//------------------------------// // Clearing // Story: Replay // by Scootaloose //------------------------------// As the nurse walked out of the room, I turned my head towards the window, looking out into the night sky to try and relax myself. I may have looked calm on the outside but my mind was still shaken about what happened that morning. I couldn't see the moon from my angle, but seeing the star-lit sky was enough to put me at ease. "Alright, Johnny..." I began talking out loud, as usual. "Let's recap what just happened today... No, in fact let's recap what the actual fuck happened in this one-week span." I winced after noticing the use of my vulgar vocabulary and looked back at the door, in hopes that I wasn't too loud for the nurse to overhear me. After a few seconds of silence and reassuring myself nopony was walking into the room to check out what I was babbling about, I relaxed and looked back out the window. "Let's begin by messing with electricity and killing yourself. Score one for Darwin." I said in a slightly more quiet tone. "Next we got talking miniature horses that comes in Crayola colours with the intelligence of humans. Then we got an ACTUAL living human that is one degree of relation to me, followed by a cute librarian unicorn with a crush on me. And lastly I almost break my goddamn neck and make that same girl worried, then I reply like a jerk and now she doesn't even want to talk to me! Good going, Johnny! Best week of your life!" I spoke up, not noticing I was talking louder and louder. "Well... second life, all things consi-" "Did Miss Applejack come back already?" The nurse's head popped into view by the door. My face flushed warm and I froze in pure awkwardness. "Wait... were you talking to someone, Mr Crown?" "Just to myself..." I replied shyly. "It helps me think. I'm feeling just fine, if you're wondering." "Okay then..." The nurse walked away. I was back to being alone with my thoughts once again. "Get a fucking grip, Johnny!" I hissed quietly. "You've never been reckless like this before. Being inside a bubble is not such a bad idea after all, considering you've almost literally stared death in the eye twice in a week." I noticed I was breathing heavier than usual. I turned my head to the window and tried to think of something else, but the sight of the night sky and its stars kept reminding me of one specific individual. The one I promised her brother that I would never hurt. I was pretty sure that Shining Armor wasn't the type of guy that would brawl with me until all my teeth fell out, but I knew that his trust was completely gone unless I sorted things out with Twilight Sparkle soon. That only kept me even more anxious to leave my hospital bed and go back to the library. I looked up towards the ceiling, trying to block those thoughts and just let time pass on until I had someone other than myself to talk to. Easier said than done. "I can't stand this anymore..." I said, shakily, after twenty minutes of constantly thinking about that purple, dorky, adorable mare whose feelings I had most likely shattered. I rolled out of bed and made my way towards the window to fly the hell out of that hospital. I was about to slide the window open when I heard a familiar southern accent coming from the door. "Ah'm back, sugercube." Applejack spoke. "Goin' somewhere?" "I was..." I replied, turning to face her. "I can't stand lying in bed here when my brain can't even shut up for one tiny second about all of this. I'm crawling up the walls here!" "Then be glad I got here in the nick of time to stop ya from doing sumthin' you'd regret." She smiled, climbed onto the bed and sat at the edge, much like a human would do. I shook my head for a moment out of confusion and climbed onto the bed next to her. "What's eatin' you?" She asked. "Everything." I said. "Seriously, even after one week I'm still stumped by all that has happened: My accident, talking horses... no offense" I paused, and Applejack nodded in acknowledgement. "The fact that I'm most likely thousands of years ahead of my time and there's another human in the same situation as me..." I stopped, trying to keep myself calm. "And your-" "Accident. Yes. My second accident." I interrupted her angrily, but Applejack didn't seem to be affected by it. "That stupid accident that wouldn't have happened if I had paid attention to what I was doing." I hissed. "And lastly, I wake up in a hospital and the first thing I do? Lash out at Twilight because she was WORRIED about me!" "Hey, listen 'ere, Johnny." Applejack put a hoof on my shoulder. "Y'all were just nervous after that accident. If you truly care about Twilight then ah'm sure you two will work it out tomorrow." "AJ... You saw the way I spoke to her... how I accused her and how she reacted to it, how the heck will I get her to accept an apology?" I looked at her. "She couldn't even stay in the room after that!" "Another reason why you shouldn't be tryin' to fly out in the night and try to talk ta her right now." She assured me, her eyes being the definition of honesty from the way she was looking back at me. "Let her calm down for tonight. Same thing for you. Take a deep breath an' just let it go fer now. You need it just a much as Twilight does." She motioned me to take a deep breath with her. "Alright..." I complied, and took a few breaths along with Applejack. "Thanks for putting me back to a normal state of mind." "No problem, suger." She smiled. "Do ya want me to help untangle that little brain of yours while ah'm here?" She rustled my hair, trying to cheer me up. "Can't hurt to try, I guess." I shrugged. "Before we begin, ah' got a few things of my own to ask you first." Applejack interrupted. "Shoot them." "Say whut now?" She tilted her head. Dammit, language barrier isn't the issue, it's my vocabulary that is throwing everypony off... "Ask away." "Alrighty then... Of all ponies, how the hay did you get Twilight ta like you in the first place?" "I'm not really sure, honestly..." I shrugged. "Why, were you eyeing her or something like that?" I snickered. "Wha- ya gotta be kiddin' me!" She hissed and punched me lightly on my shoulder. "Ah'm being serious. If we didn't drag her out of that library to do sumthin', or if she had an unlimited supply of paper n' quills she'd be inside that library not seeing a soul for days! How in the hay did ya get her to be interested in you!?" She asked, surprisingly she wasn't talking in a loud voice, but just loud enough to make her point and