A Trim Reckoning

by cxzyzx

Rating: mature
Tags: Romance, Slice of Life, Sad
Length: 5736

A vagrant pony stays the night at SAAcres in return for food and board, things and stuff happen.

When a homeless pony wanders up to Sweet Apple Acres in hopes of scoring a meal and night's shelter he doesn't expect anything more than that, but as his relationship to the Apple family develops, and Applejack in particular, his old ties and harsh memories clash with new emotions, causing serious introspection. At the same time, a group of foreigners search for him, seeking payment of debts owed.

Shooped some ponies from the Pony Creator onto here for the cover.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-24 01:34:02 UTC

Chapter 1

It was Applebloom who saw him first. As she had been keeping watch on the downpour outside, a wandering pegasus pony came trotting up the road towards Sweet Apple Acres, bedraggled in the furious storm yet somehow retaining his dignity. Even dripping wet, the stranger had an air of mystery, as if hiding some secret.

"Applejack! Big Mac! There's someone comin' up to the house!" Her ribbon shifted as she bounced away from the window, exuberant to meet somepony new. It was perfect timing, right as her big brother and sister clopped into the room there was a gentle hoof-tap on the door.

Applejack swung the port open and blinked in surprise as her greeting stuck in her throat. A strange pony pulled down a soaking hood to reveal a shockingly white mane, a color not often seen on youthful ponies yet this one was clearly in the prime of his years. His coat was a deep pine, carrying with it the musky scent of spacious forests and crunching needles.

Blinking once, the stranger filled in the silence. "Hello good pony-folk, I'm looking for a place to stay the night, to weather this storm. I'd be more than willing to work for lodging and a meal if you'd put me up"

Regaining her voice, Applejack challenged, "You don't look like much of an apple bucking pony to me with those wings on your back."

"I'd be more than happy to do anything I could"

Stepping in, Big Mac interjected, "Of course we'd be happy to house you, but the storm isn't scheduled to end for another day. Also, we don't have any spare rooms so you'd have to stay in the barn."

With genuine warmth in his voice, the stranger replied, "I'm Flaming Feather, though I go by Flame, It's awfully kind of you.."

"We're the Apples. I'm Applejack, this here 's Big Mac and Applebloom," The orange pony had regained her courtesy, "I'd be glad to show you to your place if you want to dry off, supper's in an hour and Granny Smith isn't prone to latecomers."

"I thank you, miss, but feel free to stay out of the rain. I passed it on the way in, I'm sure I can find my way. I'll see all of you good folk around the table." With a smile and a slight bow, the pegasus turned back towards the gloomy outdoors.

He returned to the farmhouse at precisely 5 minutes before the appointed hour, taking care to keep his hooves clean of mud by hovering across the short distance from the barn. As he pushed through the door, the warm aroma of freshly baked apples filled his nostrils, stirring the air in his stomach and causing it to grumble hungrily.

"Well ya ain't that handsome but at least, according to yer stomach, ya got good taste in food."

     "Applebloom!" Entering the foyer from the next room behind the small filly, Applejack snapped, "don't you go on bein' rude in front of guests!"

The youngest pony stuck her tongue out at her big sister resiliantly, replying cooly, "At least I'm not the one goin' on about him when he's not here..."

"Why you little..." The orange mare scooped her small sister up in her hooves and put her in a light headlock, rubbing her on the noggin as a lesson.

The two broke apart, laughing with genuine sisterly love, and Feather felt a stirring in his body, something indescribable that touched a part of his soul. Perhaps it was that he had never experienced the closeness of family in this way, at least not since he had been very little. To be within the radius of affection that obviously surrounded the rural family was certainly disorienting.

"Well the meal should be ready then," Applejack said, turning to lead the others into the dining room. Following them in, the green pegasus saw that a grand table was spread: There were baked fritters and steaming pies, crisp green salads and hors d'oeuvres of every type of flower. A bottle of sparkling cider sat at every plate but Applebloom's, the fermented drink being the favorite of the family. Around the room hung impressionistic landscapes of the acres before it had been settled as well as family portraits of tens of ponies done in thick, glossy oils.

