Part III: Reality and Dream

Part III: Reality and Dream

I sit here for God knows how long. When we first got to Sweet Apple Acres, the sun was still quite high in the sky. So when I finally take notice of how long I've been sitting here, the sun is already kissing the horizon. I didn't make a sound the entire time I sat here, staring into the fields before me. I've seen several more stallions lugging carts that looked like they would topple over at any second because they were so full into the barn. Occasionally one of them would glance in my direction, but made no attempt at approaching. I am glad for that. I just want to be alone.

I still can't believe what I had just done. I poured out the the pain I've felt in over two years after my sister's death. I keep going over a few of the things that I said.

"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..."

...Awkward...

"My twin sister, Susie, died two years ago from a incurable disease." It was cancer, stage-four leukemia, but I didn't think these ponies knew exactly what cancer was, if it existed in this world, so I went with a more general description. She suffered through it for seven months. At one point, I almost wished for her to die sooner rather than later, just so she couldn't suffer.

"... there wasn't a damn I could do about it... 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..." Of course I knew I couldn't do anything, but I couldn't help it, and sometimes, I still can't. That's just how I felt. I was her big brother, for Chrissake! I always protected her, from bullies and mean girls at school.

"... she died. Right in front of me. It couldn't even happen while she was asleep. It had to be in front of me..." That was what killed me the most.

"And for months after that... I did the exact same thing you're doing right now." I could remember going straight to my room everyday after school and never coming out. I remembered my mom calling, practically begging me to come out and talk with her. Sitting on that porch, I regretted it, and it almost brought me back to tears. But at the time? I simply didn't care. I wouldn't come out. If I wanted to eat, I bought something before coming home, and I went to the bathroom at school after classes. Looking back on what I was doing to them, I feel disgusted, almost nauseated with myself.

Selfish bastard, I think to myself.

"... lost their only daughter, and almost lost their son..."

Now that I think about it, I think, they probably did.

My hands start to get cold, but unfortunately, no hoodie, so I bury them into my sides.

I wonder what was going on inside the house. No one had bothered to come and see me, but I don't mind. Better that way.

Then, I hear the door creak open, but don't bother to turn and see who it could be. There are steps approaching me from behind, but they are light. They stop when they reach one side of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see small, yellow hooves dangle over the front porch step. There is silence for a few seconds, then,

"Th-thank you, mister," says a little voice.

I finally turn to identify the new body and see the tiny form of Apple Bloom sitting next to me. She's looking back at me with a small smile. Something about her catches my eye. My eyes fall and see, on her flank, is a picture of a hammer criss-crossing a nail. She must be good at building and fixing things, I guess. My gaze turns back to the filly's eyes.

"What for?" I ask monotonously, my voice slightly darker than I intend.

The filly swings her hind hooves over the step's edge innocently. "Fer gettin' mah sister t'come out o'her room. You have no idea how long me n'mah brother, Big Macintosh, ha'bin' tryin' t'get 'er t'stop lockin' 'erself in." She smiles sweetly at me. I can't help but act a bit modest at the comment.

"I'm sure she would've figured it out for herself what she was doing to you all," I reply plainly.

But Apple Bloom shakes her head.

"Ah doubt it," she says. "When Applejack gits t'doin' somethin' she wants, then she does it, no matter how it affects the one around 'er. She's level-headed, most times, but, well..." She drifts off, not finishing the thought. There is silence again. I don't know whether to say something or wait for her. So I don't say anything.

Finally, the filly speaks.

"Ya' know," she begins, "Ah was kinda afraid she'd never stop lockin' 'erself away from everythin'. Ah thought she'd keep on doin' that fer the rest of 'er life, and..." She hesitates, and when I look over, I see that tears were pooling in the corner of her big, amber eyes.

For the love of God, not again. Hasn't there been enough tears for one day?

