Waiting. That was what they have been doing since the first rays of the morning sun spread across the world. Waiting. Standing there in a motionless hypnotic state as the background change before them. Waiting. The cool autumn breeze smoothly touches their skin as the colorful facade of dead leaves dances around their hooves, as they continue to stand there. Waiting. Waiting for somepony to arrive. Waiting. Waiting.
Sometimes while they wait, there were a few brief moments when time pass quickly than they have noticed, or time would slow down to their annoyance. This morning when they arrived at the spot they were supposed to meet, the sun would move in one direction, and stay in another for long periods. They didn’t like that, especially Scootaloo. She hated when time acted on its own accord instead of her’s. Today, time would choose not to cooperate with them. Time will not be on their side.
Apple Bloom, a yellow earth pony, walked to a STOP sign they were standing under. She lay her forehoof on it, and the feeling of cold steel travelled throughout her nervous system. Apple Bloom laid her hoof on the metal pole for a few moments before she let go. She looked up at the red octagon-shaped sign with the words “STOP.” Stop. What does that mean? What does that word really mean? Should we stop what we are doing and go home? Should stop waiting for her and proceed to crusading without her presence. Should we stop this entire crusading business? She let a small sigh, and looked to Scootaloo, whose eyes were still focused on the scenery in front of her.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Bloom said somberly. The orange pegasus slowly turned her head and stared at Apple Bloom. Though Scootaloo’s face showed no emotion, when Apple Bloom looked at her purple eyes, she could clearly see a conflicted filly searching desperately for resolve. Scootaloo brought her eyes down and let out a defeated sigh.
“Nothing at all,” she finally said. Apple Bloom joined her once again and the two continued to stand side-by-side, waiting for the missing filly. Another half hour passed, and still no sign of the filly they were waiting for. The ponies of the world continued to go on about their daily lives and the planet continued to spin on it’s axis, not noticing the two waiting fillies. Waiting. Their hooves became tired from the constant standing, so they sat on the one bench that was next to the stop sign. Despite the feeling of tension fading away from their legs, they still could not get rid of the empty feeling they had waiting for their best friend. They sat their. Sat. Waiting.
Scootaloo looked up at the sun and saw it was almost noon. She looked around. Still no sign of her. Apple Bloom also looked around. No sign of her. They stayed and wait. Waiting for her. The sun reached it’s highest point of the day, and still no sign of their third. Where had she gone? Why is she not here? What had happened that would make her this late? They carried their heads on their hooves and time itself took pleasure of the two filly’s misery. Time would slow down, just to annoy them even further.
“She promised she’d be here. Where has she gone?” Apple Bloom asked to nopony in particular. “It is not like her to keep us waiting on a sunday afternoon.” Scootaloo turned to say something, until her ears perked. Apple Bloom too heard something in the distance. Laughter. Jovial laughter. Laughter of children. A group of fillies walked before them, conversing amongst themselves. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo scanned the entire crowd, anxiously searching for the one they were looking for. Alas, it was proven to be futile, for she was not among the crowd. The fillies disappeared, leaving the pair alone once again on the bench.
“Nothing again. Nothing at all,” Scootaloo commented. They continued to wait under the bright afternoon sun. No sign of her yet. While they waited, they could hear a faint clopping of hooves on the ground. It was coming from their right. A group of stallions with numbers on them ran past them. They were no more than five on that particular group. They looked as though they were jogging.
“What are they running from?” Scootaloo asked.
“They aren’t running from anything. They are exercising,” Apple Bloom answered nonchalantly.
“What’s the point in that?”
“They run because they want to keep in shape. Their bodies are important to them. They need to run so their hearts will pump blood throughout their bodies,” Apple Bloom answered again.
“Oh. Okay,” Scootaloo said. The jogging stallions disappeared from their view. They continued to wait. As the minutes turned into hours, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat on the bench in complete silence. Silence. Waiting.
“It’s cold,” Apple Bloom said.