"Well if eet isn't the dashin' newcomer in town! I hope ya like apples young colt, 'cause that's what's up for sup!"

Blushing slightly at the fact that he had been referred to as a 'young colt', Flaming Feather replied to the wizened and wrinkled elder of the Apples.

"Apparently you know me then," he laughed, "you must be the famed Granny Smith, recognized over all of Equestria as the matron of the greatest apple products made." He followed the grandiose statement with a smile and flourish.

"Oooho look at this one! He's cute and he knows how to flatter, I think he's a keeper! Ahahaha..." The old pony cackled, but then faded as she forgot what she was laughing at. Flame took a seat across from Applejack, between Big Mac and Applebloom, smiling at the eccentric senior.

For the next hour and a half, the ponies socialized, making small talk over multiple courses of heartwarming food. It was as the last crumbs were disappearing, with dregs swirling in the bottom of the cider bottles, that the guest declared, "After a long day spent a'wandering in the rain and then this meal fit for a king, I don't think I could stay up another half hour and be able to make it back to the barn! If you kind folk would be so good as to excuse me, I would turn in for the night to be up right whenever you need me."

By now, Applejack, Applebloom, and Granny Smith were all facedown on the table, snoring lightly, having gorged themselves and (in the case of the mares) drank their fill. Big Mac solemnly turned to Flame and said, "That'll be fine. We're gonna start bright and early at the rising sun, I recommend you be ready a little before if you want to start with a clear head."

Feather heaved himself out of his seat, nodding at the powerful red stallion, and lumbered heavily out the door, swaying with the weight of his stomach. Without a moment wasted, he got to the barn and slammed himself down atop a bale of hay, the dark weight of sleep enclosing him immediately.

~-~-~-~-~-~

It was sundown when they came plodding into Ponyville territory, long necks bobbing with their great lumbering gait. A family of four girrafes, two adults and two maturing calfs, approached the outskirts of the villiage, though they were stopping to make camp for the night. Their heads resembled a normal equine's, although they had two nubs like horns atop their skullcaps. Though their hoofprints were relatively the same size as any good pony's, their legs, knobby and jutted, were stretched to three or four times the ordinary length and in the end they towered over their smaller relatives. Their yellowing hides were dappled with orange and strung across their broad backs were saddlebags woven intricately from their own tail hair, strangely colored with petals from dried plants incorporated into elaborate, swirling designs.

At the outskirts of Ponyville, the lolloping caravan of four halted to discuss their plans for action. The apparent leader smacked his thick, drooping lips loudly before drawling out in  foreign, halting tones, "I am thinking we have finally caught up with him, this oathbreaker, for this place holds to him many deep memories in his heart and body. I should say he has stopped here to rest for awhile."

"Your reasoning seems sound, Consumnate, but how can we hope to find him among hundreds of other dirt-hair eaters?"

Noting his wife's verbiage, the dominant hoof-bearer stated, "It is true that these consumers of the green beneath our feet have strange ways, no doubt shall we seem odd to them as well. I have roamed this far out of our lands once before and never have these... Equines be overtly unhelpful. They are a peaceful folk."

Snorting mild contempt at her mate's optimism, the mother of the group shuffled her children in order, removing their packs and arranging their sleep-site for the drizzling night. As the young fell asleep, the chieftian murmured softly to his wife, "Do not worry àmi, we will collect what is ours."

~-~-~-~-~-~

A jumble of images flashed across his mind's eye as he tossed in his sleep: His mother, her mane tangled unnaturally, her face swollen with bruises as she lay unmoving in the corner of the room; a whiskey bottle of Johnny Trotter, smashed open on the hardwood and bleeding its fiery contents through the floorboards, rotting down to the foundations of his home. He saw his childhood friends, two pegasi fillies gaping in delight as he took his wings fully for the first time on his own.