"Ah didn' won't t'loose my sister," she squeaks with a voice that sounds like it was on the verge of breaking down. "Not after loosin'... loosin' Granny Smith." A tear finally streamed down her cheek.

I continue to watch her, and I began to feel the faintest drop of sadness. I reached over and wipe the tear away, then pat her back softly. She seemed to lighten up at the gesture.

"Don't worry, kid," I say, with my own small smile. "I'm sure she'll come back." I don't know why I feel so sure of that, but, I just do.

The filly looked back at me with a glimmer of happiness returning to her eyes as she exclaims,

"Oh, she has!"

I retracted my hand. "Is that so?"

"Yeah! When you went out a few hours ago, Ah went upstairs t'see what all the commotion was about. When Ah got there, Applejack had finally left her room, and was talkin' to Twilight n'the others. They were talkin' 'bout things, sayin' they were sorry 'bout some o'the things they said n'started huggin' n'apologizin' s'more. It was gettin' kinda sappy, but Ah went over n'hugged my sister fer the first time in Luna knows how long." She says the last part with the biggest smile I'd seen yet.

Holy shit, whaddya know? It worked.

"That's... that's great, Apple Bloom," I say. I feel pretty good about what I'd done, any regret utterly gone. And admittedly, a pretty wide smile grows on my face.

All of a sudden, I feel something grab onto my arm. I look down, and Apple Bloom was hugging me fiercely. I can't help but blush a little bit, but thankfully, no one sees. I reach over with my other arm and awkwardly semi-hug her back.

After about thirty seconds, it starts to get uncomfortable. My hand is getting numb from blood constriction due to the filly's unrelenting hug.

"Um, Apple Bloom?"

She looks up at me. "Yeah?"

"Can you let go please? My hand is getting numb."

She instantly retracts. "Heh, sorry 'bout that."

"No problem," I reply, flexing my wrist and fingers, feeling the blood return.

"Hey," she continues, "ya' wanna stay fer dinner? It's the least we c'n do after bringin' mah sister back from depression. Plus, Ah'm sure she 'n Big Mac would be okay with it."

I think about it for a second, then answer, "Sure, why not?"

Apple Bloom jumps at my reply and rapidly darts back inside the farm house, probably to tell everyone that the Apple family is going to have a guest for dinner. Maybe Twilight and the others will join in as well. Shaking my head slightly from her zany actions, I look at my watch. It says five-fifty.

Damn, how long was I out here?

I then get up, deciding the exact time I spent sulking alone wasn't important, and start back for the house. But as I reach for the doorknob, which is considerably lower than I'm used to, meaning I have to bend over just to grab it, a thought pops to me.

Do they eat meat? Oh God, of course they don't. Their horses! Horses don't eat meat! They're purely vegetarian. That means...

I dread the thought. No meat-eating in this world.

But...

"But I love bacon!"

Reluctantly entering the wooden home, I get a better sense of the interior. The floor and walls are made out of hard wood -- likely from apple trees, since that type seems to be the most abundant in the surrounding area -- with the latter decorated by several pictures of the Apple family. In one that I spot, there is Big Macintosh, although without the black stetson but otherwise looking the same, towering behind three other ponies. One is Apple Bloom, but she looked a bit smaller and the picture of the hammer and nail isn't there. Another pony was on orange pony with freckles and a blond mane and tail, and a brown stetson sat on her head. I guess that that was Applejack. The last one is, I can figure out on my own, Granny Smith. Unlike her grandchildren, who are all in the warm-color zone of the rainbow spectrum, Granny Smith was light green, a lot like her namesake. Makes sense. She was pretty old in the photo, her mane completely white, and she was leaning on a walker. Her eyes, though ancient and tired with decades worth of life experiences, still had a sort of liveliness to them.

I turn away from the photo and am met with seven pairs of eyes gazing at me. I jump back, a little startled from all of the staring peeps. It's Twilight and the others. There is a new figure standing among the group of ponies. She approaches me, all the while smiling at me with warm, slight puffy and red, but mostly emerald eyes. Her blond mane, which had been braided in the photo, simply fell past her shoulders, untethered.