“It’s not that cold, it’s only late September,” Scootaloo commented.
“It gets colder later,” Apple Bloom added.
“Maybe you should have wear a jacket next time.”
They sat awkwardly in silence on the bench once more. Apple Bloom pulled out a pocket watch given to her as a gift from one of her many relatives. It was now 2:45 p.m. She sighed to herself and placed the watch into her pocket. As they air became deader each passing second, the two heard a low rumbling sound. It sounded like a monster has crept from behind them. The fillies were quite frightened until it was revealed it was their stomachs making the sound.
“We have been waiting for so long we forgot to eat,” Scootaloo said.
“Forget to eat? That’s like forgetting to breathe!” Apple Bloom chided.
“Did you bring any apples?” Scootaloo asked.
“No, I don’t have anything with me,” Apple Bloom answered in a somber tone.
“You didn’t bring any apples? You’re from an apple farming family! How could you not bring anything to eat?!” Scootaloo scoldfully asked.
“I didn’t know she was not going to show up today,” Apple Bloom said defensively.
“Hold on, I might have some carrots in my sack pack,” Scootaloo grumbled. She reached into her aforementioned sack pack and searched with her hoof the contents. After a minute of scanning, she pulled out a vegetable and gave it to Apple Bloom. She brought her teeth to the vegetable… only to stop mid-bite.
“Scootaloo, this is a turnip,” she said.
“No it’s not, it’s a carrot,” Scootaloo said.
“Scootaloo, carrots are long and orange. This is a turnip, which is short and purple. Can you not tell the difference?”
“Apple Bloom, I can assure you that thing you have in you hoof is a carrot.” She reached into her sack again and pulled out another edible object. “This is a turnip.”
“Scootaloo… that’s an orange,” Apple Bloom said nonchalantly.
“No, it’s a turnip. Turnips are short and round. Therefore, it’s a turnip.”
“Turnips are also purple. That’s an orange,” Apple Bloom desperately reasoned.
“Why can’t food be food?” Scootaloo asked in an angry tone. “All food come from the same source - the earth! The dirt and soil we walked on produced these things! Carrots, turnips, oranges, everything! I can’t believe you can be so picky about what Mother Nature have given to us!”
“First of all, oranges grow on trees,” Apple Bloom began. “Second, I’m not picky with what I eat. And third, ya’ll ignorant.”
“If I’m ignorant, how come you have to watch me eat this turnip?” Scootaloo asked.
“For the same reason you thought that turnip was a carrot,” Apple Bloom answered.
Scootaloo cast a long glare at Apple Bloom. After a moment of angry stares, she finally sunk her teeth into the “turnip.” Her mouth was set to a chewing motion… before she spat out the contents into the ground. Her contorted face indicate that she did not like the taste.
“Eww! This isn’t a turnip, it’s an orange!”
“Ya see? That’s exactly what I was trying to tell ya’ll!”
“It’s not my fault, I’m colorblind!”
After their lunch debate, the silenced returned. With their friend not showing up, Scootaloo began to question why are they even sitting here. Are they waiting for something to happen? Why couldn’t they just go home? They didn’t have to waste their sunday afternoon sitting here in this lone bench. Scootaloo wanted to leave the bench and enjoy what remained of their weekend, but something in her mind told her to remain seated.
Apple Bloom did not fare well either. She had been waiting on this very spot since this morning. She hated watch the world spin around while she was motionless. She took out her pocket watch again - 2:52 p.m. Time was slowing down once more. She could feel it in the back of her mind. They continue to sit, waiting for no apparent reason other than to wait.
Suddenly, a stallion wearing a white suit and red bow-tie approached them. He appeared to be wearing white shoes on his hooves and legs as well. He had a light blue skin-coat and a dark blue short mane. He was carrying a flat, white box of some kind. He sat in the middle between the two fillies. He had a dumb smile on his face, which made the fillies quite uncomfortable.