still be quiet. Well... there's something I need to learn. "What happened in Canterlot between you two?" "Quick version or full story?" I asked. "You can skip the whole adventure ya had with Daring Do, of course. Ah'm asking specifically 'bout what you and Twilight did in Canterlot before that." "Well, the day before I went into the Everfree with Daring Do, Twilight and I hung out around Canterlot for the afternoon." I began. "She insisted on showing me the places she used to visit, talked about her childhood. I just tagged along with her and listened." "You just... listened?" Applejack asked calmly. "And some occasional snarky remarks here and there that made her scowl at me for making bad jokes..." I smiled. "Nothing bad, just some corny ones." "And the crows are havin' a feast." "Zing." I replied. "Anyways, we stopped by a restaurant she used to visit and we sat down, grabbed a drink, and continued to talk - well, SHE continued to talk. I don't exactly remember how and when, but she eventually asked me how exactly my accident was, since I only told the quick version and never the full story to anypony." Applejack kept looking at me and flicked an ear. I stared at her ear for a second, trying to figure out what it meant. "Well? Ya done?" She asked, curiously. "I'm just wondering about some of the social cues you ponies have." I said. "I'm pretty sure that ear flick means something because I remember mine doing that a lot on its own when Twilight was telling her stories to me." "Ah." Applejack smiled. "It means that ah'm paying attention to what you're saying. It basically means Go on, keep talkin'." "Right." I nodded. "I'm guessing you'd like to hear the full story about my accident as well?" I asked. Applejack simply flicked an ear, earning her a silent chuckle from me. "Well... let's begin the morning before my accident. I was waiting for my manager to pick me up at my place so we could head to the city where my show was taking place. The funny part is that I was kinda early and he hadn't arrived yet so I just took a nap at a bench in front of my door. A quick nap but enough to have a quick dream, in which I was in a thunderstorm and Rainbow Dash was in it, for some reason." "That's... odd... and creepy." Applejack commented. "Very..." I nodded. "Dash almost freaked out when I told her that. Anyways, I got to the stage on the next day where my show was taking place, and while I was setting things up in front of the stage I notice this broken wire on the corner, and the rest is history." "Not gonna push any more on that end..." Applejack said carefully. "Ah' don't want to open up old wounds, y'know." "It's alright..." I smiled. "I'm over it." "So how did Twilight react?" She asked. "Hmm... now that I think about it my story did kinda look like it hit her close to home from the look on her face." I pondered. "It was an accident. Preventable, but one nonetheless. Did Twilight ever say anything about an accident when you girls talked or hung out?" "We talked 'bout family once or twice." Applejack answered. "She mentioned about Cadance and her being a foalsitter one day at a picnic. Then we started talkin' bout family members..." She paused. "She did mention her uncle... But she avoided talking 'bout him. Though let's not jump ta conclusions just yet." "No siree." I shook my head. "Back to the topic at hand. Er... hoof, whatever. I told her the story about my accident, and she asked me what I used to do before... and wait... I think I figured something out now..." I stopped, clarity had suddenly hit me. "Well? What is it?" Applejack asked, curious. "You said Twilight is basically a shut in who barely goes out and have many friends, right?" I asked. "Not after the Nightmare Moon incident. Now she's different." Applejack replied. "She's still a shut in but she's tryin'. But whut about it?" "AJ, I barely had any friends when I started my career. I had a couple of friends here and there but I always had something to do and barely talked to them." "And did ya tell her 'bout that?" Applejack asked. I nodded, and she widened her eyes when she realized what I meant. "Johnny, she feels related to you because both of you have been down tha same road!" "In a few ways, yes." I nodded. "I should probably confirm that with her just to be safe, heh." "Ah guess so." She nodded. "But whut about you? Why do ya like Twilight, Johnny?" She smiled. "Aw dangit." I blushed. "Seriously? Do you really need to know that?" "Ah' helped you unscramble yer thoughts, it's only fair that ya tell me, sugercube." She gave me a smug look. "Fine..." I sighed. "Aside the fact that her eyes are..." I paused. "Ugh, too much pressure! I can't say this! How do I know you're not going to spread this around!?" "Ah'm not Rarity, Johnny. Ah'll keep this between the two of us." She said. "Pinkie Promise?" I asked. "Pinkie Promise." She smiled, and did a crossing motion with her foreleg before placing it onto her eye. "Alright..." I took a deep breath. "God, this is so sappy and cheesy... She's smart, she's adorable when she talks, and if you look deep into her eyes they sparkle like the twilight sky and puts you in a trance... Is that enough or do I need to be more detailed?" I said, blushing hard. Applejack kept staring at me in disbelief, not uttering a sound, making me feel even more uncomfortable. "Dammit, AJ. Say something!" "Do ya want sum cheese to go with that corn?" She snickered." Sweet Celestia, Johnny that's pretty sweet of you but it's just so cheesy! Eyes that sparkle in the twilight sky? You came up with that just now, didn't you?" She laughed. "Yup... I'm regretting this the more you laugh..." I sighed. "Alright, alright. Ah'm sorry for laughing." She looked at me, smiling. "Just make sure ya don't tell her that because she will just laugh in your face and I know it!" "Gee. Thanks for the warning." I chuckled. "I already told her she's adorkable and that went well enough with me having to explain what it meant." "You... what?" She tilted her head in confusion. "No... wait, don't explain it, ah'll prolly just laugh even more." She snickered. GEE. THANKS AGAIN. "Well, in the end, you put my mind at ease for tonight." I smiled. "Thank you, AJ." "Ah'm here, any time ya need me." She smiled back and got off the bed and walked towards the door. "Do ya need anything else?" "I'm much better now. I'm going to sleep now. Good night, Applejack." I smiled at her and climbed onto the bed. "G'nite, Johnny." Applejack smiled and walked out the door.