Applejack.

She stops about a foot from me, copying the action of all of the ponies who had met me throughout the tiring day. When she finishes her observation of me, she says,

"You got guts, pardner."

I am slightly confused. "Huh?"

She smirks. "What you said back there, that took a who lotta guts to admit, 'specially to a complete stranger like me." She continues to smile at me. "Ah just wanted t'say thanks fer bringin' me back to mah family." She gets closer to me and manages to draw me into a hug.

Blushing slightly at the intimate gesture, I reciprocate out of good manners.

"Well... I, uh, just didn't want you to keep making the same mistake I made," I say quietly.

Applejack releases her hold of me and steps back. "An' we're all mighty thankful that ya' did. Yer name's Michael, right?"

I nod.

"Oh, and," she adds. "Ah'm guessin' you'll be wantin' this back." She reaches around to I don't know where and extends her hoof back to me with my photo at the end of it.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks."

"No. Ah should be the one thankin' you. That's quite a sweet photo ya' got of you n'yer sister."

I take the photo and look at it again. Though usually a painful thing to look at, this time, I can only smile fondly at the memory.

At this point, Twilight enters the conversation. "I had no idea of the story behind you keeping that photo. But after hearing what you said back there, it all makes sense, why you were so defensive of it." Spike nods in agreement. Her eyes, along with everybody else's in the room, were slightly puffy, but not as much as they would have been several hours earlier. "I can't imagine what it must have felt like opening up the way you did. It must've been unbearable."

I smirk to myself.

Quite the understatement, if you ask me.

"Indeed," chimes in Rarity. "Truly, that was a remarkable feat. I don't know if I could have done it if I were you."

"Obviously," snickers Rainbow Dash, who had been trying to act as if she hadn't been crying like everyone else. She occasionally turns her head around to hide her true actions. "You can barely stand to let dirt touch you, let alone pour out your own."

The white unicorn rolls her eyes. "Honestly, Rainbow," Rarity answers, annoyed. "Now is not the time for your sneering."

"Okay, okay. Sorry," Rainbow mutters defeatedly.

"Hey, sis?" Apple Bloom asks.

Applejack circles to her younger sibling. "Yeah, AB?"

"Ah asked Michael if he'd like t'stay fer dinner and he said yes. Is that okay with you?" She asks, though her body language made it evident that she could barely contain her eagerness for guests.

"Well, o'course it's okay!" The orange earth pony replies. Apple Bloom leaps into the air giddily. "Would ya'll like t'stay fer dinner, too?" She inquires to everybody else. Twilight and Spike and Rainbow Dash all nod, but Rarity and Pinkie Pie withhold themselves.

"Oh, I'd love to, Applejack, but I need to get home. Sweetie Belle may still be grounded, but I still have to give her her dinner. Not to mention that Opalescence would be absolutely furious with me if I forgot to feed her."

"And I have to take care of the twins tonight," says Pinkie, her mane and tail still straight. "The Cakes are going out for dinner, and I promised I'd look after Pound and Pumpkin Cake."

Spiked jumps in shock. "Oh my gosh! I almost forgot! I have to feed Peewee too!"

Twilight reassures the little drake with a pat on the head. "Don't worry, Spike. I trained Owlowiscious to feed and look after Peewee should you ever not make it home."

The young dragon gazes at the lavender unicorn, concern still masking his face. "But, how did you do that?"

"Hey! Owlowiscious is a very smart owl. Learning a simple guideline like that was nothing for him." The mare smiles.

Spike, seemingly calmed down, nods in return.

