Part II: Touring the Town

Part II: Touring the Town

Twilight escorts me out of the Golden Oaks Library. While we're passing through the living room, the walls are completely filled with probably hundreds of books, all bound in different colors and embroideries.

"I haven't read all of them," Twilight tells me as we leave through the front door. "I just finished with half of them, though. Only took me about three years." When we get outside, I see that we were, in fact, inside a very large oak tree.

The day is beautiful, the sunny sky is decorated with huge puffs of clouds here and there. The air is chilly, yet clean too, much cleaner than the suffocating smog of Los Angeles. I smell fresh-cut grass and, strangely enough, sweets being baked. Twilight and Spike lead the way while I follow a few feet behind, marveling at the little town up ahead. There are several rows of buildings on either side of the main road, and all around there were dozens of cartoon hors- ponies, I mean, dozens of ponies bustling about. I even spot an occasional pegasus dart across the sky above us. Each and every one of them have a unique color coordination. One that we pass has a yellow coat, an orange mane and tail, and I think carrots decorate her flank. Another is mint-green, with a mint and light green mane and tail, and actually has a horn and a lyre is her flank. So many random colorations, it was hard to keep track of.

Not to mention makes me a bit nauseated.

"This is Ponyville," Twilight begins. "It was founded by earth ponies years ago, but unicorn and pegasus populations steadily began to rise since then. It's a quiet town... for the most part." She hesitates on the last phrase.

This is when Spike stops and asks incredulously, "Quiet?"

Twilight turns around and heaves a small sigh in defeat. "Okay, Ponyville has had its fair share of danger and disaster here and there, but nothing that destroyed the whole town... completely." Again, slight hesitation on the last phrase.

Spike raises an eyebrow, and I ask, "Seriously? Danger in a place like this?"

"Looks can be deceiving," Spike says, eyeing me somewhat suspiciously.

The lavender mare suddenly shouts, "Alright! We've had parasprites nearly eat the whole town, Spike here nearly destroyed it on a greed-induced rampage, a psychopathic draconequus almost plunged the whole of Equestria into a perpetual state of chaos, and Equestria almost fell into the stomach of an insectoid shape-shifting queen, so yeah, there have been some instances of almost total destruction, but Ponyville is still standing!" She clarifies that last word with a stomp of a hoof.

I just stand there, flabbergasted. Okaaaay, I think to myself. Maybe it isn't always sunshine and rainbows and happy ponies in this world. And what the hell's a "parasprite" and "draconequus?"

At first, nobody noticed us when we came out, but after Twilight's little outburst, they all turn to look at the commotion, and sure enough, they finally see me. Many of them gasp and retreat a little. Others just stay where they are and just stare, mouths slightly ajar. It's pretty... uncomfortable. I always hated when people stared at me, or in this case, ponies. That's why I would always have my hoodie with, to hide under, just in case. Sadly though, my hoodie is back at home on the coat hanger. It doesn't help that I can hear what some of them are saying.

"What is that?"

"Why is it bald?"

"It's so tall!"

I quietly swear to myself if one of these ponies yelled "Kill it with fire before it lays eggs!" I'm going to give them a good reason to.

Twilight, thankfully, catches on to the situation and says, "How about we go over to Rarity's?"

Spike, for some reason, seemingly jumps for joy at the mention of this "Rarity."

So we continue on our way, Twilight and Spike seemingly oblivious to the crowd of staring ponies, but me? I can still feel their unusually large eyes burning into my back. But, I stand tall and copy the lavender mare's and drakes' demeanor. I'm not going to let a bunch of technicolor cartoon horses intimidate me.

So I promptly shout, "What are you all looking at?" Most of them, probably shocked that this alien creature can speak, look away, while most of them going back to their trotting days.

"That's what I though."

