Chapter I: A New Beginning
The train came to a screeching halt at the Ponyville Train Station and among all the creatures getting on and off the train was a young earth pony stallion. His coat was a clean white as his mane was long and black with a streak of grey stretching through his locks. Dawning his flanks was a splash of ink in the shape of a heart. His eyes were so gold, they'd put the Rich family's fortune to shame.
He left the station, where he saw a pegasus mare looking through the crowd of creatures leaving the station. Her coat was a rich black with rainbow main and tail. Her cutie mark took the form of a rainbow-colored apple in front of a grew cloud with a lightning bolt coming from the apple. She saw Ink and smiled before she trotted over to him.
"Hey, Ink Heart," she greeted warmly.
"Hey, Zap Apple," he replied with a sigh. Zap's smiled faded before she pulled him into a hug.
"I can't say I know what you're going through, but I'm here to help," she assured him as he leaned into the hug.
"Thank you for all of this," he sighed. She pulled away from the hug and offered him a smile.
"C'mon! My mothers are eager to meet you!" He smiled softly; however, his face showed clear signs of lingering pain. "Let me help you with those!" She grabbed his saddlebags from his back in her teeth and began walking off. Ink Heart followed after her as she guided him through the town.
After a bit of a walk, they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, where they were greeted by four elderly ponies. Three mares and one stallion. The stallion was a large earth pony, his coat a bright red with faded orange mane and tail, and a large green apple dawning his flanks. Standing next to him was a pink unicorn mare with an equally faded purple mane and a cupcake for her cutie mark. Next to her was an orange earth pony mare with greying orange mane done in a bun and three bright red apples on her flanks. Finally, standing next to the orange mare, was a cyan-blue pegasus with a rainbow mane that also was fading due to age, and a try-colored lightning bolt striking from a cloud on her flanks. All four had welcoming smiles on their faces as they waited for Zap Apple to arrive with their guest.
Zap Apple stopped and put the saddlebags down before she turned to Ink Heart. "Heart, this is my family," she said as she pointed a hoof at the gathered ponies. "The first is my uncle, Big Macintosh, and his wife, Sugarbelle." The pink mare waved with a smile.
"Welcome!" She greeted him.
"Eeyup." Big Mac said with a smile.
"Uncle Mac is a stallion of few words," Zap clarified. "but, he's a real sweet apple!" Ink Heart waved at them with a soft smile. "Next is Momma Apple Jack!" The orange mare waved.
"Howdy!" She smiled at him. "Welcome to our humble home!"
"And to finally, Momma Rainbow Dash!" Zap concluded.
"Former captain of the Wonderbolts, Best Young Flyers champion, and most loyal pony in Ponyville!" Dash stated proudly and with enough energy to betray her age. Ink Heart could not help but smile at the elder mare's enthusiasm.
"Dash, don't ya think y've done enough bostin' in our youth?" Apple Jack asked with a smile of amusement.
"Are you kidding?" Dash retorted. "You can never bost enough when you're as awesome as me!" She stuck out her chest with pride, getting her wife to shake her head with a chuckle before she turned to Ink Heart and walked up to him with a serious look.
"Zap told us all about what y're goin' through," she said assuringly. "and ah can't tell ya how sorry ah am." Rainbow Dash landed beside her.
"I can speak through experience that things will get better," she added with a sincere look on her face. "I had a girlfriend who wasn't who I thought she was." Ink Heart looked at her eyes.
"How'd you make it through something like that?" He asked.
"She had her friends to turn to," Apple Jack piped up. Ink turned to Apple Jack.
"Some good that'll do me," he sighed, "I've been isolated for so long, I hardly have any friends, let alone someone I could turn to."
"Bullshit!" Rainbow Dash cried out.
"Rainbow! Language!" Apple Jack scorned her. "Honestly, ah thought you were past that!"
"I know, but it's true!" Dash countered. "You have Zap and us! We're your friends, and we'll be here for you whenever you need us." She grabbed his shoulders, getting him to look at her. "Don't ever think you're alone with us."
"Rainbow Dash is right," Sugarbelle piped up as she stepped forward. "My niece was eager to help you as soon as you told her about the breakup, and we were all happy to offer you someplace to stay."
"Eeyup," Big Mac added with a soft smile. Ink Heart looked between them all with tears in his golden eyes.
"Thank you," he said as his lip trembled. "Thank you all, so much." They all gathered around and pulled him into a warm, group hug. He welcomed their warmth as his tears began to stain his cheeks. After a minute of being the heart of the group hug, they all pulled away as they smiled at him.
