A Hero's Days

A Hero’s Days

Chapter 3: My Name is

Applejack hummed in content as she pulled open the gate in front of her house. The sun was shining, and it seemed that nothing could ruin her mood.

“Applejack! Are you heading into town?” She turned around to see her wonderful sister running to catch up. “Uh, why are you smiling?”

She gave a content sigh. “Ah guess Ah’m just happy to see you. Yes, sugar cube, Twilight told me ta come to the library fer some reason.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “That’s weird, I just saw you five minutes ago.” She took a package off her back that the older sister didn’t notice before. “Could you give this to Dinky for me?”

“Well uh-, “Applejack started.

“Great!” She picked the brown paper package up with her mouth by the strings and tossed it over the fence, and then ran back into the house. Applejack shrugged before resuming her humming of a nameless tune everyone seemed to know.

Walking towards central Ponyville, she let thoughts of the previous evening take over. Apple Bloom was saved by the same hero that they had neglected to be. Right when all hope was lost, she swooped down and saved the day. The costume seemed just like the real thing made by Rarity. Maybe it actually was and-

Applejack’s thoughts were shattered along with her eardrums as a jackhammer pounded away right next to her. “What in tarnation?” Tens of ponies wearing construction helmets were moving around like bees in a hive. They had a full on construction site that was focused on cutting into a hillside.

“You see that mare brother of mine? Let’s go tell her what’s going on,” an annoying voice said.

Another voice, equally annoying, said louder, “Hello there, pal!” Applejack thought nothing could ruin her mood; she was wrong. “Yes you, Miss Apple!” The Flim Flam brothers trotted over to her wearing the externally friendly looks that conmen used to lure victims.

“What the hay are you doin’ back here!” she yelled over the noise. “Get outta here ‘fore Ah get Big Macintosh over here ta lift you by yer scrawny necks!”

The one with a mustache tisked. “Oh no, Applejack -was it?  You don’t want to do that, because-“

”-we can still put you out of business!” The other finished. The farmer raised an eyebrow. “Don’t believe us?”

“You’re lucky we didn’t hold you to the agreement the last time we were in Ponyville,” said the mustached one. “Just because the distasteful townsfolk don’t like our cider doesn’t mean you’re free of your obligations. We could easily enforce that and run you off your property. ”

His brother almost whispered in her ear, “And you wouldn’t want that, would you?”

The farm filly grimaced at the ground for a second and idly rubbed a hoof in the dirt. “No, no that’s not what I want.” She forced herself to put up a respectful composure for the sake of her livelihood. “What exactly are you doing here?”

They turned around and began walking away. “Oh just some mineral collecting. We’ll be done here in less than a week.”

She wasn’t sure which one said that, but the smug tone ate at her insides. Picking up Apple Bloom’s package, she began to walk to the library once again.

~

“Rope.”

“Check!”

“Baby carriages.”

“Check!”

“Blankets.”

“Check!” Spike frowned at the checklist in his claws. “I still don’t get why we needed a list for only three items.”

“Because Princess Luna’s counting on us to catch the thief!” Twilight frowned at the three elements of harmony conversing on the other side of the room. “I really hope I’m suspecting the right pony though…” She was anxious to get started but Rainbow Dash and Applejack were almost ten minutes late.

Applejack walked in holding a brown package in her mouth. She spit it out onto the ground so she could speak. “I’m mighty sorry y’all. I should’ve gotten here on time but there was a lil’ detour.”

“What ever impeded you in such fair weather?” Rarity asked.

“That’s not important,” Twilight interjected, “We need to get down to business.”

“Waitwaitwait! Dashie’s not here!”

“Pinkie, we can fill her in later. Who told was the one who told her about this meeting?” The organizer searched the faces of her friends.

Fluttershy shrunk back. “Um, um I tried to but she wasn’t at her house. I thought maybe someone else already did.”

“Ugh we don’t have time for this! Spike, go look for her and fill her in on the way back; you know what’s going on,” Twilight commanded in a bossy tone.

