Iron, Wine, and American Mouths

Twilight was a bit salty with me about how I handled that.

"Might'a gone too far with that.." I muttered.
"No. Really?" She dripped sarcasm like molasses. For a moment I saw red, n' barked, "Sarcasm ain't your style!!"
"Sure. And loud threats aren't yours." She retorted.

Ouch.
I snorted, n' started to walk away, when I realized I didn't hear a second set o' hoofbeats behind me.
I turned round, n' Twilight was starin' curiously at the portal.
"Oh hell no, y'ain't goin' in there, that way leads nothin' but pain n' madness."
She looked up at me. "I've dealt with pain and madness before, I'll be just fine! I'm one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria!"
"And I'm one of the most powerful witches in America, and I'm tellin' you to keep outta that place if'n y'know what's good for ya!"

She squinted her eyes right at me, and walked right on through.
"Fine!" I shouted, "Good luck in there, don't come cryin' to me when them folks start makin' glue outta ya!"

...

She'd be fine.

She'd be fine!

..Augh, DAMMIT!
I growled, and followed her through. She looked genuinely surprised to see me join her.
"Applejack would buck me into next year if she heard I let you enter this hellscape and die alone." I justified, then quietly tacked on, "That, n'.. I don't want you dyin' neither."
She gave me a soft smile. "Sorry for getting upset with you."
"Sorry for shoutin'."
We shared another nuzzle and continued down them woods.

I guess I was also feelin' a touch nostalgic to see Drum Thunder again, and chances of us finding that poacher fella again were low with woods this thick. So, we kept on goin', and followed my ancient tracks. Twi stayed real close to me, shiverin' a bit. I lit a stick up as a makeshift torch and carried it in my tail, which seemed to warm her up.

"This place.. it reminds me of the Everfree forest.." Twilight shuddered.
"Well, in a way, y'ain't wrong, Twi. Weather does it's own thang, the sun and moon ain't moved by anybody.. Earth goes round the sun, Moon goes round the earth."
"That's just.. not natural..!" She grimaced.
"It's as natural as it gets, here." I remarked.

The murky woods kept badgerin' us with ringtones of chirps, croaks, birdsong, and the occasional howl. We kept followin' my tracks until..
There she was.
Drum Thunder. Oh, girl, how I missed ya. The woods had nearly claimed her, moss grown all over her rusty red paint job. My makeshift canvas-camper-cover got torn up by the wind somethin' fierce, leavin nothin' behind but the metal frame and some scraps that fluttered in the cold autumn wind.
My canned food was scattered all over the ground, probably ransacked by opportunistic raccoons n bears.
And the tree that smashed up the engine? Well, it grew. It ate all the metal parts and dashed any hope of revivin' her to smithereens.

"..Are those.. bloodstains..?" Twilight asked, lookin' at the grill of my truck, n' my heart lurched.
"Shit, I guess they is." I answered truthfully.
"...When you said you didn't have a clean track record.."
"..I meant it. I ain't a good man, Twilight."
She pursed her lips into a frown as I looked over my ol' machine. Then, I stuck my head in the open driver-side door, and she walked around to the tailgate to have a look-see there.
The glovebox hadn't been opened yet. I reached out, clicked it open, and-

Oh, thank God.
The picture I had of me with my pa and gramma was still intact. I found a random canvas bag, slung it round my neck, and stuffed the photograph in there.
The license and registration were expired, but the truck was no good, so that was fine.

"i-is that a body bag in the back?" I heard Twilight ask nervously.
I popped my head back out, and came round to see.
"Ah, shit, yeah. Look, I.."
I didn't have much to say. Twilight sure did have a look on her face. I felt sick with myself. I was so lousy with sin, that if a preacher tried baptizin' me, I'd turn the water black. No wonder I didn't make it to Heaven.

"..I had to make ends meet somehow. Sometimes, I had to.. make ends meet. Just to get a meal. Food weren't easy to come by. It's the most valuable thing here. S'why huntin's so popular. Anythin' that looks like it might taste good is what's for dinner."
"...Was that man going to eat me?!" Twilight realized. I flinched.
"He was.. probably plannin' on it. Yeah."
"But- But I'm a sophont, sapient, sentient being!"
"Didn't matter to him. He jus' saw you as.. an animal."
"..Are.. ponies.. animals, here?"
"Yeah."

