The Forsaken

Chapter 14 – Back to Square One

Anon

Anon went to the Ponyville Day Spa for a hoof massage. She wasn’t sure what to expect but it turned out to be an experience that was better than she had hoped for and yet… it hadn’t really passed the time all that well. She had no other errands to do in town and she knew she couldn’t return to the estate, so she went back to Sweet Apple Acres.

Maybe I can help Big Mac put the bucked apples in the barrels. Anything to pass the time. I need to wait until Apple Jack returns to the farm before I go home.

She smiled to herself at that last thought. She was so happy to think of the estate as home, yet it still made her sad. She still felt out of place here even though Midnight was doing all he could for her. At least Celestia had accepted her.

As she entered the farm, she could sense something was wrong, made worse by the soft sounds of crying. She followed the sounds to behind the house where Apple Jack was washing a young filly outside with a water hose and was apparently pulling large thorns out of the filly’s flank.

Anon gasped at the sight. “Oh my goodness! Your hurt! Let me help.”

Anon rushed to Apple Jack’s side and immediately started helping remove the thorns and apply bandages, her fingers able to do the job better than teeth or hooves. The filly seemed very grateful once the last thorn was pulled.

“Thank ya so much for helpin, Miss Anon. My sister has told me a lot about ya and I’m glad to finally meet ya. My name is Apple Bloom.” The little filly smiled at her warmly.

Anon was still concerned. “How did you get all those thorns in you? Some of them were big and deep…”

Apple Bloom winced. “Ah was exploring the edges of the Everfree forest. Some of the rare plants in there can fetch quite a few copper bits if ya know who ta sell them to. Ah wanted ta buy a few things for myself, but Ah couldn’t ask my sister for the money. Ah guess Ah got careless, and Ah was attacked by a Timberwolf. Am’m very lucky that Apple Jack and Lord Midnight heard me scream for help. Ah… almost didn’t make it…”

Anon winced. She knew the Apples were in debt to Midnight, but she didn’t realize just how poor the family actually was. She quickly recovered and smiled at the filly.

“I’m so glad you’re not hurt badly. Here. Take this and buy whatever you want.”

Anon handed Apple Bloom a bit and she blanched. “Ah… Ah can’t take a gold bit. It’s too much…”

Anon stood firm. “I insist. Buy whatever you want. If you still think it’s too much… then you can help Midnight with some of the Estate’s farm chores when you’re feeling better.”

Apple Bloom nodded seriously. “It would be an honor ta help out on the estate. Maybe it’ll keep me out of trouble…”

Apple Jack cleared her throat. “Don’t make promises that ya can’t keep, sugarcube.” She cleared her throat a second time, more forcefully, and continued. “Now that you’re clean and bandaged… eat up and go ta bed. Rest will help you heal. With any luck, there won’t be a scar.”

Apple Bloom nuzzled her sister before going inside. Apple Jack sighed deeply after the door shut. She turned to Anon with a little shame.

“Lord Midnight saved my sister today and Ah can’t be more grateful. Ah’m sorry… Ah wasn’t able to seduce him… Ah think he was close… but then we heard the screams…”

Anon winced but then leaned down and hugged Apple Jack. “Your family is clearly more important than what I wanted to happen. I’m so glad she is okay…”

Apple Jack wrapped a foreleg around Anon, returning the hug. “Ah’m grateful that you’re not mad. Maybe there will be another chance in the future.”

Anon wiped tears from her eyes. “I hope so too. I’m just sorry that the deal fell through. What are you going to do now?”

Apple Jack smiled a bittersweet smile. “Ah secured a sale of nine barrels of Hard Apple Cider Ale to the Estate. It don’t pay as much as your offer, and it will be a lot more work ta pull off without other things falling through, but it’s better than nothin’.”

Anon nodded. “Better than nothing, indeed. Was Midnight hurt?”

Apple Jack shook her head. “Ah don’t know, sugarcube, If he was, he hid it well. But… he was swallowed whole by an Alpha Timberwolf and then used magic ta blow it apart from the inside out. Midnight is amazing, but Ah wouldn’t be shocked if he was able to hide some injuries. Maybe ya should go check up on him. He turned down my offer ta help him clean up.”