There was one image among the others that stood out, the one that he would remember upon waking, shivering and covered in sweat. It was his father's stern face, looming, his thick eyebrows beetled together in anger though his eyes were blurry with drink. It was his frown, his scowl as he looked down at his son who was just stirring from sleep as he felt the weight of the stare, the full grown stallion angered at the thought that contentment could exist without his participation.

Flaming Feather slid his eyes open as his nightly terror faded, realizing as he did every time he woke, that his demons lay far in the past, and thank Celestia for that. If they hadn't, no doubt he wouldn't have been able to function.

The green pegasus picked himself out of the pile of hay, his joints creaking as he stretched the sleep-tension out of them. He had woken before the rooster call, yet when he stepped outside the barn for some fresh air, the sky was lightening. He could see, just barely, small dots that could be pegasi whirling and kicking away clouds to reveal the deep navy blue of the pre-sunrise. It must be the early shift for the weather team he thought, digging up old memories on the order of Ponyville.

"I wonder if Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy are up there right now..." He pondered aloud over the thoughts of his foalhood friends.

"So ya know Fluttershy an' Rainbow?"

The green pony turned in surprise to see the one of his benefactors, the pretty blond mare of his age, regarding him with suspicion. Inwardly sighing at the natural suspicion of strangers, he replied, "Believe it or not, I lived near Ponyville until I was 9. I attended foal-flight school with both of them."

"I had no idea. So ya'll were friends back then?"

"Rainbow and I were always vying to be the first to 'get our wings', so to speak. We were practically inseparable."

Chuckling at the description of her friend's youth, Applejack replied, "Yep, that sure does sound an awful lot like her. I'm sorry for being so narrow-eyed at you, it's just that they're some of my best pals and I ain't ever heard about you from either of 'em." The orange mare tossed her mane, "anyhow, Celestia'll be bringin' the sun up soon so if you got a morning routine to take care of you'd best get her done 'cause sure enough we'll be workin' those pretty feathers off your wings," with a wink and a giggle Applejack sauntered back towards the farmhouse, a slight bounce in her step.

Flame reddened slightly as he lowered his eyes away from her swaying and enticing flank and thought, that pony is just too damned attractive for her own good.

~-~-~-~-~-~

He had never imagined that apple bucking could be more grueling, more difficult than any work he had done before, and he had taken all sorts of jobs, from deliveries to construction to weather work. When Applejack demonstrated the proper technique towards knocking down apples, he had shrugged it off- if this slight mare could, with her buck, shake down a full tree of apples, he hadn’t doubted himself, at least until he tried it for the first time. When a measly two apples fell off of the lowest branches at his first buck, Flaming Feather stared in disbelief, he had given that kick nearly his full power.

Applejack was roaring with laughter, her great bellows echoing around the strands of the pre-dawn grove, silent but for the pony’s guffaws.

"Well I don't get it, it's not like you're that much stronger than me..." He grumbled.

"Oh, you don't even know hon, it's not about how much force you put into it, it's about your angle of attack". Applejack was looking at him intently, as though trying to make up her mind about something.

"What do you mean exactly? I tried to kick level, is that not how it works?"

"Ya gotta get lower on your front hooves and aim upwards, like this," AJ crouched down next tree and balancing on her forehooves, bucked backwards, her legs shooting out like taut springs just set free. A rapid-fire of thuds accompanied a small bow with a tip of her hat, the apples stacking neatly in the buckets placed around the tree's trunk.

Flaming Feather was agape, furious at himself for being so inept. With a newfound determination, he went to an untouched tree and got low, winding his haunches for his strongest blow. This time, as his hooves connected with the bark, sending rough vibrations up the trunk and across the branches, he managed to shake loose about half of the tree's contents.

"Gah! I just can't get it right!" He stomped his hoof furiously on the ground, which squelched into the muck created by the previous night's rainshower. He had steam practically shooting out of his ears, angry that he should be so shamed in front of this wonderfully kind, attractive, personable pony.