He sighed. “Alright.”

“Oh, Spikey-Wikey, dear, can you do me a favor?”

He perked up. “I’ll do anything for you, Rarity,” the hopeless romantic gushed.

“Good. I need a dress from my storeroom; it’s dark blue with silver lining and you won’t miss it. The combination on the lock is 23, 12, 9, 0. Do you want me to repeat that?”

“No, I can remember anything for you, Rarity.” She smiled at how repetitive he sounded in his stupor.

Spike stepped through the door, hearing Twilight tell Rarity to share her story before shutting it behind him. First things first: The Carousel Boutique. Rarity needed him to get that dress! He walked in and pursed his lips into an ‘O’. It was strange to see the floor so messy when the shop’s owner compulsively cleaned all the time. Spike was aware of the events that took place recently, but he expected her to have cleaned up before she went to Twilight’s. The tiny dragon precariously stepped around fallen cloth to get to the storeroom door. A hand on the lock, he tried to remember the combination out loud, “23, 12-“

Someone cleared their throat rather loudly on the other side.

“AH!” He jumped and dropped the lock which clanged against the door.

“Oh hey! Is someone out there? I don’t care if you’re a cop, just get me outta here!”

“Um n-no I’m not a p-police officer,” Spike stuttered out.

“Hmm, you’re not?”

“N-no.”

“Oh well could you get me out of here?”

“Okay.” Spike thought it odd that the mysterious pony mistook him for police. “23, 12…” He looked at the lock in his hands in frustration. “23, 12…” The dragon sighed. “It’s no use, I can’t remember the last two numbers. I’ll go get Rarity and-“

“Wait!” the voice pleaded, “The combination's 23, 12, 9, 0.”

He tried it and was rewarded with a satisfying click. “Wow, how’d you know?!” Spike excitedly asked.

“Locks are my specialty.” The dragon lifted the lock, and opened the door.

The pony that emerged was…he was a…”Ah! A ninja!” Spike doubled back, shielding his face with his claws. The pony’s eyes widened at seeing a baby dragon in the place of his savior. “Rarity! You have ninjas in your house!”

“Shhh, quiet kid,” the ‘ninja’ commanded and Spike shut his mouth. “I’m um, a police officer sent to secretly watch over your friend Rarity’s home!” He shook his head up and down like he was convincing himself. “Yeah that’s it,” he said under his breath. Then he announced in a proud voice. “That’s why I’m dressed like this and even she doesn’t know I’m keeping her safe.”

“Oh so you thought I was one of your police friends getting you out of there?” The officer vigorously nodded his head in agreement. “It’s good that you’re doing that but Rarity has me to protect her.” The dwarf puffed out his chest in pride.

The pony laughed in response until Spike gave him a dirty look. “I mean, of course I don’t need to do this! I’m just following orders from the chief.” An idea blossomed in his head.  “I saw how strong you looked from afar and instantly knew I didn’t need to keep watch. In fact, I’m so sure that I’m going to tell Chief that this is unnecessary right now!” Spike beamed at the compliments; even if it was just the truth.

The reptile kissed his nonexistent bicep and giggled before he saw the police pony looking at him sideways. “Ugh,” he blushed, “I mean of course. By the way Mister, what’s your name?”

“My name…?” The stallion glanced around the room. “Officer…” He stopped looking and looked at Spike in the eyes once again “Spool. Officer Spool.”

“It’s nice to meet you Mister Officer Spool! I’m Spike.”

“Back atcha, kid.” The officer took off his black mask to reveal a maroon stallion with Pony Stark style facial hair that clashed with a five o’clock shadow. The rest of the black jump suit was kicked off while walking to the door. He looked back to give a reassuring smile before saying, “I’ll go tell Chief right now.”

~

Twilight looked at Applejack (or through her) in thought. “Yes, if she could do two things like that in one night then I believe she has the stone.”

