Returning to a Dangerous Game

Without another word a bright blue flash fills the air and I find myself in the sitting at a table across from Applejack I look around but none of the other five are here, I stand to leave when Applejack clears her throat.

“What?” I growl slumping back into the chair.

“Do ya really think yer going to leave without telling me why yer late?” she growls digging into her saddle bags taking out two glass cups and a bottle of whiskey.

“I’m having an affair with Cadence” I answer blandly… Applejack rolls her eyes pours whiskey into a glass and slides it across the table.

“Ah keep tellin’ ya lyin’ isn’t something ya can pass of as one of yer jokes.”

“Yet that’s what makes them funny-” I drink the whiskey and try not to gag, Applejack clears her throat and slides the whiskey bottle across the table without hesitation I refill my glass then slide the bottle back “-the truth is I was talking to Cadence in the crystal gardens about Twilight going to that other world on the other side of that magic mirror”

This seems to catch her attention… she takes her glass and the whiskey, stands and walks in to the chair next to me. She sits down and takes off my glasses.

“Fluttershy was right… once ya get passed the shock, yer eyes ain’t so bad” she says filling her glass.

“And your eyes remind me of Gin before I found out he was a genocidal maniac”

“Ah’ll take that as a compliment-” She scoffs rolling her eyes and drinking another shot “-so what was he like before ya almost killed him?”

“He wouldn’t say much… when the pack we were in got together to make a plan for an operation he would sit as far away from the group as he could. He would follow his role perfectly but his weight would make him a target for the bigger assholes we worked with”

“So he was always skin and bones?”

“Yes but that didn’t mean he was weak. He never used the magic siphon we saw at the fortress… instead he would use his teeth to rip someone’s throat out. Fluttershy reminded me of him because even Gin showed me a little kindness when we first met and that’s why Fluttershy scares me… because sooner or later she’ll snap and when she does, you’ll find out what it’s like to be backed into a losing situation-” for once Applejack has nothing to say… her eyes twitch trying to find the right words“-that’s why I’m always on edge A.J. whenever someone treated me with any sort of decency… they would always stab me in the back when something better came along”

“Not all folks are like that”

“True but it seems like the majority is”

“Fluttershy ain’t like that… if she was ya'll wouldn’t be here.”

“I was nothing more than a wounded animal to her and with Gin's magic coursing through us I find her to be nothing more than a walking corpse … to Dashie I’m always going to be the threat that ruins everything she worked hard for and Twilight wishes I was in a cell… padded or otherwise. Cadence thinks the only way for me to move on is to find the ‘one’ while every job I take in Ponyville ends with me getting paid less than what’s offered, even preparing the dead has lost its flare and Rarity takes pity on me by paying my rent from time to time… You however have seem to make it your own personal mission to run me out of Ponyville every time I walk a few inches near the outskirts of your farm”

“Ya think ah can trust ya after you tried to rope mah family into yer problems!?”

“I didn’t rope them into my problems! I told you what would’ve happened if you didn’t listen to me and one of your friends nearly died because of it!”

“What about Pinkie?” she sighs.

“She tries her damnedest to make me smile… to see everything a little more ‘brighter’ to make new and better memories but she comes on a bit too strong and I’m starting to feel something every time she leaves with her mane flat.”

“And to think she had it worse when ya-“she starts to laugh and I slam my hoof on the table… the force makes my glass fall to its side and roll of the table.

“DON’T SPEAK OF IT” I growl.

“C’mon ah know it’s hard to for ya tell somepony when yer in pain but if ya really want to get better you HAVE to start opening up”

“Not now… soon just-“I take a long deep sigh and Applejack puts a hoof on my shoulder.

“Well when yer ready to tell us, remember that we’re always ready to lend an open ear.”

“Not likely… once we arrive back in Ponyville, none of you will ever see me again.”

“WHAT?!?!” Applejack nearly dropping the whiskey.

“Don’t be so surprised A.J. you should have seen this coming… you actually thought I could last on your side of the spectrum? I’ve seen too much to know that sooner or later it’s all going to come crashing down and when you find yourself holding the mangled bodies of the ones you love what will you do? Lose your sanity in your grief? Or become the very thing you defended them from and fight harder?”

She starts to stutter trying to form anything that might change my mind “So what are ya gonna do?”

“Disappear... the only thing I was ever good at.”

I get out of the chair and walk to the other end of the car.

“You’re right about opening up to others. Somehow even at my worst… one of you always managed to bring me back from the brink, I was just too blind to notice.”

As I leave the car I look back to catch a glimpse of Applejack drinking straight out of the bottle… I close the door and find myself at the bar again; I take a seat, look at my eyes in the reflection of the cherry wood varnish, light a cigar and wait for the bartender.