"Whoa, take it easy there sugarcube," Applejack reddened slightly as she realized her habitual use of such an intimate title, "that was fan-tastic improvement!"

A shadow appeared over the two of them, the flap of pony-wings beating the air around them. Descending from the sky was a certain cyan mare, her rainbow mane streaming gloriously behind her as she made her dramatic appearance. She hit the ground with a *whump* and casually said, "Hey AJ, I just got done sending the workers home from the morning shift. I was swinging by, wondering if you had any plans for tonight? Pinkie Pie said that the Cake's were going to have some kind of party going on," Rainbow Dash cast a wandering eye over the green pegasus. Her face lit up as she recognized the pony standing before her, "Flaming Feather! NO. WAY. Is that really be you?!"

He beamed at his foalhood friend and replied, "    Long time no see, Rainbow Dash. That's a pretty sweet Cutie Mark you've got there. You're looking really... good". It was stunning. The mare had grown from an ornery and firey filly into a trim, sleek machine.

"Yeah," She peered over at his flank, "what's yours? I haven't seen you in SO long!"

"I've got a silver pheonix... I guess it's like yours in that we're both speedsters, huh?"

While the two friends caught up, Applejack looked on dimly, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Finally I thought I found a nice guy, honest and true to his word, somepony who appreciated the small details that make this ranch attractive to us Apples. How can I stand a chance though, if Rainbow's his best friend from the past, they're both Pegasi, and they both thrill off the same things? She sighed and resumed listening to their conversation.

"... can't today. I owe the Apple's a solid day's work, they gave me shelter and food during last night's storm."

Rainbow Dash glanced between her silent friend and her long lost one, with a look as if she was trying to puzzle something out. Eventually, she said, "Yeah well, if you're too scared to race me now that's cool. Maybe I'll see you guys around at the party tonight?"

Her senses recovered, Applejack replied, "Mos' likely we'll make an appearance, but Flame's right, there's lots of work to get done".

"Well you two have fun being lame, I guess I'm gonna go take Tank out for a fly since I got the rest of the day off. RAINBOW DASH OUT." And with that parting phrase, the athletic mare took off, streaking off into the deep sky.

"Ha ha, did she actually just refer to herself in third person? I'll never understand that pony", Feather shook his head in amusment. "We should get back to harvesting... I still haven't figured out tecnique quite properly."

Maybe I do still have a chance... Applejack thought but what she said was, "Yes indeedee, let's see you give it another shot"

Several hours and many scrapes and bumps  later, the ponies were resting together in the shade, their backs to the rough bark of an apple tree. A comfortable silence draped over the grove, the ponies companionable in their breaktime. Both were dozing off, leaning in slightly towards each other when suddenly Feather jumped up, "What the hay?" He brushed his shoulder off and onto his open hoof fell a green cicada, tiny as it had just hatched. He took it and put it back on the bark of the tree, contemplating, "Yesterday I crushed one of those underhoof... Yet I think this one should be here today."

Applejack said, "That's gotta be a weird life, someday he'll be squirrel food."

In an odd voice, Flame replied, "Yeah, but not before he sings a bunch and gets laid"

"Hah! I guess it's a pretty good one then" Applejack let out a silly giggle at the thought, wondering about the kind of pony who could think of such a thing, "So what were you up to after you left Ponyville?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence after these words. Finally, Flaming Feather said, "It's a long story..."

"I got time here, bud," She said good naturedly. Giving him a long stare, she noticed that he was shaking a little, as if struggling with himself. It's a shot in the dark but... "If it's that hard to talk about it's gotta be harder to keep bottled up tight, am I right?"

He gave her a helpless glance, his emotions overbearing. She had hit everything right on the head and was now offering a helping-hoof up out of the dark recess in his mind, at this point it would be harder to stay shut than to open up to such a good person. Taking a deep breath, he started.