When we finally reach the home of this Rarity, I am somewhat taken aback by what I see as we enter. Everywhere, there are mirrors and mannequins and all sorts of cloths just carelessly tossed about the room. On the far back wall, there's a stage with several lights pointed to it and a wall of mirrors lining the back.

Dear God, I think. This Rarity must be a... a fashion manic, or something.

"This is the Carousel Boutique," Twilight says. "Rarity?! You home?"

There as a tumbling sound coming from the staircase at the back of the room, right next to the stage. After a few seconds, a bundle of knotted dresses and cloths crashes onto the floor right in front of the stairs. A white head pokes itself out from one side, revealing the trapped occupant of the boutique.

"Twilight! Darling! Thank Celestia you're here! Could you please...?" This new mare gestures to the clothes-ball she is hilariously trapped in by darting her eyes back and forth. I barely hold back a chuckle at the sight.

This must be Rarity, I think.

Twilight rolls her eyes and asks, "What happened this time, Rarity?" Her tone makes me think that this is a regular occurrence. She trots over and looks down at the mummified unicorn in a mix of slight pity and amusement.

Rarity glares back with an expression of mock outrage. "Well you can't truly believe this was my fault, could you?"

The lavender unicorn's horn glows in a pink aura as the dresses begin to untangle themselves from the trapped mare. After several seconds, the pure white unicorn stands up and brushes off her mane. Her coat is an alabaster white from head to toe--er, hoof, with a dark violet mane and tail. She has the biggest sapphire eyes I have ever seen. They put all rest of the ponies' eyes to shame. On one side of her flank are three diamonds.

Spike, I hear in the meanwhile, is sighing deeply to himself, mouth slight open and not even bothering to stand up straight. I look at him, then at the white unicorn, then back, back again, and realize,

Holy shit, this little dragon's got a crush on this unicorn. That's... kinda pathetic, now that I think about it.

"So, what did happen?" Twilight presses.

"Oh, well, Sweetie Belle was trying to earn her cutie mark by creating a new dress from my favorite silks!" As she says the last few words, she brings a hoof up and dangles it over her forehead to simulate the drama.  "My favorite silks! Oh, just look at them! They're ruined! All wrinkled and torn from her experimenting! What am I going to do with that accident-prone little filly?"

Fashion maniac, and drama queen, I think. What a fitting combo.

Twilight sighs softly and shakes her head. "Calm down, Rarity. She's just eager to grow up, is all. She is the last filly in her class to get her cutie mark after Apple Bloom and Scootaloo got theirs a few months back, you know. You can't tell me you were never excited to get your cutie mark, right?"

The white mare levitates the remaining silks off the floor with her own blue magic while trotting to one of the nearby chests as Twilight spoke. "Well, Sweetie Belle is grounded to her room for the rest of the day." She sighs tiredly. "She's getting more and more desperate with each passing day of no cutie mark." When the silks had been placed inside, she turns her head back around. "And besides, I certainly would never have-"

She stops when she sees me.

I raise my eyebrows slightly and shift my jaw side-to-side from the sheer awkwardness of the silence. Great, what's this one going to do? Shriek? Back away? Continue to stare at me? Try to-

"What a stunning watch!"

-kill me with -- wait, what?

"Oh, right," Twilight starts. "Rarity, this is-" She doesn't get any further as the other unicorn zooms past her in a blur of speed that sends Twilight spinning in a lavender tornado. In a split second, Rarity knocks Spike across the room as she comes to a halt right in front of me, observing the watch on my left wrist. I gasp and jump a little backwards. Apparently, the fact that a strange, unknown alien creature is standing in her home isn't registering.

"It's so unique! So pristine! So one-of-a-kind! So shiny! Wherever did you get it?"

I stand perplexed at her lack of intrigue to my foreign presence, but decide to answer.

"I-It was a gift for my fifteenth birthday from my grandpa," I reply.