Twilight seemed to really not like that thought. "Do they eat us?"
"Rarely. Typically, they ride y-. Us. Beasts o' burden. Farm work, n' the like. No wings, no earth pony strength, no magic."
"..Oh, Sweet Celestia.." She looked right nauseous. I patted her on the withers, n' she flinched.
Sigh.. dammit. I gingerly pulled my hoof away from her, and moved to the truck bed.

I climbed up into the back of my truck to look for my implements. When I found the ol' toolbox, I saw that it'd been emptied out. Maybe the fae wanted to make sure that if I came back, I wouldn't have my stuff. My herbs was all over the ground n' contaminated, the iron had been taken away, probably by another witch, and my spellbook?
Burnt to ashes.
I salvaged what I could and stuffed it in the bag.

"Oh, hey! Some books..!" I could hear it in her tone of voice, the unspoken sentence of, "Thank Celestia, somethin' familiar."
She pulled out my collection of.. aw, hell.
My collection of Calvin and Hobbes anthologies. I had the entire print.

"Are these comic books?" she asked, opening one of the books carefully as I gently moved to her side.
"Of a sort. This one ran in the newspaper till 1995. It's considered one of the better, if not the best."
"...Can.. Can I..?" She looked up to me with pleading eyes. Couldn't help but chuckle at the bookhorse.
"Sure, go ahead. Consider it my early Hearth's Warmin' gift for ya. Here, put em in this bag."
She squeed in delight, took the bag from my neck and started puttin' the books in there.
"Oh, watch the photo. And the lil' baggies. Those are important."

Without askin', she pulled out the photo and looked at it.
"Is that.. you? As a human foal?"
My ears flattened out in agitation, even though I tried to keep a poker face about it. She picked up on that, and nervously grinned. "Heheheh, sorry," she meekly said, and put everything back, then put the canvas bag round my neck again.
Least she didn't notice the weed. I was gonna smoke that bowl and maybe share it with Big Mac, or somethin'.

A horn sounded off in the distance. All my fur stood on end.
"We gotta go."
"What? Why? Is that horn bad?"
"Yep! It's the fae! They know we're snoopin' around!" I said, scramblin' outta my truck and pushin' Twilight. She didn't have to be told twice. We doubled back on our tracks, heard the sound of hounds barkin' in the distance, and Twilight tripped, screaming in shock at the tumble.

FUCK!
I stumbled to a stop, turned round, and set fire to the path behind us, and I helped her up.
"You good?"
"I'll be fine! I'll be okay! Let's go home! I don't like it here!"
I helped her up, and I looked over my shoulder to see the Hounds jumpin through the flames like some ol' circus act.

They's not normal dogs, they're.. freaks. Shaped more like a mix b'tween a dog an' a spider, the extra legs all pumpin' in conjunction to run faster than most prey species. Had way more teeth, too, to ensure maximum damage.

I raised my hind legs and concentrated my magic behind me, and bucked the air, kickin fire like some kinda afterburner. The Hounds yelped in the sudden flames, lettin' us get some distance, and we dove back through the portal, to see the Hounds bearin' down on us.

I hurried to draw some runes in the dirt, and shouted, "HELP ME CLOSE THE PORTAL!"
With our magic combined, stitchin' that tear in the fabric of reality closed was easy enough. The two of us flopped to the ground, pantin' real heavy.

Unfortunately, the damage was already done.
For starters, a human knew. I prayed that when he told his story to others, they'd just think that guy went butternuts, but considering the mad world I came from, I reckon another one would hear his story. And then another, and another, and then..

I knew we shoulda just killed him.

And now the fae knew that their golem didn't kill me properly. They'd have to send somethin' deadlier to finish the job.

I took solace in one thing. It would take a good long while before anyone came for me.
The fae folk, they couldn't spend too many resources on getting my ass because they'd have to jump the rift between worlds, n' that takes power like no other.
The humans, they had more resources, but less knowledge. It would take em a real long time before they found another way through.
Meant time. I could prepare. Grow stronger. Teach others my ways. I could do this. I always have, right?

I might've been having a panic attack, but I panic by going stark stiff.

I looked back at the cooler, then punched myself in the head. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I fell back on my old ways over some fuckin' mixtapes. All that greed and wrath bubbled up like the oil tray at a fast food joint that wasn't passing inspection. Even after all this time, I was still a bastard, I--

"Bonfire?" Twilight's soft voice got my attention. "What's wrong?"
"... I'm not.." Breathe deep. I dealt with this before. "I'm not a good person, Twilight."
"You.. did do a lot of bad, I'll give you that, but,"
"Look at this shit!!" I shouted, pointed to the ropes and the chair with a shaky hoof. "I'm right sure I left that bastard with third degree burns. I.. I thought I.."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and it jumped right back up. I felt like I couldn't fuckin' breathe. Twilight got close and gave me one of her signature comfortin' hugs. I let out a shudderin' breath.