"I lived on the outskirts of Ponyville for a lot of my childhood. When I was 9, my dad was fired from his delivery job for not showing up on time too many times. He always drank after work, and that probably had something to do with it, but it wasn't a problem until he lost the job. Without any way to support ourselves here in town, he took a job out in Manehattan, working in a train production assembly line. It was one day while I was at school... He hadn't gone into work again, I saw that he was still there in the morning, and my mom was arguing with him, telling him to go to work even if he was hungover and late. That was when I left the house. When I got home, I noticed that his work uniform was gone, that he had indeed gotten his act together. But that was when I saw my mom..." He choked up, unable to finish the sentence. He shut his eyes tightly, keeping the tears at bay. After a few breaths he regained his control and contined.

"That was when I saw her... covered in swollen bruises and sitting in a pool of red, her head hung limply at a strange angle. What could I do? I screamed in terror and a neighbor came over after hearing the racket. When she saw the scene she quickly took me to her place and squirrelled me away with warm blankets and food while she went to talk to the authorities. It was only a little later that I found out that in the same day, after my father had gotten to work late, he had been placed at a harder position and that there had been an accident. He got crushed by an engine, falling off a production line. Since then I've been living how you met me, wandering and working and exploring."

And that was all he could say. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the trunk of the tree as he let visions of the past flood over him.

The orange pony's face was drained of blood, pale and grim. "I don't even know what to sa-"

"There really isn't anything you can." His voice was flat, toneless and dead.

It was then, on a whim that she said, "Feather... I like you, y'know? You're nice and warm and sensitive... and it doesn't hurt that you're kinda cute. Especially when you're sad". She put all the hope she could into her voice.

"I uh..." Feather couldn't believe what he was hearing. What's this about? She likes me that much...?

"How about we go over to that party tonight, together?"

"You mean like, together together?" How on earth is this overwhelming the pain?

"I mean," Applejack said, taking a deep breath, "I want you to be my special somepony tonight".

The words sparked a blossom of warmth inside him, the flare whorling around his body like a vortex, making every nerve ending shout joyously. "Applejack... Yes." He gazed into her eyes and they felt their souls touch for the first time, hopefully not the last.

"Feather, come 'ere" The orange pony was stone-faced serious. He approached tentatively, matching her gaze. She brought a hoof to his cheek and drew him close. He could feel her warm breath on his face as he grew nearer and then he was there, his lips on hers for the first time. It was a moment of heaven and then they broke apart, after that promise of things to come. Shakily, Applejack said, "Well, we'd better get back to it, there's still plenty to be done"

Nodding at each other, again fortified, the ponies braced themselves for a few more hours of strenuous work.

"Alright then, that'll be the quota" Applejack wiped her brow with a hoof. "Let's get back to the house, I bet Granny Smith'll have somethin' to juice us up before the party"

Flaming Feather grinned at the thought of both refreshments and attendance of a party with Applejack as his companion. "Yeah, let's do it!"

As they entered the kitchen, they saw that Big Mac was already in there, stoicly destroying the food on his plate. When the red stallion noticed Flame, he lifted his head and said, "Thanks for your hard work today, I think we'd be happy to house you again tonight,"  and it was then, when Big Mac followed with, "you can stay 'till after breakfast tomorrow" that Feather realized just how much he loved the regular routine of a settled pony's life. Each morning they had a shared communion, a gathering of mutual love, rooted in their commitment to each other as family. It was a stark contrast to the gnawing in his belly that he had experienced on countless mornings and nothing like the bleak feeling his soul garnered upon waking up alone.

He glanced at Applejack and she shook her head slightly, as if to dissuade conversation about the next days until later. He nodded and sat down, getting to work on the plate of lily salad in front of him. After the light supper was over, he and AJ went their separate ways to freshen up for the party, agreeing to meet at the entrance to the farm as the sun was dipping out of the sky.