"Now, let's get ya settled in," Apple Jack said. "The guest room is all set, and when y're ready, we can show you around town." Ink wiped the tears from his face and nodded. Zap grabbed his saddlebags and followed the group as they led him inside the farmhouse, which showed signs of recent remodeling.
"What are your plans now that you're here?" Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered next to Ink Heart.
"Rainbow, don't pry," Apple Jack countered.
"What? I'm just curious," Dash defended herself.
"No, it's okay," Ink Heart chimed in. "Well, I'd like to start transitioning," he began, getting Apple Jack to look back at him.
"If you had said that thirty years ago, Granny Smith might've had a few things to say about that."
"Granny Smith?" Ink asked.
"Our dearly departed grandmother," Zap answered with a smile, getting a look of confusion from the stallion.
"Wait, she died and you're not crying about the subject?"
"We've come to terms with the loss long ago," Apple Jack answered. "It was a hard loss, but she lived a good life. If it weren't for her, Ponyville wouldn't have existed."
"Wow!" Ink said in awe.
"We have many fond memories of Granny Smith," Rainbow said with a smile. "I'll never forget the time I had to spend with her and her friends. One of the best days of my life."
"There'll be plenty of time to share family stories once he's settled in, honey," Apple Jacked said with a smile.
Ink followed them into the house with a sense of relief. He had spent the last year living in pain from a hard breakup he felt he would never recover from but since his arrival at Sweet Apple Acres, he began to feel like his life was about to change for the better.
Chapter II: Comforting Words
Ink Heart tossed and turned under the covers in the guest room as he struggled to sleep. The sound of girls moaning in pleasure echoed in his eardrums as the sight of a couple in bed haunted his vision. He finally opened his eyes as he groaned in defeat. He was not going to get some sleep tonight.
He pulled the blankets off his body and pulled himself out of the bed. He looked around to find only the moonlight illuminating the room as his saddlebags leaned against the far wall by the window, still full and waiting to be unpacked from the trip. Essentials filled the room, such as a dresser and bed for anyone who came to visit or needed a place to sleep for the night.
He groaned and walked away from the bed to the door, which he opened to peek his head out to survey the hall. With the coast clear, he quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him before he snuck down the hall toward the stairs. He periodically stopped to check for any of the Apples out at this hour, continuing through the seemingly empty house before he got to the front door. He stopped at the door to look over his shoulder to find no one following him before he walked out, quietly closing the door behind him.
He looked around to find the only source of light came from the moon, which the princess brilliantly placed high in the sky. He stared up at the moon as if looking for answers he would never receive. He sighed as he hung his head after a minute. "How does anyone heal from something like this...?" he asked no one in particular. He lifted his head and walked toward the apple trees. He walked through the forest of aged apple trees for several minutes before he came across an old, small house elevated from the ground by pillars lining the corners.
"What's this?" He asked as he walked over to get a closer look. It was a small house like a foals playhouse. The yellow paint on the walls, as well as the red paint on the roof, faded from age. A ramp stretched from the ground to the porch along the front of the house. Guardrails lined the porch to keep anyone from falling off the edge.
Ink Heart admired the small house as he walked up the ramp. It showed signs of use, yet the wood still held strong. He walked into the small house to find old posters and drawings taped or nailed to the walls. It was hard to see in the dark, but he could see the drawings showing images of buildings, shops, hills, each marked with large, red crosses, as they all were connected by red, dotted lines. A checklist of places to see possibly? The rest of the posters lining the walls showed images of Rainbow Dash.
"Whoever uses this house really likes Rainbow Dash," he told himself as he smiled softly at the sight.
"The foals who used this clubhouse were big fans of mine," an elder mare's voice startled Ink, causing him to look back to find Rainbow Dash standing in the open doorframe. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya," she said with a soft smile.
"Misses Dash!" Ink studdered. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude!"
"Don't sweat it, kid," Dash held up a hoof with a reassuring smile. "And you can just call me Rainbow or Dash. Misses never suited me."
"Sorry," Ink said as he hung his head. Rainbow walked around, smiling at the posters still hanging on the walls. "How'd you find me out here?"
"I saw you walking out the front door from my bedroom window," Rainbow answered with a smile. "My little sister and her best friends used this clubhouse as their base to get their cutie marks," Rainbow mused as Ink watched her. "You couldn't stop those three for ten seconds without them scheming about how to get those ass tattoos for years." She smiled at him. "They almost went through a similar loss to you."
