Time Marches Onward

As I hold the breath that I'm positive will be my last, attempting to savor it for all of its worth, I begin to remember what brought me here. All of the fighting, the love, the hate, the passion and the strength. All I know anymore is that it was worth it. Every little bit of joy that I could squeeze from life is mine, in the end. And right here, at the end of the road, I start to see it all more clearly.

“Y'all are new here, aren't ya?” The orange pony drawled. She took a sip of her whiskey and gave me a sidelong glance. I looked a her, trying to focus my eyes on her face. Since when was I such a low tolerance drinker?, I thought absently, looking down at the empty bottle of liquor in my hand.

“Yeah, uhm... I just got here about, like, five months ago or something ago... I think, right? Do you know me? You're not a cop, are you?” I slurred, earning a strange look from the barpony. I flapped my right wing and threw the bottle onto the floor, unable to think of anything better to do.

“Uh, maybe y'all should come on back to Sweet Apple Acres with me if ya need a place to stay,” The pony said, putting her hoof on my shoulder to stop me from falling out of my bar stool.

“You... you just shut the hell up, I don't need anybody to help me get my ass in line... Stay th... Stay the fuck out of my face,” I gave her a glare, got up, flapped my wings absently and immediately blacked out, falling on the floor drunk and drooling like a slackjawed idiot. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was several ponies crowding around, all giving my concerned looks as my vision began spinning.

I opened my eyes, trying to remember where in Equestria I was and who had been kicking my head all night. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was in a tiny room with a makeshift bed set up on the floor. None of the walls were painted, and everything seemed to radiate its own hapiness as sunlight bounced off of it. There was a tall glass of water on the floor nearby, and I wondered how I'd gotten here. It took me a god few moments, but finally I remembered most of what had happened as I saw the orange pony who I'd talked to at the bar enter the small room. Upon seeing me awake, she walked over toward me and pushed a glass of cold water within my reach.

“Hey. Where in the hell am I? What time is it?” I said, almost falling on my ass again as I tried to reach for the water on the floor beside me. The world seemed to spin, and my headache only got worse as the seconds went on.

“Y'all don't look so good. Y'all're at Sweet Apple Acres. You blacked out at the bar the other night, and you've been sleepin' in here ever since Big Mac came to help me bring ya here. Ah'm Applejack,” I'd heard the name Applejack before... Damn, I needed to get my head straight. After a few more gulps of water, my head finally seemed to be able to function on the same page as my body. There, I remembered now. I'd seen her handing out cider from her farm's stand last winter. I'd talked to Big Macintosh once or twice. He and I were both regular visitors to the Prancing Pony, the local bar.

“Well, thanks, Applejohn-”

“Applejack,” She interjected.

“Applejack. Thanks for offering, but I can't stay here. I, uh, I've got somewhere to go,” I said, getting out of the bed and trying to leave. Before I could leave, Applejack grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward the bed.

“Do y'all even got a home? Big Mac told me that y'all usually just sleep outside the barn,” Applejack's eyes gleamed with the opportunity to help somepony. Of course, I had nowhere to go at all. I did sleep outside the bar. I'd run away from my old home in Manehattan when I was just a colt, making my way to Ponyville to start a new life. It didn't really work out, obviously. I spent most days getting drunk and sometimes I would go to see Pinkie for something to eat. She'd always call me a “frowny partier” because she said I always looked sad when I drank.

“No, really, I'm fine. I just need to get to-” Applejack put her hoof on my chest and stood between me and the door, giving me a stern look.

“Listen here. If y'all don't got nowhere to sleep, I want y'all to come back on down to the farm and y'all can sleep in the house. It's startin' to get cold outside,” She said, clearly not offering, but simply giving a command. She was good with commands. I'd always liked a pony who knows how to be dominant when she had to.

“Alright, fine, I'll come back. But you're not changing anything by letting me stay here, if that's what you're on about” I submitted, “I'm only staying because you insisted,”. She gave an approving nod and let me leave. Time to get back to my daily routine.