Rarity and Pinkie both give Applejack a tender hug before turning to the door. But before they reach it, a barking comes from the other side. The door burst open to make way for an excited brown-and-white-coated dog. Rarity and Pinkie both gasp and fall backwards. The dog starts runnings around the room, over furniture and between the ponies' legs for several seconds when it finally stops and suddenly turns its head at Applejack. A huge smile brakes out over the mare's face as she calls, forehooves opening up in the air,

"Winona!"

Bark! Bark! Comes the excited reply as the brown and white animal leaps into Applejack's open forehooves. Winona eagerly begins to lick the orange pony's face happily, Applejack laughing at the feeling of once again holding her companion.

Just then, another figure comes through the door, though not at quite the same speed as the puppy. Instead, this one floats in, hovering delicately above the floor. It's another pegasus, with a light yellow coat and voluminous pink mane and tail. She's wearing a worried expression, for some reason, when she first enters, as her attention is directed at the happy scene going on in the middle of the living room.

"Oh, A-Applejack! I-I'm so sorry!" The pegasus cries. Her tone-of-voice, regardless if she were trying to shout something, was so unbelievably soft and timid I have to strain my ears to hear what she's saying. "We were just walking back from my cottage after I helped Winona get better from a small case of the sniffles she had, but, for some reason, sh-she just got all excited and started barking and ran as fast as she could back here." She softly grounds herself and sinks her head, retreating as if she's about to be prosecuted for her so-called carelessness with handling Winona. "I'm really sorry."

This pony has a nasty habit of apologizing too much, I think.

Applejack gets up after the loving onslaught of puppy licks and says, "Hehe, it's fine, Fluttershy. Why, sometime, Ah c'n barely control this here feisty little critter." She clarifies the last part while rubbing the dog's head down with a hoof.

Bark! Bark!

Winona's nose then pokes at the air just above her head. The pup starts to sniff around the ground, going in circles for several seconds, until her nose bumps my shoe. She darts her head up while retreating back, getting a better view of me. That's when Fluttershy notices me. She gasps and retreats a little more, but I didn't take offense to it. Something tells me that this is a very timid pony. Winona comes closer to me and sniffs around my legs for a little while. Afterwards, she steps away, looks up at me, and barks happily while wagging her tail feverishly.

Bark! Bark!

I smile and get down on one knee. I extended my hand to let the dog sniff it first. After she seems satisfied, I scratch the back of her ears the way that dogs love. Whenever I pet a dog or a cat, I had a strange knack for getting them to lay down in submission if I pet them in just the right way. This case is no different. The puppy seems to relax at my touch, her tail still wagging, though much slower. After a few seconds, she succumbs, laying on her side on the floor while I continue to rub her head and belly, tail lightly thumping the wooden floor beneath her.

"Well, Ah'll be," Applejack rings in. "Ah ain't never seen Winona do that with anypony. Not even me. You must have a special connection with critters, or somethin' of the sort."

The shy pegasus comes out of her guard at the sight of me making friends with the comfy Winona. She approaches me with a confident smile on her face now, but still keeping some distance.

"Niether have I," she speaks, confirming Applejack's statement. "In fact, I didn't even think this could be done with a pup like Winona. She's never seen or met you before, yet she clearly trusts you. You must have a kind soul." She observes as she looks at me with aquamarine eyes. She doesn't look as afraid of me as before. Winona's reaction to me may have told her I'm not that bad.

I blush. I always did whenever someone said something like that.

"I'm just... good at petting animals, I guess" I say with modesty. "I'm Michael, by the way."

"Fluttershy," the pegasus answers. "I'm the local caretaker of all of the woodland creatures, but sometimes I also take care of Winona and Rarity's cat and some of the other pets in Ponyville."

Rarity speaks up at this point, after recovering from the shock of Winona's bursting through the door. "Which reminds me, I really should be getting back home to Sweetie and Opal. Farewell, all!" She waves a hoof as she exits the house. Pinkie Pie follows in suit, not saying anything at all. For some reason, I can't help but feel that's my fault.

Oh well, at least she won't throw a party for me.

