AN:Here's another chapter for you. I hope you all enjoy it.
I leaned against the tree exhausted. I used the shirt that I had grabbed at home and later took off again to wipe my face.
"Heavens to Betsy!" Applejack exclaimed. "I would believe that you Leo are one of the hardest workers I've ever met. You sure I don't need to pay you?"
"I'm quite sure." I said. "Though a glass of water would be nice." She beckoned me toward her house.
"Come up to the house with me," she said, "I got some ice cold apple juice waitin'." I smiled broadly. Now was my chance to ask.
"So," I said walking beside the orange Earth Pony, "what can you tell me about Rarity?"
"Why do you want to know?" She asked somewhat suspicious.
"I just wondered." I said.
"Well," she began, "she's one of the most generous ponies I'd ever met. Though that makes sense what with being the Element of Generosity and all." I nodded in agreement. "She's been lookin' for her a 'special somepony' for quite a long time now."
"Can't she have anyone she wanted though?" I asked.
"Besides that Blueblood feller, yeah. She says that she just hasn't found 'the one' yet. Load of hooey if you ask me. Rarity told me that you know a lot about the six of us."
Damn it, I wanted more than that. I'd already knew all of that. Besides that, why was I asking about her anyway?
"Well," I said, "yeah, I do. There are files on every one of you. To graduate the academy, I had to study all of your files and answer every question about you correctly."
"I take it you passed." She said.
"Yeah," I said, "I did. The files have been updated since then but I still got it. I know a lot about you. I know you have an extended family in Appleloosa. Been there myself a few times. I know that your brother eventually married Cheerilee two years ago. I know that you let Rarity stay with you while her house was being rebuilt."
"All right, all right," she said having enough, "I get it. But if you know everything about all of us, why are you asking about Rarity?" Shit. She caught me.
"Well," I said fishing for a good enough answer, "as you can imagine, the uh, information on the file was a bit biased if you catch my drift. I just want some accurate information."
"Leo," she said stopping at the door, "what Element do I represent?" I was caught off guard by the question.
"Honesty." I said. Then it dawned on me. "I get it." I admitted. "Nothing gets past you."
"Now," she said, "I would put your shirt on before going inside. Granny Smith can be a bit old fashioned." I put on my shirt and walked inside behind Applejack.
Two mares were talking in the living room. I recognized them as Cheerilee and Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom had grown over the last six years. From her file, I saw that she got her cutie mark in carpentry and interior design a few months before the war started. She volunteered as a construction worker to build the heavy artillery. (Cannons, ballistas, etc.) Her cutie mark now was in the shape of an apple being painted.
"Applejack," she said, "this is the one you were talking about?"
"Yeah," Applejack said, "this is Leo. Leo, this is my sister Apple Bloom."
"A pleasure." I said. I followed Applejack into the kitchen where she gave me a bottle of cod apple juice.
"Thank you Applejack." I said. "È umile con la vostra gentilezza." I bowed then looked at her very confused face. She obviously wasn't as taken with my Italian as Rarity.
"Pardon?" She said still outwardly confused.
"Sorry." I said. "I said that you humble me with your kindness."
"Aw shucks Leo." She said. "It was nothing." I finally realized what time it was.
"I apologize for leaving so abruptly, but I have to meet someone." I said. "Thank you again."
"I should be thanking you for all your hard work." she said. As I turned to leave, she added. "If you come clean to Rarity, she'll understand. From what I hear from her, she thinks awful highly of you." I smiled.
"Thank you Applejack." I said. Walked out of the kitchen, passing Apple Bloom and Cheerilee again and left the house sipping ice cold apple juice.
I met Roman at the town hall with in full gear. I had finally cleaned all of the blood off of the hooded outfit. Roman was standing with Ruby and no one else.
"Where is everyone?" I asked approaching them.
"At the outpost." He said. "However, Ruby is going to teach you some things here while I go check on things at the outpost. Good luck." I nodded.
"Thank you." I said out of courtesy.
"After this, you may be done for the day." He said taking his leave. I sighed wanting to get this over with.
"Oh don't seem so impatient." Ruby said. "Now, do you wish to get started?" I nodded. "Very well. Walk with me." I had no idea what the point of this exercise was going to be but I was curious to find out. "I'm sure you are aware of the difficulty of our mission." She said.
"Of course I am." I said impatiently. "What kind of question is that?"
"Then you must know that this is a losing battle that we are fighting." She said. "Merely an entire outpost of Mercenaries and Assassins and six ponies, Elements or no, is not enough. The point of this is not to train you but to educate you." I raised my eyebrow.
"What do I need to learn then?" I ask.