“Hello,” he said. The two fillies did not answer him. “Want a chocolate?” he asked. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nodded their heads left and right, silently saying “no.” “You know, my mother always said “life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” That’s why I come here everyday on this bench with these box of chocolates. Each chocolate could be a different flavor of chocolate, just like each pony is a different pony. In some ways, we are just like chocolate.” He began to eat out of the box of chocolates, much to the confusion of the fillies. “Chocolates remind me of my mother. She was sweet like chocolate, but she wasn’t made of chocolate.” He looked down at his white shoes and showed them to the girls. “You see these shoes? My mother said you can tell alot about a pony just by looking at their shoes. Shoes can take you anywhere. If you walk or run fast enough you might end up to the place you weren’t even thinking about going. Shoes are wonderful like that.”
He spent the next several minutes telling the girls the abridged version of his (supposed) life-story. Starting from why we wore shoes to how to how he was an accidental war hero in the Dragon Wars to his life as a shrimp boat captain up to recent times. Suddenly, he walked away. Never to be seen again.
“That guy was weird,” Scootaloo commented. Apple Bloom looked at her watch again - it was 3:01 p.m. This frustrated her so much that she contemplated going home. But once more, she decided to remained seated. Once more, the two girls were left alone. Waiting.
“Hey Apple Bloom, you want to see a magic trick?” Scootaloo asked.
“Sure,” Bloom answered with no hint of emotion.
Scootaloo grabbed a rock from the ground and held it in her hoof. Apple Bloom furrowed her brow, not knowing where this was going.
“Okay, look at the rock,” she commanded. Apple Bloom did what she was told and looked at the rock very closely. Scootaloo then threw the rock as hard as she can, much to Bloom’s confusion. “And it’s gone!”
“Scootaloo, that was not a magic trick. You just threw the rock away.”
“I made it disappear, didn’t I?”
“Yeah but… forget it.”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom sat there again, not knowing what else to do. As they sat there, Apple Bloom was thinking about leaving the bench. She really wanted to go home. But for some reason, whenever she tried to go home, she would always remained seated. She couldn’t understand why, she had held onto the belief that something was going to happen today. Until then, she would have to remain seated on the bench against her will.
“Hey Scootaloo, I heard that there was buried treasure right here. On this spot,” Apple Bloom said.
“Really? Treasure? Wow, that’s cool!” Scootaloo cheerfully commented.
“You know what’s really cool? We didn’t need a map! It was already here to begin with,” she added.
“Imagine us owning all that gold! We’ll be rich!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Let’s find it right now!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo excitedly searched around the bench and surrounding area for the “treasure.” They circled the bench, looked behind a tree and inside some bushes. Unfortunately, no treasure could be found.
“You find any treasure?” Scootaloo asked.
“No,” Apple Bloom said. “Maybe we’re not searching hard enough. Do you have any shovels?”
“No. We could dig with our hooves,” Scootaloo suggested. The girls began to use their own forearms to unearth the imaginary treasure. The best thing they could do was to create a medium sized hole. Once again, they could not find any treasure. The girls slumped back into the bench, disappoint that nothing of value happened.
“Apple Bloom, why are still sitting here? It’s obvious she’s not going to show up,” Scootaloo said. “We don’t have to be here.”
“I know. I was thinking about leaving too, but something is telling me to stay here.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s like… something big is going to happen today. I don’t know what it is, but I have a feeling that If we leave now, we’re gonna miss it.”
“That’s still no reason to be sitting here all day,” Scootaloo scolded. “We should really go home. It’s clear we wasted an entire day by being here.”
“Let’s just stay here a little bit more. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wanna see what happens today,” Apple Bloom explain. Scootaloo did not like this idea at all. Apple Bloom pulled out her pocket watch to catch the time - it was now 3:17 p.m. She put it away and looked at the sky. There were no showers or storms scheduled for today. However, she wished that something of the sort would happen. “If only it rained today,” she thought to herself.