Applejack turns to the pink-maned pegasus and asks if she would like to stay for dinner as well. Fluttershy, however, also denies the invitation, saying she has to go home and feed her "Angel bunny." Whatever that meant. So after saying a few farewells, she gracefully floats out of the house.

But soon after, Big Macintosh trots into the room. He looks tired and dirty from the day's labor. When he sees that Applejack left her room, and hears from Applejack that she wouldn't do it ever again and that I was her reason for promising it, he hugs my so intensely, my ribcage nearly gives out.

"Thank ya' kindly, stranger!" He cries as a manly tear leaves the corner of his eye.

"Not... a... problem..." Dear God, was that a crack I heard? Did my -- yup! It did!

After that, the five ponies and Spike start to set up the dinner table while Big Mac goes upstairs to wash up. I walk over to the window next to the door and look to the outside world for a bit. I don't see anything of particular interest at first, just the top crest of the sun disappearing below one of the apple tree-covered hills, leaving the sky in an ascending blend of strong orange to faint pinkish-yellow to stubborn blue as dusk drew closer. The volunteer ponies are leaving as well, exiting past the gate at the far end of the field in font of the house to get home for some well deserved dinners. A regular day for these creatures.

Out of nowhere, something glows in my peripheral vision, hiding amongst the apple trees throughout the orchard. I turn to look, but the disadvantage of central vision negated my hope to see what it was. I decide to brush it off, convincing myself that my mind was just exhausted and hungry.

Just need some food in your belly, that's all. I think to myself.

I turned around to walk upstairs to wash my hands in preparation for dinner.

For dinner, the seven of us, eight if you count Winona eating out of a bowl next to the table, are having vegetarian lasagna (a variant of a personal favorite of mine, of which I was extremely thankful for) and a salad with greens, carrots, tomatoes, and, apples. Because you know, why not? But it wasn't a bad combo, to be honest. I feel that the flavors are more complementary instead of dismissive. Spike and Big Mac have some fried "haycon." I try it, just for the hell of it. Wasn't half bad, truthfully. Almost tastes like regular bacon.

Maybe I can survive in this world, after all.

As the dinner goes on, the ponies at the table start talking to me about themselves and their world, integrating me further to them. Twilight tells me how she's the apprentice of Equestria's Princess, Celestia. I'm a bit surprised. Not because I didn't figure sooner that a world like this had princess, but because it was so...predictable. But, as a polite, other-worldly guest, I just tell her that that was pretty impressive, being so close to royalty, and all that jazz. She also tells me of how she needed to hatch Spike from his egg when she took the entrance exam to get into magic school. Seemed legit.

Rainbow Dash then starts with how she's the best flyer in all of Equestria. Arrogant much? She gives a monologue of her whole life story. And I mean her whole life, but I'll just cut to the, what I call, "check points." She was born in Cloudsdale, home to the best flyers in history; then she goes on about her time in flight camp, her move to Ponyville, and her subsequent meeting with Twilight. She also mentions that she was indirectly responsible for Twilight and her friends getting their cutie marks.

Before I can begin to get bored, however, she includes some things that Twilight had left out about this world.

Rainbow goes on to explain about the return of Nightmare Moon, and her defeat at the hands--er, "hooves" of the Elements of Harmony, which consisted of Twilight and most of her friends I met throughout the day. She then goes on to talk about the return of a chaos being known as Discord, which turned out to be the draconequus Twilight mention earlier. He, conveniently, was also defeated by the Elements, but not before almost tearing apart Rainbow's friendship with Twilight and the others. Then, she describes the events of a wedding that occurred the year previous, how it was between Twilight's older brother and her old babysi -- foalsitter, I mean. But it turned out that Cadance, the foalsitter, was actually the shape-shifting queen also mention by Twilight earlier. She, for a turn, wasn't defeated by the Elements. Instead, she was defeated by the power of love. What a cliché. Rainbow Dash finished on how they saved the Crystal Empire a little over a year ago from an evil king called Sombra.