"This battle that we are fighting is not so much a physical struggle as it is a battle of wits. Blaze and the other Council members are intelligent and relentless. The company that you fought earlier today, that was a warning." She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. "You should read this." I took the paper and un folded it. I read the contents.
I want to traitor's head when you return. Do not fail me.
-Rocky
"I already knew that they want me dead." I said. She was speaking in riddles and it was getting old fast. "What is this supposed to mean?"
"As I told you." She said. "The Councilmen will stop at nothing to get what they want. That just so happens to be you dead. They will keep coming. How many more scars are you willing yo receive simply in the name of protecting that which is dear to you?" She regarded the scar on my face cynically.
"What would you have me do then?" I asked accusingly. "Walk right up to them? Give myself up? Throw away everything my father stood for?" I had newfound pride when I said those words.
"Don't be a fool." She said. "I want the Council members gone just as much as you do. They took something from me as well. However, do you know why they want you dead so badly?" I was curious to that fact. "It's because you are one of the few humans that can actually perform magic."
I didn't think I heard her right for a moment.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"You heard me Leo." She said. "You can use magic." I blinked dumbly for a moment. "Only a few humans possess this gift. There are many theories about how those said humans had come to possess this trait. But we are not here to discuss theories."
"Then why are we here?" I asked getting irritated.
"I'm here to teach you to use your gift." She said. I finally noticed that we were actually at the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"If there are so few," I said, "how do you know how to train me?" Ruby smiled at me.
"You are quite a clueless man Leo." She said as flames swirled around her right arm. I looked at her surprised. "I'm going to teach you how to use it." We were away from town so there wasn't anyone around. I sighed.
"All right," I said, "let's go." Ruby smiled at me as the flames faded.
"Your powers are currently dormant. So the first thing we have to do is wake them up, so to speak." She said. "Focus your energy into your hand as if channeling it into your palm. Eventually, an orb will appear in your hand. That's when we will know that you have awakened your powers." I sighed. Might as well do as she says. What choice do I have?
I put my hand palm up in front of me and closed my eyes. I focused on channeling energy into my palm Immediately, I opened my eyes to see a pale blue orb in my hands. I smiled broadly. I did it! I could control magic!
"That was a lot faster than I expected." Ruby said genuinely surprised. "Now, let's teach you how to levitate objects."
After the lesson with Ruby, I went back to my house to prepare to see Rarity. I could barely contain my excitement. Why? Wasn't I in love with Song? Despite not being on my side, I still had feelings for the girl.
I stood in the shower thinking about this. Maybe I could just be close friends with Rarity. Yeah, like that will work out. What about what Applejack said? She liked me well enough, I think. Still, what about Song?
Maybe I can go back and appeal to her. Maybe she will see reason if she hears it from me. That would be extremely dangerous though. Especially in Canterlot where everyone wants my head on a spit. It was worth a try though. Right?
I exited the shower and dressed in a normal shirt and pants. I slipped on my boots and I slipped on one of my hidden blades. Just a precaution. I tied my hair int its usual ponytail, grabbed my robes, and walked out the door without another thought.
It was decided. I'll go to Canterlot and try to convince Song to join me myself.
I walked to Rarity's home with the thought of just a casual visit in mind. That's all it is, right? A casual visit between good friends. Of course.
I knocked on Rarity's door politely. The door opened immediately to reveal a well groomed Rarity.
"Ah," she said smiling, "hello darling! Come inside." I walked in as she stepped aside.
"I brought my robe as you asked." I said.
"Of course," she said, "let me take a look at them." I held them out to her and she used her magic to levitate them over to a sewing machine. "Oh, it isn't so bad." She said. "I just have to stitch here and... Done!" She held them up with her magic for me to see. It looked as good as new.
"Wow." I said. "It doesn't even look like I wore it one day. Thank you Rarity." A sly thought came to mind and I held up my hand and made it levitate toward me. Rarity looked at me surprised.
"How did you do that?" She asked. I smiled quite proud of myself.
I explained everything about my magic and she was incredibly fascinated.
"That's so strange." She said. "I've never heard of any other creature other than unicorns having magical abilities." She paused as if thinking of her next move. "Would you like to go upstairs and talk over tea?" She asked. I smiled at her kindly.
"I thought you'd never ask." I said. Her eyes lit up when I said that. My heart skipped a beat when she looked at me like that. She led me upstairs and into the kitchen. Just as before, she prepared the tea on the stove.
"I must say Leo." She said. "I had no idea that you were so..." She drifted off for a moment. "Agile."
"Comes with the trade I guess." I said shrugging. She laughed at that. She sat across from me just as before. I felt her gaze settle on my scar on my face. She looked at it, saddened.