Then, an idea came to her. She sat up from the bench and stood in all fours on the ground. She stood on her two hindlegs and proceed to perform a strange dance. She jumped up and down, waved her forearms like a crazy pony and moved her entire body in a rhythmic, somewhat chaotic motion. Needless to say, this terrified Scootaloo.
“Apple Bloom… what are you doing?” she asked hesitantly, afraid for the answer.
“I’m performing a rain dance.”
“A what?”
“A rain dance,” she said again. She paused and started to explain what a rain dance was. “A long time ago, I met this calf who belonged to a tribe of buffalo. She told me that whenever her family wanted it to rain, they do this dance so it would come.”
“That sounds… stupid,” Scootaloo said. “Why would we ask for rain? We have the weather team for that.” Apple Bloom ignored her rude comment and continued the strange dance. The little pegasus was forced to watch the young earth pony make a fool out of herself. After a couple of minutes watching her dance, Scootaloo decided to join her. She did not want to feel like a bad friend. The two girls danced like fools, with some ponies stopping for a moment to look at them in confusion; others just quickly passed them so they would not notice them. After a period of dancing, no rain had come.
“I thought you said there would be rain if we do this,” Scootaloo complained. “Maybe you’re doing it wrong.”
“I know for sure it will work,” Apple Bloom said. Right after she said that, a mare came running toward them. From the look of her, she appeared to be extremely wet, her mane and coat drenched in water. She carried a head of cabbage in her mouth. The mare stopped in front of them and gave them the cabbage. “Uh… what’s this for?” a confused Apple Bloom asked.
“What’s it for? You two did the dance! Where I come from, that’s called the Bring Me a Cabbage Dance! It’s very popular in my homeland. Oh no, I left the tub running, bye!” Without another word, the mare disappeared. The fillies were left alone, with a head of cabbage.
“That was weird,” was the only thing Scootaloo had to say. Not knowing what to do the head of cabbage, Apple Bloom sat it next to her on the bench. Again, waiting for something to happen.
After a long period of silence, Apple Bloom pulled out her pocket watch yet again, checking the time. As she predicted, it was only 3:25 p.m. It seemed as though no time had passed at all. But there was no need to be frustrated, she thought to herself. If something extraordinary was supposed to happen today, waiting here in this bench for a long time was worth it. Apple Bloom stared at nothing at all while ponies big and small continued about their business. Some of the leaves started to fall of the tree above them. As the colorful leaves slowly touched the grassy surface, something dawned on Apple Bloom surprisingly.
“Scootaloo, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure. What did you wanted to ask me?”
“Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue?”
“No. Why?”
“Because look at the sky. It’s big and blue. With white clouds. Who made them? And for that matter, who made us?”
“I don’t know. Princess Celestia?” Scootaloo tried to answered.
“Really. Because I saw that Hearths Warming Eve play, and I don’t think the Princesses created everything,” Apple Bloom cooly said.
“Why are you asking me this?” Scootaloo asked.
“Look around you!”
“I’m looking… what am I looking at?”
“The world is huge! So huge, you can fit a dragon and a cerberus in one spot they’ll have a tea party while play hopscotch and singing the Equestrian anthem! Don’t you see, Scootaloo?! Everything is one big tree!”
“Apple Bloom, I’m not following you,” Scootaloo blankly said.
“I know what I’m saying, Scootaloo! The world can’t just appear just like that, something had to happen! Like an… uh… an explosion!”
“An explosion? Like the Big Bang?” Scootaloo asked.
“Exactly! Everything is closed up in one spot and then POOF! Out of nowhere - matter, atoms, all that space junk flies out and creates the universe! And it all comes together to create this big cosmic tree which holds all the galaxies, planets, stars, everything!”
“Why are we having this conversation?”
“I’m just saying something can’t appear out of nothing,” Apple Bloom tried to explain herself. “If something appear out of nothing, then we will all disappear and reappear at the same time!”