"What do you mean?" Ink asked. Rainbow sat on the floor as she looked at a picture of three young mares standing together hanging on the wall. A white unicorn with a cotton candy-colored mane and green eyes, a yellow earth pony with bright red mane topped with a pink bow and orange eyes, and an orange pegasus with underdeveloped wings and purple mane. All three smiling proudly in front of Twilight's School of Friendship.
"While they were still fillies, not too long after they got their cutie marks, Scootaloo," Rainbow pointed at the orange pegasus, "was about to be taken away to live with her parents far away. Her parents work with rare creatures uncommon to Equestria, so they rarely spent any time in Ponyville." Ink Heart watched Rainbow intently as she told the story. "One day, they came home with news that they were going to move with Scootaloo away from town, and nothing could convince them to let her stay."
"So, where does the almost come into play?" Ink asked, getting Rainbow to smile.
"The whole town and several creatures jumped in to let her parents know how important she is with her friends," Rainbow stated. "A gryphon named Gabi came all the way from Gryphonstone to tell her parents what she and her friends did for her."
"And they let her stay by herself?" Ink asked.
"Not quite," Rainbow chuckled. "The frosting on top of the cake, as my old friend Pinkie Pie would say, was Scootaloo's aunts pitching in. Those two bought the house and were more than happy to be her caretakers." Rainbow smiled. "The whole town celebrated that day." Ink sighed.
"That's a nice story, but it doesn't relate." Rainbow walked up and rested a hoof on his shoulder, getting him to look up at him.
"The point of that story is that if it weren't for her friends, we all would've lost one of the most important fillies in all of Ponyville," she stated. "You have friends here." Ink smiled softly before he looked off into the distance. Rainbow let his shoulder go. "Remember when I told you I lost a girlfriend?" Ink looked up at her.
"Yeah."
"Then trust me when I say I know what you're going through," she assured.
"I bet you didn't walk in on her fucking someone else in your bed..." Ink sighed bluntly.
"Okay, normally, I don't have a problem with language, but please try to put a muzzle on that muzzle for my wife's sake," Rainbow ordered.
"Sorry," Ink sighed as he sat on the floor.
"... but you're right, kid," Rainbow added. "I didn't find her cheating on me. I found out she wasn't the same gryphon I fell in love with at Junior Speedster Flight Camp. She was rotten. Only cared about being cool." Ink looked up at Rainbow. "It took one of Pinkie's parties for me to see how bad she was."
"What got you through the pain of losing someone you loved?" Ink asked.
"My friends," Rainbow stated proudly. "When I lost Gilda, I still had my new friends to turn to. If it weren't for them, I'd be sulking for so long I'd be too out of shape to fly anymore."
"I don't have many friends..." Ink sighed. "She was the only one I talked to for so long, I've been isolated."
"And yet you're friends with Zap," Rainbow corrected.
"Yeah, but I didn't know her until after I broke up with Brimstone," Ink pointed out.
"Brimstone?" Rainbow asked. "A dragon?" Ink nodded, getting her to incline her head. "Not to be speciesist, but that makes sense. Dragons tend to be polyamorous-" she bit her lip when she saw Ink look away. "Sorry. Not helping."
"It's okay," Ink sighed.
"Look, Ink Heart," she called as she stood up, "you're hurt. I get it. Just know that as long as you live here, you'll always have someone to talk to whenever you need it." She walked to the door. "You can stay here for as long as you want. This clubhouse doesn't get as much company as it used to." She offered him one last smile over her shoulder before she started to walk out the door.
"Wait, Mis- uh... Rainbow?" Ink called out, getting her to stop and look back at him.
"Yes?"
"You and Apple Jack," he began. "How'd you two have Zap?" He blushed at the question. "If it's not too much to ask." Rainbow chuckled.
"Apple Jack and I went to our friend, Starlight Glimmer for help," Rainbow explained. "She's quite the talented unicorn, and with her magic, she got me pregnant with AJ's foal."
"So, you used magic to conceive a mare's foal?" He asked further.
"Eeyup," she answered. "And no, not by making AJ a male, or intersex or anything like that. Just a quick spell to get me pregnant with something directly from AJ. We couldn't be any happier when we found the spell worked." Ink inclined his head. "Well, I'll leave you to be alone, kid. And don't stress yourself. We're all here to help you." She smiled before she walked out the door.