The blood drained from Anon’s face as she considered and then pictured what Apple Jack just said.

She asked in a deliberately slow tone. “Did you say… that he was… swallowed whole, by a Timberwolf? How the fuck big are they?”

Apple Jack winced. “Err… yes… Alpha Timberwolves can get as big as ma house. Ah suppose it’s still shocking ta hear about anypony getting swallowed whole though…”

Anon was close to losing it but she held on to her last nerves. “On my world, the only things big enough to swallow a pony or a person whole, are things that live in the oceans. It’s hard to imagine any land-dwelling creature being that big.”

Apple Jack rubbed her hooves on her face. “Yeah… most of Equestria’s most dangerous monsters live in the Everfree Forest. At times… Ah don’t know if Princess Celestia gave my family this land because she wanted us to tame the forest or if it was because this land needed ta get used and no one else was crazy enough to actually buy land that close ta the forest. Ah lost both of my parents ta monsters in that Tartarus damned forest. Ah would move the farm completely if it was possible. But… branches of my family have farms all over Equestria… if Ah abandon or lose this farm, there isn’t anywhere else for me to go.”

Anon could feel sorry for Apple Jack’s situation but she was more worried than ever about Midnight. She knew that he was a capable pony… but there was difference between planning and preparing for a battle and having to randomly jump into a dangerous situation.

Anon cleared her throat. “Well, I’m going to go check up on Midnight. I hope that you and Apple Bloom have a good night.”

Apple Jack gave her a friendly nod as she turned for the door and Anon walked calmly towards Midnight’s estate but once she was out of sight of the farm, she ran for all she was worth. As the front door came into view, Anon’s breath hitched. The front door was left open, slightly ajar, as if the pony who had entered didn’t have the strength to close it behind him.

Anon entered the home and closed the door; her ears caught on the soft squishing noise of having stepped in a puddle of something. She looked down at the floor and gasped.

She was standing in a puddle of blood.

“MIDNIGHT!!!”

Anon franticly searched the house for him, seemingly coming to the bathhouse last. She walked into the bathhouse and froze. The water of the bathing pool was blood red and Midnight was floating on the surface of the pool, unmoving and looking very dead.

“MIDNIGHT!!!”

He seemed to stir from a nap or mediation. “Ah… Anon. Thank Celestia you are here. I can’t seem to get this last thorn out of my wing. I can’t heal myself until it’s gone.”

She jumped into the water still wearing her clothes. He presented his injured wing to her and showed her the thorn. The thorn was as big as her fist and was wedged in a bad spot.

“Jesus, Midnight. How did you get a thorn this big in your wing?”

He laughed without mirth. “Funny story, really. I was swallowed whole today! Nopony knows it… but Timberwolf’s have thorns in their throats that shred their prey as they swallow them. I was wearing my armor, but it didn’t matter… the armor doesn’t cover my wings. Alicorn or not, I’m lucky to be alive.”

Anon cringed at the truth she heard while trying to figure out how to help him. “I’m going to have to push it through. It’s going to hurt…”

Midnight’s horn lit briefly. “Do it.”

Anon pushed on the thorn and nothing happened. She tried again with no luck. Left with no choice, Anon clasped her hands together and swung a double-fisted punch, hitting the thorn with all her might. To her horrified delight, and with a loud pop, the thorn pushed through and popped out the other side. Free of the thorn, but not the pain, Midnight’s wings flared.

“Harder Mommy!”

Anon slapped Midnight in the face without thinking about it. She was momentary shocked at her own actions until he smiled at her with a shit eating grin. Her index finger automatically pointed at him in disapproval while her eyes narrowed, still breathing hard from her efforts to help him.

“You… How dare you make light of such serious injuries?”

He shrugged as he folded his wings back into place. “Given the things you’ve said in bed, it seemed the like the absolute worst thing I could say given the situation, so I went for it.”

Anon’s face turned as red as the blood she was standing in, but her eyes also narrowed. “I know you like your pranks. How much of all this is real and how much of it is an illusion?”