“You’re sounding like a crazed scientist now Apple Bloom.”
“Just listen to me, Scootaloo. Look at that quarter on the ground,” Apple Bloom said while pointing at the quarter on the ground. “It can’t just appear out of thin air, somepony had to drop it. See what I mean?”
“What I see, Apple Bloom, is that waiting on this bench has made you insane!” Scootaloo half-yelled. “And besides, it’s possible for something to appear from nothing. It’s called magic.”
“And where does magic come from?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Unicorns of course,” Scootaloo proudly answered.
“And where do unicorns come from?” she asked again.
“That’s easy, they… uh… they. Uh. Hmm. I don’t know. The Stork?”
“Ah-ha! That proves my point!” Apple Bloom boasted.
“What point? You just randomly started talking about this for no apparent reason!”
While Scootaloo and Apple Bloom continued their debate, ponies began to gather in the town square. All across town, ponies from near and far assembled themselves for something that was supposed to happen around 4:15 p.m. Nopony knew what was going to happen, but the news that something extraordinary was to occur was hard to resist. The massive throng of townsponies grew in number as they waited patiently for the mysterious event.
The little fillies were still in their heated debate, unaware of the crowd that appeared before them. A colt walked up to them, then stop when he saw the quarter on the ground. He looked at the fillies and then at the quarter. He picked it up and carried on with his business. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo ceased their argument only to discover the quarter is gone.
“It disappeared!” Scootaloo yelled. “I told you Apple Bloom, it’s magic! Magic can do anything!”
“No, somepony must have picked it up!” Apple Bloom yelled back.
“It wasn’t there last time and it disappeared again! Things can appear from nothing and reappear! I’m right, you’re wrong, it was magic! Cased closed!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Apple Bloom yelled.
“No, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” Scootaloo yelled back.
“No, you!”
“You!”
“You!”
“YOU!”
“No, you’re both wrong,” a voice called from behind them. An explosion of smoke blinded them instantly. When the smoke cleared, it revealed to be a ninja pony. And this ninja pony was about to teach them a lesson of science. “Apple Bloom, you are wrong in your assumptions about what the big bang is. The Big Bang is not an actual explosion but an expansion of the universe from it’s hot and dense state, which overtime allowed the universe to cool and for energy to be converted into subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons and electrons. Though simple atomic nuclei formed within the first three minutes after the Big Bang, thousands of years passed before the first electrically neutral atoms formed. The majority of atoms that were produced by the Big Bang are hydrogen, along with helium and traces of lithium. Giant clouds of these primordial elements later coalesced through gravity to form stars and galaxies, and the heavier elements were synthesized either within stars or during supernovae.”
“And Scootaloo, just because something can appear and disappear at will, does not necessarily mean it is because of magic. As my job as a ninja, I must create the illusion that give the impression that something has disappeared spontaneously. I use things like smoke bombs and my cat-like reflexes to make myself disappear. All without the use of magic. The two of you have a lot to learn about the world before you make declarations of genius out of arrogance. Now if you excuse me, I have ninja things to do.” The Ninja Pony threw a smoke bomb and exploded. When the smoke cleared, he was gone.
“Apple Bloom… you do realize we’ve been schooled by a ninja,” Scootaloo said.
“I know.”
Only after the quick science lesson by the ninja they finally saw the large crowd of ponies in the center of town. Apple Bloom could not believe her eyes. Something kept telling her that something was supposed to happen today. And she was right. For the first time since this morning, she felt genuine happiness.
“Scootaloo, look at that! See, I told ya something was gonna happen! And you didn’t believe me!”
“Wow, I can honestly say that I’m surprised,” Scootaloo conceded. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom gave short glances at each other. And for the first time ever, they finally decided to leave the bench and join the crowd. The murmurs of ponies reached their little ears; they heard different reasons for the assembly. Some said it was a special announcement from Princess Twilight Sparkle. Others said there was going to be a flash mob by Pinkie Pie and several dancers - which is strange because flash mobs are supposed to be a surprise and nopony is supposed to know about it.