"Well," she continues, "your grandfather has quite the eye for watches, I--!" She stops herself from saying anything further when she finally realizes that she was standing next to something that isn't a pony. She looks up at my towering height. Twilight wasn't kidding when she said "average height." All of the ponies I've seen so far have been the exact same height. I just stand there, not knowing where to continue. But thankfully, the unicorn begins,

"Oh, how rude of me, we haven't been properly introduced." The white mare looks back at her friend, who, at this point, has stopped her cyclonic episode. "Twilight! Why didn't you introduce me sooner to this dapper young fellow?"

I'm dapper?

Twilight shakes her head and, after realigning her pupils, turns to the pouting Rarity with a look of slight annoyance on her features. "Well, I was gonna, but--"

The alabaster unicorn doesn't even bother listening to the end of Twilight's explanation as she turns back to me and sticks a hoof out. "I am Rarity, fashionista extraordinaire, here in Ponyville. And you are?"

I lightly take her hoof in hand and shake it. "Michael."

The unicorn smiles. "An pleasure to meet you, Michael." She brings her hoof back. "My, those scars on your face seem ghastly! What happened to you, my dear?"

My fingers go unconsciously to tracing some of the scar outlines. "I don't really know. I just remember my mirror exploding in m home, then somehow, I'm here."

"I see. Well, I'm sorry to hear that," she says with an apologetic look. "Um, forgive my bluntness, but what, pray tell, are you?"

Bluntness forgiven, I answer, "I'm a human."

"Hu-man?" She repeats with a raised eyebrow, as if she's trying to figure out what "human" meant like it was another language. I figure out these ponies aren't speaking English, or at least believe they aren't. Maybe they think I somehow knew their language as well. Well, whether it's English or whatever language these ponies speak, there didn't seem to be much difference. "What part of the world do humans come from?"

"An entirely different world, for one thing," I respond.

"I see," she says, even though it's clear she doesn't seem to have a clue about what I just said. Rarity turns to look at Twilight interrogatively. The purple mare just shrugs.

"Don't look at me," Twilight says. "I found him bleeding in the Everfree Forest on my way home from Zecora's earlier this morning."

Bleeding? I think. Yeah, she said I was bleeding. A lot. But... I turn to one of the mirrors in the room and observe myself. Nowhere on my person is there any sign of blood or mud. There are, however, several distinguishable scars on my face. On stretches across my right cheek; another across the bridge of my nose; two criss-crossing on my left cheek; and a smaller, pudgier one just above my left eyebrow. Along the right side of my head, a slightly smaller scar made itself prominent since it cut through my brown hair, leaving a part of my head that probably won't regrow any hair anytime soon. There are also several along my arms and palms where I tried to defend against the explosive mirror. But no blood.

"Yeah," I start, getting the attention of the two mares and little drake. "You said 'bleeding.' But how come there aren't any blood stains on my clothes?"

The lavender mare trots over next to me and says,

"After healing your wounds, I used a spell called 'Liquid Magnet' to remove all of the blood and mud that seeped into your clothes and dried onto your skin. Then I used some basic medical spells to seal all your cuts."

I nod understandingly. No point in arguing with the physics of this world. I mean, I've seen a freaking unicorn use her magic to levitate objects. What else could there be?

Rarity look like she wants to say something when the door suddenly bursts open.

Something pink and fast blurs through the boutique and comes to a stop right in front of my face, knocking Rarity aside in the process, and shouts, "HI!"

"Wha--holy shit?!" I fall on my ass from the shock of being rushed by an unknown, high-pitched voice. After I get by bearings, I become aware of a pink pony bouncing up and down excitedly in front of me, unleashing a torrent of questions that I can only hear a glimpse of every now and then.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name? You're new in town right? Of course I'm right! I'm right because I know everypony in Ponyville, so when I heard that something was in town that nopony had ever seen before and that it went over to Rarity's with Twilight and Spike, I just had to come and see for myself who this newcomer could possibly be! And here you are! What are you, anyway? A naked baboon? Of course not, silly me! You don't have a tail and you're wearing clothes. Duh! You're tall! Did you know that? Of course you did, why wouldn't you?! You're you!..."

