Post by Applejack on Mar 24, 2014 1:05:44 GMT -5
It's a chilly early spring night. Winter is over, but the warmth of summer is still months away, and the breath of anypony outside this late would be clearly visible in the light from the streetlamps. Not that anyone *would* be; midnight was at least an hour ago and the citizens of Ponyville are well and truly asleep... save for one. Bundled in a scarf against the last lingering chill of winter, Applejack trots quietly through the sleeping square, and stops at the Golden Oak Library front door. She hesitates for a moment, then raises a hoof and knocks softly.
After a moment, you hear someone coming to the door -- not the clip-clop of pony hooves, but the softer clicking of claws on the floor, betraying that it's Spike and not Twilight answering. He opens the door wearing a night cap with a little pom-pom dangling from the pointed tip. "Oh, hi, Applejack! C'mon in."
Applejack smiles, hesitantly but then properly, at the little dragon. "Hay there, Spike." She trots inside and looks around; the library always looks stranger and somehow forbidding in the dark, but it's not the first time she's been here at night. "Ah'm sorry ta wake y'all up like this, but Ah'm also mighty glad ta see ya. Ah, uh, need some help."
Spike shuts the door behind you, and takes your scarf, hanging it on a coat rack near the door. "Right. I should probably go wake up Twilight, then."
Applejack sticks out a hoof, gently stopping Spike in his tracks. "Actually... let her sleep. It was y'all Ah came ta see. Ah need ta know somethin'. Ah know ya send letters back an' forth with Princess Celestia alla th' time. Can ya send 'em t'anypony else? Like, fer instance... Princess Luna?"
Spike stops, surprised that it's *his* help you've come for. "Oh...sure! I mean, I'm pretty sure I can do it for any of the princesses. It's just usually Celestia people want to send messages to."
Applejack chuckles and says under her breath, "yeah, that was always the problem, wasn't it..." then straightens up. "Good. Ah'd be much obliged if'n y'all'd do me a favor, then." She picks a scroll out of her saddlebag and passes it to Spike. It has a dark blue ribbon instead of the usual red, and the horseshoe Royal Seal has been applied sideways, almost like a crescent moon. "Please... send this ta Luna. An'.... an' don't tell nopony. It ain't a big secret, exactly, but, uh, it's kinda private. Know what Ah mean?"
Spike nods. "You can trust me," he says, solemnly. He doesn't betray any suspicion about your secrecy -- he's a trusting soul, and besides, if you can't trust the Element of Honesty, who CAN you trust? He turns away from you, and in a by now familiar gesture, holds the scroll up between two fingers before sending it on its way with a flourish of green flame. "I'll let you know if she replies," he adds.
Applejack watches the scroll flare and go, the little dragon's firelight turning her orange face green for a moment. She may never know how much she resembles her grandmother in her youth. AJ sags with relief. "Thanks kindly, Spike. Ah owe ya one. Reckon Ah'd better mosey on home an' let ya get back ta sleep now." She wraps a hoof around the little dragon and pulls him close for a quick hug, then collects her scarf from the rack.
Spike hugs your neck. "Any time." He smiles, always happy to be helpful.
Applejack opens the door and steps out into the chilly night. She pauses on the doorstep and looks back. "G'night, partner. Sorry ta wake ya up. Sleep tight now, ya hear?" And then she leaves, trotting away under the cloudless velvet night sky. There's no way to be sure, but it certainly seems like she is walking easier now, like a burden of some kind may not have lifted, but gotten lighter.
After a moment, you hear someone coming to the door -- not the clip-clop of pony hooves, but the softer clicking of claws on the floor, betraying that it's Spike and not Twilight answering. He opens the door wearing a night cap with a little pom-pom dangling from the pointed tip. "Oh, hi, Applejack! C'mon in."
Applejack smiles, hesitantly but then properly, at the little dragon. "Hay there, Spike." She trots inside and looks around; the library always looks stranger and somehow forbidding in the dark, but it's not the first time she's been here at night. "Ah'm sorry ta wake y'all up like this, but Ah'm also mighty glad ta see ya. Ah, uh, need some help."
Spike shuts the door behind you, and takes your scarf, hanging it on a coat rack near the door. "Right. I should probably go wake up Twilight, then."
Applejack sticks out a hoof, gently stopping Spike in his tracks. "Actually... let her sleep. It was y'all Ah came ta see. Ah need ta know somethin'. Ah know ya send letters back an' forth with Princess Celestia alla th' time. Can ya send 'em t'anypony else? Like, fer instance... Princess Luna?"
Spike stops, surprised that it's *his* help you've come for. "Oh...sure! I mean, I'm pretty sure I can do it for any of the princesses. It's just usually Celestia people want to send messages to."
Applejack chuckles and says under her breath, "yeah, that was always the problem, wasn't it..." then straightens up. "Good. Ah'd be much obliged if'n y'all'd do me a favor, then." She picks a scroll out of her saddlebag and passes it to Spike. It has a dark blue ribbon instead of the usual red, and the horseshoe Royal Seal has been applied sideways, almost like a crescent moon. "Please... send this ta Luna. An'.... an' don't tell nopony. It ain't a big secret, exactly, but, uh, it's kinda private. Know what Ah mean?"
Spike nods. "You can trust me," he says, solemnly. He doesn't betray any suspicion about your secrecy -- he's a trusting soul, and besides, if you can't trust the Element of Honesty, who CAN you trust? He turns away from you, and in a by now familiar gesture, holds the scroll up between two fingers before sending it on its way with a flourish of green flame. "I'll let you know if she replies," he adds.
Applejack watches the scroll flare and go, the little dragon's firelight turning her orange face green for a moment. She may never know how much she resembles her grandmother in her youth. AJ sags with relief. "Thanks kindly, Spike. Ah owe ya one. Reckon Ah'd better mosey on home an' let ya get back ta sleep now." She wraps a hoof around the little dragon and pulls him close for a quick hug, then collects her scarf from the rack.
Spike hugs your neck. "Any time." He smiles, always happy to be helpful.
Applejack opens the door and steps out into the chilly night. She pauses on the doorstep and looks back. "G'night, partner. Sorry ta wake ya up. Sleep tight now, ya hear?" And then she leaves, trotting away under the cloudless velvet night sky. There's no way to be sure, but it certainly seems like she is walking easier now, like a burden of some kind may not have lifted, but gotten lighter.