They waited and waited. Apple Bloom looked at her pocket watch - almost 4:15. Hopefully what was going to happen will happen soon before it gets too dark. Scootaloo looked around; the audience kept growing and growing.
“Apple Bloom, is anything going to happen soon?” she asked nervously.
“Don’t worry. This is a huge turnout! With so many ponies here, something has got to happen!” Bloom said excitedly. As soon as she finished her statement, a mare screamed and pointed to a building. The crowd turned their collective heads and gasped. They saw a stallion on a roof while sitting on a mattress.
“Greetings, Ponyville!” the stallion announced. “I assembled all of you here today to witness a tremendous event of Ponykind! Today, I’m going to fly off the roof using this mattress! Then, I will fly across the world and see everything!”
The crowd held their breath as the stallion backed up and prepare to soar away from the little town. The stallion paced himself while carrying his mattress. With no time to spare, he ran until he reached the edge of the roof. He quickly got on his mattress and prepared for the trip of his lifetime.
“A whole new wo--” CRASH!
He slammed face-first into a carrot cart on the ground. He, along with his mattress, was badly damaged. The stallion did not appear to move. Pegasi on standby lift the stallion and put him on a stretcher, flying him to a hospital. The crowd soon dispersed; some going home and others to other places. As the massive gather became decreased, the only ones left were Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They stood there. Dumbfound. Bewildered.
“That was it?” Scootaloo asked in a low voice, slowly building with rage. “That. Was. It?”
“I… I…” Apple Bloom tried to examine what happened, but failed to do so.
“We wasted our entire sunday sitting on a stupid bench having stupid conversations and stupid arguments! Then some stupid stallion jumps off a stupid roof and hurts his stupid self!” Scootaloo roared in furious anger.
“I… I…”
“The worst part is, we have to go to school tomorrow! Oh my gosh, this has to be the worst day in my life! We could have been out crusading or flying with Rainbow Dash! But nooooo! We have to sit here on this bench and sit around and do nothing!”
“I… I…”
“You know what, I learned something today! When your instincts tells you to do something, don’t listen to it! Because ninety-nine percent of the time, your instincts are wrong! Now if you excuse me, I have to go back home and electrocute my brain so I can forget this whole day ever happened!”
“I…”
“See you in school tomorrow, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo yelled in sarcastic anger. She hopped on her scooter and drove off into the sunset. There was only Apple Bloom. She stood there. Shell-shocked. Bewildered. After a moment of inner-turmoil, she pulled out her pocket watch. 4:27 p.m. She sighed to herself. With nothing else to do, she walked home. The bench was empty. Silent.
It was only a short time before Apple Bloom arrived at her home in Sweet Apple Acres. She knocked on the door, and Applejack answered it.
“Howdy, Apple Bloom! Glad yer home! How was your day?”
“It was… okay,” she blankly answered.
“Okay? Did ya do any crusading?”
“No. Sweetie Belle never showed up so me and Scootaloo end up doing… nothing.”
“Well I’m mighty sorry about that. Come on, get washed up for dinner. It will be ready in a few minutes.” Apple Bloom did what she was told and prepared herself for the family dinner. She tried not to think about what happened today. As with Scoootaloo, she wished she could just forget the whole thing ever happened. Later, Bloom joined the rest of her family at the dinner table. But for some reason, something felt missing. Something out of place. She looked down and the dinner plates were empty.
“Hey Applejack, where’s dinner?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Don’t worry deary, I gotcha covered,” Granny Smith answered. Granny Smith got from her chair and performed a crazy dance routine. After a few minutes of dancing, there was a knock on the door. Big Mac answered it and Apple Bloom fainted.
“Wow, the Bring Me a Cabbage Dance is really popular this year!” the Wet Mare exclaimed.
Author's Note
Dedicated to Samuel Beckett