This "Pinkie Pie" continues on like that for about three minutes nonstop. It's overwhelming, and I actually start to hyperventilate a little because of the waterfall of endless questions and self-corrections.

For the love of God, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP! I scream inwardly.

I back away slowly across the floor from where I sat, but the hyper pony only follows, continuing her relentless onslaught of words, when finally, she says,

"-would never do that on purpose to Opal, but-!" She cuts herself off by gasping, finally stopping the words. "Oh no! How could I forget?! I need to start setting up the party!"

This gets my attention. "Party?" I ask. I instantly regret it.

The pony then goes on to say how she absolutely has to throw a party for everyone new in town because she wants everyone to be her friend and that parties were the funnest things in the whole world. I secretly disagree with that last part, though.

I pray to God to make this maniac shut up. And my prayers are answered.

Another pony comes blasting through the room in mid-air. This one is a pegasus, light blue with a rainbow mane and tail complementing the rainbow lightning bolt that adorned her flank.

This new character hovers a few feet above the floor, looking around the room and finally sees my retreat from the pink chatterbox of a pony. She zooms through the air faster than I can follow with my eyes and quickly pops up behind... what was her name? Oh yeah, Pinkie Pie.

"Hold it, Pinkie!" She yells, bringing a hoof around the pink mares head and blocking her mouth. But Pinkie still makes muffled noises through the barrier, trying to speak. After realizing that no comprehensible sound, or at least what she considered to be comprehensible, was coming from her mouth, she turns around and finally notices the pegasus standing behind her, glaring back at her. Pinkie then, thankfully, stops trying to talk.

The cyan pony releases her hold of Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie looks at me sheepishly. I am still somewhat cowering from her, but regain some composure when she stops rambling.

"Sorry, I get overexcited easily whenever somepony new arrives." She blushes slightly and traces circles on the floor with a hoof. She then looks back at me when she realized she said something that didn't make sense. "But, you're not a 'somepony' at all. What are you?"

"My name is Michael," I reply. "And I'm a human."

"Human?" Asks the rainbow-maned pegasus, who's back in the air and is hovering over me. "What's a human?"

Twilight comes up, after not even trying to stop Pinkie Pie's rambling when the pink mare first got here, and says,

"Humans aren't from this world, Rainbow Dash. Michael is a newcomer on a different level than just being from another city in Equestria. I found him half-dead in the Everfree Forest this morning. So I'm giving him a tour around."

The cyan pegasus appears slightly stunned when she's told this.

"Another world? You're really from another world?" I nod in reply. "That's awesome!"

I get up and dust myself off. Over off to the side, Rarity and Spike are picking themselves up from being blasted out of the way from the attempts at getting to me. Rarity trots over and joins the conversation.

"Thank you, Pinkie Pie, for that rather rude interruption." Pinkie grins sheepishly again. "And yes, it is quite astounding, meeting a visitor from another world. Tell us, what's it like where you're from?" The four mares and little drake all look at me eagerly, waiting to hear about the fantastical wonders of my world.

"It's... okay, I guess?"

I am met with five disappointed expressions.

Twilight's ears perk up "Hey, how about we find Applejack and Fluttershy and then you can tell us about you're world?"

The other four grunt agreement. So do I, though reluctantly. I don't know where to begin with my world. It wasn't that spectacular, or at least to me it wasn't. But hopefully, these ponies will ask about trivial things only. That's all I can hope for, for now.

Throughout this whole ordeal, I still can't figure out what exactly happened to me. I definitely remember my mirror exploding at me in my apartment, but beyond that, blank. The next thing I know, I'm being whisked away to pony land. Too many complex questions are filling up the thinking space inside my head, so I decide on a course of action: I will go along with this "meeting cartoon ponies" business and see what will happen. I don't really have much of a choice, anyway.