"I thought I was finally past hurtin' people.." I said quietly.
"Past hurting..?" Twilight asked. "What do you mean?"
"I was so sick of it all. Sick of the death and burnin' and ramblin' across a country that wanted me deader than a doorknob. I wanted out. And I got out. These last few months've been the best days of my life. And then the second my past caught up with me, I turned back to my old sinful self. I was fixin' to kill that man, Twi."

"...So??"
That snapped me right outta my panic from sheer confusion alone. "Whaddya mean, so?!"
"Bonfire. Princess Celestia, my mentor, has killed others in countless wars. My brother? He's Captain of the guard, and he's absolutely killed others in the line of duty. If you count the Pinkie Pie clones, then technically I'VE killed before!"

I blinked.
The what?!
"You know what makes Celestia and my brother good ponies to me, still?" She asked.
"What in God's name would that fuckin' be?!"
"They're haunted by it. Just like you. You didn't take pleasure in ending those lives. And from what I've heard about the fae, they're not kind benefactors. You were forced to do it, right?"

I sighed.
"I mean.. yeah, but, think it's a bit more nuanced than that, Twi. A person can take lives, be haunted by it, and still be a real asshole."
"But you're not. You've been nothing but kind, and generous, and honest. Not to mention loyal, or the fact that you've brought joyous laughter to the Apple family home. You've made Big Mac smile! Do you know how hard that is? And Apple Bloom has nothing but good things to say about you!"
"..She ain't met the real me."

"No. She has. The fae sent a monster that tried to steal her away in the middle of the night, and your first priority was saving her. Applejack told me that. You chose to put others before yourself. Even if sometimes, that makes old habits pop up. But given how terrifying guns are, I think you had every right to be freaked out, and ponies under extreme duress without the proper training? They lash out, and even if they are trained, it's not a guaranteed success."

"Yeah, I reckon so.."
"..Did I ever tell you about the time that I magically forced the entire town of Ponyville to fight over a foalhood doll, just so I could finish a friendship lesson report by the end of the day, because I thought I'd be sent back to magic kindergarten if I was late?"
"Christ!" I wheezed a laugh.
She giggled, sheepishly. "I'm not proud of that one. So please, believe me when I say that we all fall back on bad habits when upset and stressed. Nopony is ever perfect, and that includes you."

She hugged me tighter, and rested her head on mine, both of us laying down in a bonafide snuggle. "And besides that? You've been a wonderful friend, and a faithful family member to the Apples. You've been nothing but a delight ever since you came to Ponyville."
"That's what Granny said a few days back."
"And you're not gonna listen to her?"

I flinched. She had a point.

"What I'm trying to say is, you might not have been a good man, but you're a good pony, Bonfire. You've been given a second chance at life, and so far? You haven't wasted it at all. And everypony stumbles a little when healing. You haven't failed just yet, and I believe in you. Everypony does!"

I think I teared up and felt a tugging in my heart, and I nuzzled her graciously. "Thanks, Twilight. That means more to me than you could ever know."
She nuzzled back. "Anytime... and, can I be honest for a second?"
"What's up?"
"This.. is gonna sound weird, but I'm.. kind of glad to have a friend who isn't afraid of killing, because that human was.. undressing me with his eyes when you went to grab your belongings."

"What!?" I screamed, my head shot up to look at her, and she had a disgusted look on her face.
"He licked his lips while making eye contact with me."
"Christ alive!! Why, I oughta.." Damn, I forgot the portal was closed. I put my head back down and sighed, "..Well, I reckon it's for the better that folks out there know that I'm still alive and can burn things just as easily - if not more."
"Exactly! I know that when the time comes, you'll protect Ponyville! Now, let's go back to my library, I wanna read those books!"
She gave me a hearty pat on my side, got up, and waited for me.

I cantered over to the cooler, reached in, and grabbed my tapes, stuffing em in the bag.
Then, when Twi wasn't lookin, I grabbed the beer n' sandwiches.
Been too damn long since I had any deli meat, and the sandwiches looked real nice. Left the cigs behind, though. Them's was just cancer sticks.

The ham sandwiches gave me a tummyache somethin' fierce.
Note to self: don't eat meat no more.