“So she done gone doomed Luna just ta help other ponies… “

“I don’t think she knew that this would happen to Luna. Her guards were the only ponies to know about the stones and even they didn’t know this was happening to her.” For once, they all stood in silence; just letting the news sink in. Everyone present just hoofed the ground until Twilight spoke up once again. “We have a tough mission ahead of us. Let’s all take a few hours to get lunch and then meet here.”

Twilight’s friends went out the door single file; all of Twilights friends except Rainbow Dash. The lazy pegasus was probably just sleeping somewhere, but she may have taken a trip to Cloudsdale. She had talked about it for weeks and-, “Twilight?”

The unicorn frowned as her thoughts were interrupted. Applejack had turned around and was looking concerned. “Yes, Applejack?”

“Where the hay do yah think Rainbow is?” she asked with a hint of anger.

“I’m not sure. She was talking about that trip to see her parents.”

“But Ah’m sure she’d’ve said goodbye!”

“You know her,” Twilight did a mock of the pegasus’s voice, “I’ll get there and back in ten seconds flat,” and then used her own. “She probably thought she’d be quick enough to not have to tell us.”

Applejack looked out the window. “This isn’t funny, Twi. Ah haven’t seen her in two days! If she was going to be fast then she should be back by now.”

“Well if she took the trip and decided to stay then of course you wouldn’t. I’m sure she’s fine,” Twilight reassured. “We need to focus on the task at hand or we’ll find out we were just concerned about nothing.” She took a step forward and picked up a book with magic. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to visit Dinky in the hospital.”

“Ah have to go there mahself; Apple Bloom asked me to give this here present to her. Ah’ll just walk with you.”

~

Lock Pick walked through Ponyville center trying to find some food and a place to stay for the night. He was thirsty as hell; being locked in a closet for half a day can do that. There were food stands, but that wouldn’t help him get out of the sun. Taking in a delightful scent of baked goods, he followed his nose to a very decorated building with laughter heard from inside. He was not usually fond of this type of establishment but a sudden sweet tooth convinced him to try it out.

Eyes were trained on him as he inspected the assortment of goodies behind glass. Pick could only guess how much of a mess he looked; wearing a mask all night and all. The reflection looking back from the display glass only confirmed his suspicions. His hair made him look like he’d been in bed for the past week!

He took a double take; was this glass tinted or was he always this pink?

“Looks like somepony needs to turn that frown upside down!” Pick jumped back, the reflection just talked! He looked back and no face was seen where he was checking his reflection. Am I hallucinating…?

“Are you new in town?” This time Pick only winced. He looked up to meet the eyes of a bubbly, pink pony with a wide smile.

“Uh,” He was momentarily distracted by their bright blue color,” Yeah! I guess you could say that.”

She put a hoof to her chin below a mischievous smile. “Hmm. Where are you staying?”

“I’m staying…” He trailed off. Where was he staying? The hideout the trio of thieves slept in was probably swarmed by police now, and even if Boulder and Tough wouldn’t rat him out, their stupidity put him at risk. The law must have thought he fled the scene and didn’t expect them to hide right under their noses. Not like he wanted to be locked in a closet though. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”

The mare didn’t move at all when he paused or spoke; just stood there with that smile, unblinking. Pick didn’t want to be rude so he looked awkwardly looked around for ten seconds before waving a hoof in front of her face. “You can stay here!” She really needed to stop surprising him!

“Well I don’t know about that. I mean…” He started.

Totally ignoring his statement, she cut in with: “We can have a slumber party! Well there would be only us but we can tell scary stories and stay up late and make cupcakes!”

His stomach growled. “I could really use a cupcake or two.”

“Then take five!” The pink ball of energy pulled out a plate of cupcakes seemingly out of nowhere. He took one without hesitating and shoved it into his mouth. Mmmmm.

“You like it?” She giggled. “I made them myself. If you help out when you stay here you can have as many as you want. C’mon follow me.” Stuck in a state of sugar induced ecstasy, he just nodded his head and followed. “The cakes own the house, but I rent out a room by working and I get a big room all to myself. There’s a pull out bed you can sleep on and there’s Gummy’s bed; you can have whichever one you want because he won’t mind.” They stopped suddenly and Pick looked around at a now homely looking hallway, unsure of how he got there. “Here’s the bathroom so you can get cleaned up before you start working the counter!”