"Oh," she said, "I just feel so awful about earlier today. You wouldn't have that scar if it weren't for me."
"Think nothing of it." I said. "I should've been more careful. It was my carelessness that caused this scar. Besides," I added, "I have scars all over my body, what's one more?" She blushed at that. Was she thinking about that? I blushed at the thought of her looking at all of my scars.
The kettle whistled, breaking the awkwardness between us. Rarity rushed over to it and took the kettle off the stove.
"All the same," she said, "I had no idea you were so skilled a fighter."
"You should've seen me ten years ago." I said jokingly. Rarity levitated all of the things she did last time over to the table between us.
"Really?" She said.
"Oh yes," I said, "back then, I could barely hold my own in a fight. I wasn't very skilled a climber either. However, I was trained by the best and look how I turned out." A wanted fugitive with magical powers and an entire organization wanting the bounty on my head. Seems about right.
Rarity laughed. She had a gorgeous laugh. It was very elegant and lady-like. Very fitting for a lady. What am I saying? She's a pony for God's sake! Then again, what about Mouse? He was into mares. So? What does Mouse have to do with any of this? But what about what Applejack said? She liked me too, right? If I'd just come clean-
"That's very surprising." She said. "I would've expected you to be amongst the best from the start." I blushed slightly embarrassed.
"You flatter me." I said laughing nervously. I sipped my tea. I looked up at her nervously. We locked eyes for a moment. They reminded me of sapphires reflecting the moonlight. My heart began to beat faster until I was certain it was going to jump out of my chest.
We made small talk after that until we finished the tea and moved into the living room where we sat on the couch together.
"WIll you teach me some more of that language that you speak? Italian, was it?" She asked. I smiled.
"Of course." I said. "What would you like to learn?" She thought for a moment.
"How about, 'That dress looks fabulous.' Something simple, right?" She said. I chuckled.
"Quel vestito sembra favoloso." I said. I helped her sound it out and soon she was saying it perfectly. "Well done!" I said. "Anything else?"
"You say something now." She said. I thought for a moment. We locked eyes again and I said the first thing that came to mind.
"Gli occhi sono belli." I said softly. She looked at me confused and I was inwardly panicking. Why the hell did I say that?
"What was that?" She asked. I swallowed. Hell with it.
"I said," I stammered my face getting warmer, "that your eyes are beautiful." I couldn't take my eyes from them, that was for sure. She blushed madly.
"I-." She stammered. "Th-thank you." She said shying away. "Yours are quite nice as well." That didn't help my blushing problem. In fact, it made me blush more.
"I'm sorry," I said looking away from her to prevent my eyes from scanning her body, "I'm being quite forward. I assure you that wasn't my intent." I looked back up at her. Her form captivated me. There was no turning back now. She turned back to me and smiled. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.
"No," she said, "don't apologize." My mind was racing. I had never felt this way about anyone before. Not Song, not anyone. Why was this happening now? I found myself scooting closer to her.
"I don't know if it's your heart or mine," I said trying to break the silence, "but someone's heart is beating rather loudly."
"Perhaps a combination of the two?" She suggested nervously. It was time, this was my chance.
"Rarity," I said softly, "I-I've never felt this way about anyone before until I met you." Smooth. Really. "There have been others," Seriously? "but every time I see you, I'm already so much happier. I think you're special Rarity. I-." She silenced me with a hoof.
"You don't have to say it." She whispered. I noticed how close we were and honestly I didn't care.
I put my hand on her hoof and gently removed it. It was now or never. I cupped her extremely soft cheek and pulled her into a soft kiss.
It was nothing like I had expected. Besides my mind going crazy, it was just like kissing a human girl. Her lips were soft on mine. I couldn't get enough of them.
Rarity responded by kissing back. My other hand snaked around her waist and pulled her closer to me. Her hooves wrapped around my neck for her to pull me even closer. My hand that was on her cheek ran it's way through her well groomed mane.
We broke away when we both needed oxygen. I stared into her eyes. My mind was on the verge of panic mode.
She really does like me! What about Song? Song never made me feel this way! Rarity's a mare! Who gives a damn what she is? How will you convince Song now? I'll deal with that later!
Despite me having a mental argument with myself, my expression was very calm.
"Rarity," I said, "that was..." Words couldn't describe what I felt at that moment. Everything felt natural.
"Leo," she said leaning her forehead against mine, "I never thought that I would be so attracted to someone who isn't even my own species. But now I don't seem to even care." I smiled and kissed her again.
AN: There's a poll on my profile, you should check it out. Thanks for reading!