Midnight winced. “Unfortunately… most of these injuries are quite real. The thorn in my wing certainly was. I… might… have exaggerated some of the blood around the house with illusion magic and this bathing pool is an illusional masterpiece. I don’t think I have this much blood in my body to give to such an effect… that being said… I don’t trust myself to drop my illusions completely and show anypony the real me. I’ve been hiding in plain sight for 1,000 years.”

Anon found herself with nothing to say, a little less than content with the explanation. Without any further delay, Midnight cast a spell that seemed to heal all his injuries and then a second spell that cleaned up all the blood. A third spell placed both of them in his master bedroom.

Midnight groaned as he climbed back into bed. “I think I’ll be asleep for the next couple of days. I need to fully recover. Please take care of yourself while I’m indisposed.”

Anon nodded. “I promise I will. Please rest well, my love.”

Midnight’s eyes closed and didn’t reopen. Anon instinctively knew he was in some kind of magical sleep healing trance. She also knew not to try to wake him.

She left the room and muttered to herself. “Back to square one… now what do I do?”

She went back to the living room and considered everything that had happened and everything that she knew. After some thought, she wrote a letter to Princess Celestia, asking for a favor. She went back into town to mail the letter at the Ponyville Post Office and then went to Carousel Boutique to talk to Rarity.

Rarity beamed at Anon when she saw her. “Oh Darling! The gems came in. You must see them.”

Anon was pulled over the chest of gems that held the stones Rarity was planning to use for Anon’s wedding dress. Anon was shocked at the quality of the stones.

“Is it really okay to use these stones for my dress?”

Rarity scoffed. “Of course!!! You paid for them, after all. By the way, I have all the clothing you ordered finished except for the wedding dress. It’s all really for pick up. When can Midnight come by to teleport it to your estate?”

Anon winced. “Midnight was hurt fighting a Timberwolf. It’s going to be a few days before he can leave the house again. I’m surprised you finished the dresses so quickly… it was a large order. I trust that you’ll have no problem holding them for me until he can swing by?”

Rarity’s eyes got big. “Of course darling. I have a modest sized storage room for finished orders and to my displeasure… I don’t have a lot of orders to work on for the moment. Did you have anything else for me, darling?”

Anon nodded. “Midnight is worried about an upcoming event that he’s not sure he can face without some support. I was hoping to get the wedding dress done as quickly as possible so I could provide him with the support he needs.”

Rarity smiled. “Darling… you are already his fiancée… what more support could he need?”

Anon was as still as a stone and as serious as anypony Rarity had ever seen. “He needs the support of a spouse. Of somepony that will never leave him. It may not seem to make much a difference to a pony that has never been engaged or married… but trust me… it makes a world of difference. He needs this as much as I need this. I need to make some last-minute changes to the dress… Is that going to be possible?”

Rarity smiled. “I haven’t started on it yet so no materials have been used… what would you like to change?”

Anon went over more fabric choices and changed a few key elements of the dress that really shifted the look in an unexpected way. It was almost exactly opposite of what Midnight had originally asked for. Anon looked at Rarity once the changes were finalized.

“Please tell me you can finish my wedding dress in less than 2 weeks?”

Rarity was moved by her words and nodded. “The dress will be done in under a week. I promise.”

Anon sighed, her features sagging in exhaustion. “That is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you so much for your hard work.”

As Anon turned to leave, Rarity moved to stop her. “Perhaps you’d like to have some tea with me? You look like you could use a friend…”

Anon nodded and burst into tears. She hugged Rarity hard and cried into her shoulder. Rarity was caught off guard by such a turn of events, but she held Anon close and made calming sounds and tried to comfort her. Rarity tried to make a joke to lighten the mood.

“Oh my, darling. I’ve never seen anypony burst into tears over an offer for tea.”

Anon laughed and dried her tears. “I don’t have a lot of friends and your offer moved me in an unexpected way. I’m not sure I knew how much I needed this, myself.”

Rarity smiled warmly. “Of course, darling. I’ll always be here for you. Shall we move to the kitchen and enjoy some tea?”

Anon nodded and smiled at the mare. “Lead the way…”

With that, they enjoyed some late afternoon tea. It helped Anon a great deal but still left her worried about the future.

How do I help Midnight?