“Wait I don’t want to-“ He wildly glanced both ways to catch a sign of where she went, but she was completely gone. There was no better place to go so he just shrugged his shoulders and went into the bathroom. After the last cupcake was inhaled he took a hot shower that lasted as long as he wanted it to, and that’s to say: long. It was nice to once again have that luxury, after staying in old apartments for three years. Half of them didn’t even have hot water, let alone showers. Pick wished he could go back to royal treatment, but he made his decision final when he left that life behind. He finished up and dried himself with a blue towel which was the only non-pink one. A straight razor was found in a drawer and managed to make his beard look well kept.

Someone knocked on the door. “One second!” He called out, before shoving the razor back where it came from and opening the door. An older, sky blue mare stepped back in surprise at seeing a stranger in her bathroom. “Oh um, hey,” he said uncomfortably.

“Hello there?” She said it almost as a question.

“I’m so sorry, my name’s Quick Pick. Your employee let me use your bathroom.” He instantly regretted using his real name, but there was no turning back now. The stallion stuck out a hoof. She took it. “I assume you’re Mrs. Cake?”

“That’s right.” She sighed. “Don’t be sorry though, Pinkie’s always letting strangers in. In fact, I think I’ll have a word with her right now.” Pick followed the baker downstairs to the store area.

Pinkie turned around from the counter. “Hi Mrs. Cake! Hi Locky!” Locky?

The older mare gave a look that told Pick she had this conversation a lot. “Pinkie, I thought we told you that customer’s use the store bathroom.”

“Oh yeah I knew that!”

Mrs. Cake raised an eyebrow. “Then how come I just found Mr. Pick in the upstairs bathroom?”

“That’s because he’s not a customer; Locky’s staying with us!”

He tried to interject. “Well not reall-“

“And where is he staying?”

“I mean I’m not-“ He tried to say.

Pinkie almost shouted in excitement, “My room! We’re having slumber parties at night and he’s going to help in the day!” Did his opinion even matter?

“I’m not sure you should have a colt stay in your room with you, dear.”

Pinkie just gave a confused expression. “Why not? We don’t have any other rooms with the space.”

Mrs. Cake looked Pick up and down. “Well I guess he looks gentlecoltly enough. Go show him around and get him set up for tonight.”

“Okey Dokey Lokey! “ She took the forced guest by the hoof and pulled him upstairs faster than the blink of an eye. Mrs. Cake let loose another tired sigh. It was a known fact that Pinkie reproduced asexually like a potato so there wouldn’t be a problem.

“Here’s the cake’s room, here’s the babys’ room, here’s the bathroom -but you already knew that hehe- and last but not at all the least-“ They went up a short flight of stairs. “-my room!” It was a huge chamber with stairs leading to a smaller room on top that was empty for sightseeing. A pink canopy bed sat in one corner with a nightstand next to it, and a table with a record player stood by the door. Pinkie bounced over to the bed and tugged on a strap underneath it to pull out a bed on the floor. “This is your bed; try it out!”

“Uh, okay.” Quick Pick trotted over and laid on the mattress. Despite being not much more than a mattress on the floor, it was quite comfortable. He closed his eyes in relaxation and when he reopened them, he yelped. There was something reptilian on his chest!

The mare only giggled. “That’s just gummy, silly!”

“Gu-gum-gummy?”

“That’s because he has no teeth. I would have named him Nyx or Vegeta, but I thought Gummy suited him better.” Pinkie looked at a rainbow colored clock on the wall with balloons painted on it. “Oh no! I need to meet the gang at the library!” She went into a closet and rolled out a… cannon? “I’ll be back in a jiffy; you can help Mrs. Cake or just lay there and keep Gummy company!” The energy level went down twenty notches when she left the room. Pick shook his head, wondering what she was on and how he could get some.