But before we can leave, Pinkie Pie asks,

"But what about Michael's welcome party?!" Twilight assures her she can throw one for me later, but I decline. I tell the hyperactive pony that I don't like parties at all, and this visibly upsets the little pink pony. But after some insisting that I do not, under any circumstances, want a party thrown for me, she surprisingly resigns. Honestly, I expected her to put up more of a fight. Although, her mane and tail do some thing very peculiar. They... deflated, and straightened.

Weird, but, whatever.

So we're making our way to this "Sweet Apple Acres."

No one asks me any questions along the way; I guess it's to save the answers for when all of their friends are together. Instead, they cast the occasional side-long glance in my direction. I pretend not to notice, but my peripheral vision has been trained from years of watching people's reactions from under my hoodie while I was walking by them. I simply look straight ahead, with my hands in my jeans pockets, not making a sound.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, we come upon Sweet Apple Acres. It is a grand sight to behold. To my right, there are apple trees that roll across the valley below and over the hills on the horizon. Hundreds, if not thousands of tall, green topped trees with red, yellow, and green freckles blanket the landscape. My jaw goes slack with amazement. This is when Twilight resumes her tour-guide etiquette.

"And this, is Sweet Apple Acres, home to the most delicious apples in Equestria." She waves a hoof through the air in front of the orchard. "It grew in the past year, so Applejack really needed help with harvests. In the past ten months, she's received about a dozen volunteers to help work on the orchard."

She suddenly looks despondent. "Good thing, too," she continues, "she really needed as much help as possible after her grandmother passed away earlier in the year..." The other four ponies and drake hang their heads as well, Pinkie Pie even more so than she already had been. I don't say anything, not because I'm bored or anything, but because I know all too well the loss of a loved one -- of a family member.

Twilight interrupts the silence after a few seconds and softly says, "Let's keep going." So we follow.

The farm itself is another sight to behold.

There are five stallions, each hulling two carts full of apples, marching into the gigantic red barn one by one. One crimson stallion, larger than the rest, is overseeing the five carts into the barn. He stands off to the side, wearing a jet-black stetson, with a wheat straw sticking out of the corner of his mouth. A huge, green apple half is quite distinctive on his flank.

"Hey, Big Macintosh!" Calls out Rainbow Dash.

Macintosh? I think. Hehe, Macintosh... I smirk to myself, amused by the inside joke.

The burly stallion looks over at us and smiles. "Howdy, ladies," he called back with a thick, Southern accent. "What brings y'all t'Sweet Apple Acres?"

Twilight comes up to the stallion and says, "Howdy, Bic Mac. Do you know where we can find Applejack?"

The smile disappears from Big Mac's face. He shifts the straw from one corner of his mouth to the other before saying,

"Sorry, ladies. She went up t'er room n'locked herself in again 'bout an hour ago. Won't come out on anypony else's accord, 'cept her own. You'll have t'wait if'n yer fixin t'see 'er."

An exasperated sigh from the four mares makes me think that this happens quite often with this "Applejack."

"Oh come on!" Exclaims Dash. "Can't you do something about her? You are her big brother, aren't you?"

Big Mac solemnly shakes his thick head. "No can do, Dash. But y'all know AJ as much as Ah do. If she sets her mind t'somethin', then there's 'most nothin' that c'n be done 'bout it t'change her mind." He turns his attention to me. But to my surprise, he doesn't looked shocked or afraid. "Well, howdy, stranger! Big Macintosh, pleased t'meet yer acquaintance." He extends a massive red hoof out to me.

I take it with some difficulty and reply, "Michael. N-Nice to meet you, too."

God, his hoof is heavy!

This stallion is definitely taller than the rest of the ponies I've met so far. He stands at about five-and-a-half feet tall, although I still tower him by about four or five inches. And he is big, really big. I can guess he's a worker from the sheer size of the muscle tone in his shoulders and barrel chest.