Wow.

I have to stop them so all of that can sink in. Man, there is a lot more disaster happening in this world than a person might think. But something else comes to mind.

"Hey, Dash, you said that the first time you heard of Twilight's brother was when she recieved a letter about his wedding, right?"

The chromatic-maned pegasus nods.

I then turn to Twilight and ask, "And you never mentioned your brother before because...?"

The lavender mare only shrugs. "Nopony ever asked," she states simply.

Moving on from that, Applejack goes on to say how her grandmother was the pony responsible for the founding of Ponyville, with her "zap-apple jam" attracting ponies from across Equestria. At this, I'm actually a bit surprised. I realize that it wasn't only the Apple's who lost their grandmother in the past year; Ponyville practically lost its mother.

Did anyone else realize this when she passed? When we were passing through the town, I didn't see any statues or memorials in tribute to Granny Smith. How could they not know? How could this town forgets its founder, for Chrissake?

I shake that thought away as Applejack continues to speak. She continues with how Apple Bloom got her cutie mark.

"Hang on," I interrupt. Applejack looks at me quizzically. "What exactly is a 'cutie mark'?"

The orange pony points a hoof at the three apple on her flank. "This is a cutie mark."

Apple Bloom chimes in, "It's somethin' that appears on out bodies when a pony learns what their special talent is. Mine is fixin' s stuff," she points to hers. "And Applejack's means she's supposed t'be an apple farmer"

"Okay. What about yours, Bic Mac?"

The big red stallion glances at the huge, green half-apple on his backside. "Means Ah c'n kick apple trees real hard," he says with a note of pride.

"Mine means I'm adept with using magic," Twilight says, pointing to the purple, six-pointed star.

"And mine means I'm wicked fast and awesome when I'm flying!" Rainbow Dash exclaims, showing the rainbow-colored lightning bolt on her rear. Then, she brings a hoof up to her chin. "Actually, now that I think about it, I'm kinda always awesome."

I smirk, and finish my lasagna.

After the dinner, and the amazing dessert that consisted of apple-pie with whipped-cream, we all sit in the living room on the comfy couches around a roaring fire to drive away the late-autumn, early-winter chills. Winona is curled up next to the fire, sound asleep. That's when the Apples start to retell Apple Bloom's cutie mark tale.

"It was the first few weeks of the past summer," Applejack starts off. "It was fearsome hot, most of th'time. In fact, it was so hot, the trees here at th'farm were beginnin' t'bake from the overexposure t' heat. Big Macintosh went 'n made a complaint t'the weather department located in town 'bout the extreme heat. They agreed t' get the weather teams t' schedule a refreshin' downpour later in the week."

"Weather teams?" I ask.

"The pegasi in Equestria control the weather," Rainbow answers.

"Oh."

"But something went wrong," Big Macintosh says. "One of the weather ponies got confused with which clouds t'bring few the scheduled shower, and so she brought in a  huge thundercloud."

Nothing ever good comes when you mix thunderclouds and a cartoon world, I think. Shit will be blown up.

"And that's when mah clubhouse was hit by a lightning bolt, 'n the whole thing exploded," Apple Bloom states grumpily. I'm confused by this logic at first because I seriously doubt a single lightning bolt could blow up a whole clubhouse, but then I remember: cartoon world.

Apple Bloom, though despondent from Granny Smith's passing, wouldn't let that deter her resolve. She swore she'd fix that clubhouse no matter what. So within a few days work, she fixed the clubhouse good as new. And from that, her cutie mark appeared. I raise an eyebrow and nod my head, impressed at the little filly sitting next to me.