He looked forward and sure enough, the tiny reptile was still there. “Get off me.” It just blinked one eye at a time in response.

~

“The point of the game is to capture your opponents Celestia while defending your own. Every piece moves in a special way and there are a few special rules besides that.” Rainbow had taken an interest in chess after watching Ganymede beat Lanturn in their daily match. They had played in her room because the Servant wanted to meet her. Rainbow found it odd that she hated to fail and the middle-aged stallion had left after almost seeming satisfied at losing.

Rainbow Dash took in the shapes of the different pieces. “Seems a little confusing,” she mumbled.

He smirked. “It’s not that hard once you get used to it. C’mon let’s play a practice game; I’ll tell you everything as we play.”

After a few ‘practice’ games, Rainbow decided to try one on her own. She found the game to be more fun than expected, which was kind of like reading. There was a certain mindset you could get into with those types of things that brought euphoria not unlike when she flew. She started by moving her pegasus in front by following the “L” it had to travel in. He moved a pawn forward that would allow his Lunar Guardspony to get out diagonally.

“I think you should-“

“Hey, don’t give me any hints!” She interrupted. “I want to learn on my own now.” Ganymede nodded in understanding.

Since he was no longer giving advice any longer, the table was open to conversation. “So, there’s something that’s been bothering me.”

She stared at the board and only responded half-mindedly, “Hmm? And what’s that?”

There was no way to not be abrupt about it. “How come you didn’t leave yesterday morning?” She looked up with those beautiful magenta eyes that reminded him of a mare he once loved. He had her full attention. “I mean I was still asleep and the room wasn’t barricaded at all. I’ve heard you talk about your flying, and it seems that you’re confident you could outmaneuver any pony in Equestria.”

“Maybe I didn’t think I could escape from ponies who aren’t from Equestria.”

“You know you can; I know you.”

She barked a bitter laugh and stood up. “You don’t even know my name!”

Ganymede followed her lead. “I’m sorry, you know what?” He put a hoof on her shoulder. “Let’s just sit down and enjoy this game.”

“Actually, I think there is a reason why.” The rainbow colored mare looked down and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to see my friends after something I did.”

“I’m sure whatever you did, your friends will forgive you.”

“It’s not about what I did; it’s what I didn’t do.” She rubbed a hoof over eyes starting to water. “And I don’t care if they forgive me; it’s whether I can forgive myself.” By now streams of tears were flowing down a quivering face.

Ganymede gave her a comforting embrace just like he did a couple days before. “Please, tell me what happened. It helps more than you know.”

“You remember the day when your men kidnapped me?” Ganymede grimaced but nodded. “I wasn’t there in time to save that filly. Pony’s kind of look up to me for doing hero work in situations like that and-“she bit back a sob. “And that filly’s dead because I couldn’t save her!”

The broken mare openly cried into Ganymede’s shoulder, but instead of hearing condolences, it shook with a chuckle. She pushed him away and was trying to think of an angry retort.

He looked directly at her angry glare and smiled. “I have good news then: the filly’s expected to make a full recovery by next week!”

“B-but h-how-“

“Because of you, the train got to be stopped in time to save her life, and even better than that, she made off with only a few broken bones!”

She stared on in disbelief. “Because…of me?” Ganymede nodded. The mare giggled. Then she laughed. Then she guffawed for five minutes straight once the prince joined in. “This whole time that’s been eating at me! I can’t believe-“ An abrupt knocking interrupted her.

Ganymede groaned and asked, “Who is it?” A stallion dressed as a butler stuck his head in.

“Hello your highness, The Doctor would like to see you and he said it is very important.”

He was ready to give an angry retort, but the ecstatic mare put a hand on his foreleg. “It’s okay; go tend to your business. Thanks. About the getting it off my chest thing, I mean. It really helped more than I thought possible.”

“I’m just glad I could make you feel better.” The prince walked to the door.

“Oh by the way,” she called out. “My names Rainbow; Rainbow Dash.” He walked outside and followed the servant with a smile spread across his face. Fits her perfectly.