He brings his hoof back and adjusts his stetson. "Ah must say, Ah haven't seen you 'round these parts."

"No one has," I reply, shaking away the strain my arm endured from greeting Big Macintosh.

He chuckles. "Nope, no Ah reckon nopony ever has."

"So," I begin, taking a sneak peek at the farm house over on the other hill, "if you don't mind me asking, why won't Applejack come out of her room?"

Again, Big Mac's smile slowly fades. I almost regret asking, but he doesn't seem to get angry. Instead, he just answers calmly,

"It started when our grandma, Granny Smith, passed away back in January. Applejack would't come out of'er room fer three weeks after that. So Ah ran the farm on my own fer awhile, then some ponies from town came by n'volunteered to work fer free on the orchard. Ah didn't complain, the extra help was appreciated, but Applejack didn't take too kindly t'havin' strangers work on th'farm at first. But, thankfully, Ah was able t'convince her t'let the volunteers work on th'farm. She knew Ah'd been workin' mah'self to th'bone on the farm since she wouldn't come out of'er room, so she let the ponies work as a sorry t'me." He looks at the farmhouse over at the other hill. "But she still locks herself in, sometimes. Ah don' know what she does, but it ain't non' o'my business. She wouldn't tell anyway, but, Ah reckon I know what she's doin'." The corners of his lips flipped. "But the mood lightened up when our lil' sister got 'er cutie mark early on in th'summer. That managed t'bring Applejack back from one o'her locked up phases when Ah told her. Fer the first time in months since Granny Smith passed, she actually seemed happy." That brings a full smile back to his face. He didn't appear to mind divulging his home life to an alien. I guess he's just that friendly.

Suddenly, a call comes from across the orchard.

"Big Mac! Come quick! Some of the apple carts turned over!"

The crimson stallion arches his neck to where the call came from, then looks back to us.

"Beg yer pardon, folks, but Ah gotta see t'this. Afternoon." He turns and galloped to the distressing pony.

Rarity sighs while rubbing a temple with a hoof. "Well, now what?"

Rainbow Dash stomps the ground with furious indignation and announces, "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do!" She gestures to the farm house with a wing. Then she jumps into the air, hovering for several seconds. "I'm gonna go in there and get Applejack out of her room if it's the last thing I do!"

She then rockets off towards the wooden home of the Apple family, and the other mares gallop in pursuit.

Crap, what am I getting myself into?

Casually, I run to join them.

When we get to the house, the front door has been nearly blasted off its hinges. Inside, there is a smaller pony at a table holding what seemed like a sandwich in both forehooves, except it was just two slices of bread with same daisies in between. She looks surprised and shocked, understandably so. The filly has a light yellow coat, apple-red mane and tail, and a light-red bow sits on top of her head.

"Wha-Twilight?! W-Was that Rainbow Dash?" She mumbles through a slightly full mouth. "Who the apple tart is that?" She adds, pointing a small hoof at me.

"Sorry, Apple Bloom! And yes, that was Rainbow Dash, and this is Michael, he's a human, not from this world, now where did Dash go?" Twilight quickly answers.

"U-Up the stairs, over there," she points to a narrow pathway leading up to the second floor. A second later, we hear some very loud banging and shouting.

"Applejack! Get out! Now!" Yelled the voice of Rainbow Dash.

"NO!" Was the answer of who I can only assume to be Applejack. The voice was loud, but, weak. Cracked, even.

"Come on!" Twilight shouts. We all run up the stairs and down a hallway, finally catching up to Rainbow Dash. She's pounding furiously on the door to Applejack's room with her hoof.

"Rainbow Dash! Stop that incessant banging! It is clearly not helping!" Barks Rarity.