After that, when everybody found out, there was a big party thrown by Applejack and Big Macintosh in celebration. Apple Bloom's friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, attended, thrilled for their friend. All of Applejack's friends attended too. It was also at this party that Scootaloo got her cutie mark. It involved one of Apple Blooms classmates, who also attended, falling into danger when all of the kids went to the top of one of the apple hills. Apparently, they were going to try and sled their way down by lubricating the bottom of some snow sleds. But one of the colts over-lubricated his sled, and slipped on the wrong side of the hill and was sent zooming down the steep hillside, heading straight for a cluster of boulders at the bottom. Scootaloo took action, jumping on one of the sleds and chasing after the out-of-control colt on the runaway sled. After a tense minute of swerving left-and-right to avoid the trees, Scootaloo finally caught up to the colt and pulled him onto her sled, and steered them to safety while the over-lubricated sled smashed into the boulders at full speed.

Scootaloo's cutie mark, as described by Apple Bloom, was of a wing angled so that it looked as if it was propelling itself forward. Behind the wing were streaks of wind, signifying that Scootaloo was meant for speedy sports, something she evidently excelled at. So with Scootaloo the new local hero, the celebration was made for both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

"It. Was. Awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaims as she leaps from her seat, loopty-looping in the air. "I knew that little filly had what it took to be awesome just like me."

Ho-ly shit, I think, utterly amazed at the story.

"But," Apple Bloom includes, looking downtrodden. "But ever since then, Sweetie Belle's bin' tryin' extra hard t'get her cutie mark. Me n'Scootaloo tried t'help her, but, she just wouldn't let us. She keeps sayin' that she's gotta earn her's by herself, now that Scoot's and Ah've earned our cutie marks." She sighs as she rests her chin on her forehooves, appearing slightly saddened.

Applejack reaches over to place a comforting hoof on her sister's shoulder. By this point in the evening, her mane is braided in its usual fashion, and her brown stetson was resting on her head. She looked like her old self that was shown in the photo on the wall.

"Don't fret none, lil' sis," she tells Apple Bloom softly. "Sweetie Belle'll git her cutie soon enough, n'you three will be off adventurin' again in no time."

The yellow filly turns her head to her elder sibling, though her demeanor doesn't improve.

"But that's just it, sis! When Sweetie Belle does git her cutie mark, then the three of us wouldn't have anythin' to do! That's why we've been friends all this time, t'help each other git our cutie marks. But two out'a three of us got ours already, and the third won't let us help her!"

I can see her dilemma. But Applejack remains inflexible. "Apple Bloom, look at me and Twilight and Rainbow Dash here, and Rarity n'Fluttershy n'Pinkie Pie. We still stick together, even though we got our cutie marks. We still have our fair share of adventurin', and hay, we even argue from time t'time, but we're still together, no matter what." She adds this last but with a wink. "And you c'n bet yer apples that you n'yer friends'll stick t'gether like glue on paper!"

Something about that sentence doesn't sit right with me. Glue? How can... Never mind.

The yellow filly could only smile sweetly back and hug her sister. I look at my watch. It says ten o'clock.

Damn, have we really been talking all night?

Just then, the little clock that stood on the mantelpiece rings, and the others all check the surprising time.

"Gosh, is it that late already?" Twilight says. "Come on, Spi-" But the little dragon was already asleep on the couch in the fetal position. Twilight smiles fondly at the drake and levitates him onto her back in preparation to leave. I can tell those two had quite the brother-sister relationship despite being of different species.

Rainbow Dash releases an exasperated yawn, then grumbles,

"Yeah, I better hit the cloud, too. See you guys tomorrow." She waves a hoof behind her as she trots out the door and flies away once she's outside.

"Michael?" I turn at the sound of my name, and Twilight is looking at me with an expression of slight exhaustion.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to stay at the library? I can bring up the spare bed in my basement, if you'd like to spend the night?"

I thought about it, then return, "Sure, thanks."

"No problem." She trots past me for the door, and I follow. Once she reaches the door, she turns back to the Apple's and called,

"Goodnight, Applejack. You too, Big Mac."