~-~-~-~-~-~

The shadows of everything tall were looming at the twilight time, casting themselves indiscriminately across anything passing nearby, when the pegasus and earth pony met at the gates to Sweet Apple Acres, ready to go on their date. Side by side, the two ponies hooves struck the cobbles with a sweet noise, a clip-clop that matched their heart's excitement at the comfort they felt with each other.

It was a silent walk towards Sugarcube Corner, the sort of silence that blankets a good night's sleep or a pristine morning sunrise. As they approached the square that held the party they could start to hear the throbbing of music vibrating through the dark roads and alleys as well as the bubble of laughter and voices that implied the existence of ponity nearby.

"Hey AJ," Feather nudged her shoulder with his head, pushing her just for the excuse to touch her. She looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eye, as if she had a surprise waiting. "What's that look for?"

Grinning, she said, "I was thinking we could skip the party and have one of our own," She smacked his flank with a hoof, "If you want to of course. OR we could go hang out with the girls, if you really think that's a better idea."

"I think you know the answer to that one, Applejack dear."

She enveloped him like a designer boot from Carousel Boutique over a hoof as he pushed into her. He reached full depth and the ponies lay entangled in that position, more than happy to inhale the closeness of each other, to feel each murmur of their bodies as they responded.

Applejack could feel his already-swollen member growing inside of her, exerting pressure that ramped up her hormones. Slowly she started moving her hips around his sensitive area, grinding them both into a state of passion. She took a hoof to his cheek and drew his muzzle towards her, reaching for another kiss. They connected lips and held the embrace, the mare's hips grinding faster and faster.

Feather withdrew his rod a few inches and started pumping in rhythm, his slick shaft disappearing and reappearing shinier each time. Applejack's eyes were half-lidded, her head rolling with each strong thrust, though they still kissed.

Finally, before he finished either himself or her, he pulled all the way out with a loud wet smack, stealing himself off Applejack's mouth, flipping her from her back to her belly. She lifted her tail and he spread her orange cheeks with his hooves, revealing her dripping plot.

He inhaled her heavy scent, cinnamon and apples mingling with the usual, arousing musk of a young marehood before running his tongue up and down her exposed slit. Her tail drooped back down over his head as she lost the concentration to keep it aloft; he was alone in her tender bits.

"Oh Feather, please put it back in..." Applejack pleaded with him. He smacked his lips as he disengaged with her lower set, not willing to disobey such an appealing request.

Again he plunged in, though with the angle causing less friction, he went deeper, faster. A loud moan escaped Applejack's mouth as she received her needs, her flesh crawling with pleasure as foals might scamper across a play structure.

His wings stood fully erect as he pushed firmly, harder, into Applejack's wet tunnel. With a great cry both ponies reached their climax simultaneously, their bodies jerking erratically as he shot his seed into her and she accepted it. Flaming feather, eyes closed, collapsed out of her, panting heavily at the strain of the exercise.

He jumped in surprise as he felt a hoof nudging at his mushroom-tip. His eyes flashed open and before him was a glorious sight: Applejack grinning up at him, her eyes shining and her nose crinkling in delight, her hooves gently caressing his nethers.

"Flame, even after such a short time you're real special to me, ya know that?"

He groaned as she teased him, sensually flicking her tongue across his tip. "Applejack I... I love you."

He spoke the words as she went down on him, her wet mouth a heavenly vault filled with ecstatic sensations. Knowing that she accepted his love, feeling her swallow his nerve-clustered protrusion as he saw her lips slide down his shaft, he realized that he had never had any idea the possible happiness to be realized between two ponies.

Applejack reached the base of his body and though he could feel his shaft connecting with the back of her throat, she maintained position until she could feel him trembling, ready to burst once more. As she pulled off his member, he exploded into her mouth.

She smiled wide for him, exposing his sticky white strands, glistening between her teeth, "I love you too, Flaming Feather."

