it stopped dead in its tracks. Giving out a yelp the Wood Wolf fell to the forest floor. I stopped to watch in curious bemusement. The other wolves stood at the edge of the flowers watching their pack member.

My mouth dropped open a moment later as the young wolf raised itself back up out of the flowers. Branches sprouted from its side even as its four legs grew longer reaching towards the hidden sky. Leaves and orange blossoms bloomed along the new branches. In the space of a few moments the wolf had become a true tree, only the slight remnant of its face showing in the bark to indicate that it had ever been anything else.

Now I was afraid of the flowers.

Wolves made of wood and dragons are one thing, but flowers that can turn you into a tree? That is just terrifying! Finally understanding Apple Bloom's fear I was running, wound or no wound. The flowers seemed to stretch on forever away from the wolves. It was a trick of the panic reaching into the deepest part of my brain, but it felt like forever before I emerged from the far side flowers.

In the distance the wolves were howling as they mourned the loss of two pack members in one day. Me, I was busy making sure my fur wasn’t turning into bark or sprouting leaves and flowers. The filly jumped off my back scratching at her own limbs and shuddering at the idea of being in a patch of the blue flower. We both eventually calmed down. Nothing seemed to be out of place. I wasn’t turning into a tree and neither was she.

I actually let myself believe that I’d be fine.

It’d just be a little while before that evil little flower would play its ‘joke’ on me.