"Night, Twi," Applejack replies as she turns to her little sister. "Come on, lil' sis, time fer bed." But the little filly tiredly shakes her head.

"Ah don't... wanna..." And she plopped asleep, snoozing where she sat on the couch. The orange mare giggles slightly and picks up the sleeping Apple Bloom over her head and slides the sleeping form down onto her back. She and Big Mac proceed up the stairs, but not before a final,

"G'night, Twilight. G'night, Michael," from Big Macintosh.

I wave in reply. Needless to say, I'm completely spent from the days events. And all I can hope for was a comfy bed, regardless if I were too big for it, as Twilight and I walk out of the Apple home. Only, it is then that i realize how chilly it is. My hands cross to cover my arms

I want my hoodie.

Two hours later, I am in the spare bed in Twilight's bedroom, still awake. She retreated to her own bed when we got back, Spike into his basket. I thought sleep would come easy to me. But, two hours, and no such luck. Instead I just stare up into the ceiling and wait. Twilight and Spike fell asleep without any trouble.

So why can't I sleep?

My body's exhausted, my eyes are falling with growing weight, there are barely any noises except for the occasionally loud peep from a little orange-red bird in a cage next to Spike's basket on the window sill and the more ominous hoo from the owl on guard known as Owlowiscious. Eventually, I just force myself to keep my eyes closed until I do fall into slumber. I'm not thinking about the days events, or even about how the hell I got to this world. I don't wonder about anything; I just want to sleep.

I reach over to where my watch is and look at the time after tilting it to the moonlight flowing past the window, but I can barely make it out. Giving up, I place the watch back and pull the blanket over my head, which leaves my feet exposed since it is so short. The bed itself is slightly bigger than Twilight's, but it isn't much of an improvement.

After minutes, I begin to work up a sweat. I exit from cover, allowing the cooler, fresher air outside to cool me off.

Christ, what the fuck? I think irritably.

Just then, a pain explodes inside of my head, and it is worse than any migraine. Luckily, my voice catches, preventing me from waking up the other sleeping creatures in the room. The pounding shock-waves through my entire body repeatedly, not warranting any mercy. And that was what finally knocks me out. And I dream.

I am in total darkness at first. Nothing to my left, right, forward or behind me, above or below either. After a while though, a sort of portal-like hole opens up in front of me, or at least it appears to open up in front of me. There is a single, non-moving image and no sounds, however, after several seconds, something emerges; voices, that sound like they are speaking through a pillow. Then, a scream.

The image is blurred at first, but focuses out, and I can make out the location. It is my room, in my apartment, in my world. I'm laying down on the carpet floor and...there are glass shards and blood everywhere on the floor around me. I can only see the cabinets below my sink, and I'm not moving.

Another scream.

"MICHAEL!"

Mom?

"Are you alright?!"

I'm fine... I think...

"Oh, my baby, what happened?!"

I'm pretty sure my--

She can't hear me. Then, the view moves, and I see my mom, though the image is still blurry. I can see tears in her eyes, she's hysterical. She cradles my head in her hands and lap.

"Michael, say something! Anything!"

I...

The image fades.

That world is gone...

Who said that?

You...

Where are you?

Unimportant... for now...

Get the hell out of my head!

Too late, already here...

What the hell is going on? Is... is that real?

Doesn't matter... you have a job to do...

What job?

You'll see...

I awake with a gasp. I am in a cold sweat. I fell asleep, but I don't know how long it's been. My mind's trying to figure out... that. I keep going over it in my head. I was in a void, then a portal opened up in front of me, and I could see my mom crying on the other side of it. And...

There was blood and glass everywhere.

And that voice. I don't know who or what it could've been, but I'm getting the feeling I'm gonna find out very soon what it was. It sounded... malevolent, for some reason. Not evil, exactly, just very... foreboding. Yeah, that's the right word. But another question comes to mind. That portal, and what I saw through it...

Was I dreaming, or was I waking up?