Rainbow stops. "Well it's not like she's giving me a choice!" She exclaims innocently. "She has to stop this stupid habit of locking herself away! Ya hear me, Applejack?! You need to stop this!" And resumes banging. All of a sudden, a purple aura surrounds Dash and lifts her away from the door and keeps her suspended in midair. Rainbow pouts out of humiliation.

Rarity now approaches the door. "Applejack dear, although I can't approve of her method or actions, I have to agree with Rainbow Dash. This imply isn't healthy, darling! Do you realize how many wrinkles can come from always being depressed?"

Really? I think. That's your approach? Her frickin' skin complexion? Shallow bitch...

Silence is all that met Rarity's comment, not that it surprises me. Now, it is Twilight's turn to try and coax her friend out of solitary confinement.

"Applejack, please," the lavender mare pleads, "you have a family, a little sister, who needs you. You can't do this to them! You can't leave like Granny-" But before she can finish, a very angry voice roars from the other side of the door, slightly cracking as it screams,

"Shuddup, Twi! Just shuddup! Don't you dare say another thing about Granny Smith! So just get out of here, and LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I'm shocked, to say the least, at this reaction from these ponies' "friend," and so are the others. I can see tears forming in the corner of Twilight's eyes as she turns away and solemnly trots down the wooden corridor, releasing Rainbow Dash from her magic. The rest of them follow, except me. I stay and stare at the bedroom door. For some reason, I feel like I can help this suffering pony, since I had gone through the exact same thing a few years ago.

But why should I? I ask myself. Why do I need to open myself up to a bunch of cartoons? My body moves before my mind can determine a valid solution. Taking a deep breath, I walk up to the door and knock twice.

Shit. Can't believe I'm actually doing this... Well, too late to back down now.

"Hello? Applejack? Um, hi. You don't know me, but I'm new in town. New to this world, actually. My name is Michael, and, um, I just wanted to say that... well-" I find it hard to breathe all of a sudden, but continue. "I know exactly what you're going through. My twin sister, Susie, died two years ago from a incurable disease. She was-"

My voice catches in my throat, but I clear it and continue. I can feel the tiniest filaments of tears begin to condense in my eyes from the painful memories, but I hold them back. I have to if I want to get my point across to the grieving mare on the other side of the door. The five others who were walking away come back to listen. "She was only sixteen. She was stuck in the hospital for months, slowly dying, and there... there wasn't a damn I could do about it. I could only come to her bedside each and every day while she was there and talk to her, let her know that I still loved her; she was my little sister, after all. And about a week after our sixteenth birthday--..."

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, I quietly think to myself. But I force myself on. I look over to the others, and they are all tearing up, even Spike. "About a week after our sixteenth birthday, she died... R-Right in front of me. It couldn't even happen while she was asleep. It had to be in front of me. I was her older brother, and I felt like I should've done something to help her. And sometimes, even today, right now even, I feel that way." I'm getting angry now. I want to curse everything, but keep my composure. "And for months after that I... I did the exact same thing you're doing right now."

I take another deep breath to cool myself off. "But that was wrong of me, Applejack. I realized too late that I couldn't do that, especially not to my parents, who had lost their only daughter, and almost lost their son..." I wipe away the gleam of tears that nearly snaked their way out of my eyes. "I... I still carry a picture of us every day..." I say as I take out my wallet with the photo in it. "It's of our tenth birthday." I slide the picture under the door frame. "Twilight was right, Applejack. You still have a family who loves you, but you can't shut them out like I did. They can't afford to loose you too."

Satisfied?

I rub away the last of the tears from my eyes. I look back at the quintet of creatures, who are, on the contrary, making no effort to keep their tears from rolling down their faces, except for maybe Spike, who tries to act all manly by puffing out his chest. I hear hoof steps from the other side of the door approach.

But I don't stay to find out what'll happen. Instead, I turn, walk down the hallway, past the group of crying ponies, go down the stairs, out the front door and onto the porch, and sit down in solemn contemplation. I don't cry though. After that, there aren't any tears left.

The hell did I just do?