~-~-~-~-~-~

The ponies, drunk off of love and more, stumbled back towards the farm together, leaning on each other for support. They were nearly halfway to being curled up with each other, dreaming of bliss, when out of a strand of bushes on the side of the road, came the lanky things. Applejack was stunned, she had never seen nor heard of a giraffe before, and so out of place did they look.

"Flaming Feather, a fair eve to you," called the chieftain, forgetting none of his courtesy.

The pegasus looked shocked, as if the nastiest of surprises had come and ambushed him, "It has been a long time, Eldar".

"Indeed it has, and troublesome too. I have come to see you about certain matters."

"Well, tell me then, I suppose."

"Hmm hmm... It starts like this. After you left us so abrubtly, your 'Royal Guard' came searching, trying to find you about your mother's passing. At first all was well, we treated them as we always treat guests, as gracious hosts. Yet when they saw how rich our lands were, with gems and coal, trees and fruit, water and life, their greed took the best of them. Of course, we did not know that then. After not finding you, they took their leave. Many suns and moons passed and we thought we had seen the last of you pony-folk, but  that was when a new convoy appeared on the horizon, the dust being kicked up blooming hugely behind them, telling us the size of the caravan. It was a bad omen and our people knew it. This time, when the group was passing us, we were informed that a new Equestrian settlement was being established not a mile from our ancient home!"

"Please, it's late, we're tired, and I can't truly see the point now, could we take this up tomorrow, at a more... Equine hour?"

"NO," Came the great, deep bellow from the chief, "You shall hear me out and you shall decide, when I am done, what to do. There is no more time to bi náás hoolzhish!"

His fury was so great as to slip his tongue out of common-speech, "hhrmm, to laze around like the lowest kind of dirt eaters. These ponies declared that the sacred land of our ancestors be used to put rails on the ground, so that loud and noisy machines can come roaring through, carrying our wealth away to other peoples. Where once we ate leaves off mighty trees there is only dust and stumps. We see you now, happy and carefree, a mind on the life that is, perhaps, ahead of you. Yet what you have reaped you cannot escape. You took our food and shelter, our safety and our goodwill, our hearts and our empathy. In return you walked away with no warning, with no pledge of debt, and no shred of honor. You came to us in turmoil and left us at peace, leaving your problems and your dark spirits behind for us and ours to bear. And now our tribe has been scattered, our lands taken and our customs shattered. You shall come with us to make amends or we shall leave you with a curse, to suffer the consequences of your actions past. A debt you owe, and I can promise you, a debt unpaid shall always leave a door open for future discord."

Feather was frozen with fear, fear of their promises and fear of his choices. He could pick honor, to go make reparations with these reasonable folk, but only at the cost of love. Was his bond with Applejack, the only pony he had truly connected with worth more than his identity of self?

The orange mare beside him was trembling with emotion, surely these strange people were lying about her Flame, the first pony she had truly, as the expression went, gone out on a limb with? He had seemed so honest, so incapable of bringing problems to the world, even inadvertantly. And if what they said was true, so was the rest, that without him there wouldn't be the problem of expansion, of chaos and injustice. Applejack knew, that if she was in that exact situation, she would be bound to those bizzare, tall, ponies.

He didn't want to but he had already fixed his will. He turned to Applejack, his eyes shimmering with tears.

"Feather, no..."

"AJ, I've got to. At the very least I've got to go seek an audience with Celestia with them. Everything they've said about me is true... And I don't see why they would lie about what happened when I was gone. I can't be here, joyous and happy, knowing that my actions are still causing pain somewhere else in the world. Please, can you understand?"

"I..." She hung her head, tears dripping into the dust, the porous ground absorbing them greedily, "I understand. Just go, get on. I don't wanna look at yo-"

A hoof brushed her chin up and she couldn't help but look ahead into his eyes, wide with genuity, achingly calling for her trust. "Goodbye Applejack. I love you, I do."

And with that last echoing statement, the girraffes turned and plodded away, a lone pegasus flying along behind them, silhouetted against the moon.