A Pony Out of Place

by Robobrony

A Heart Wrenching Revalation

A Pony Out of Place
Chapter 5: A Heart Wrenching Revelation

Applejack was giving Shadow a tour of the house while Big Mac went back to his chores, Granny Smith went back to her nap in a rocking chair in the room, and Apple Bloom was following along. “This here is the livin room.” She showed Shadow the first room that they entered from the front door. It had wood floors, a red couch at the center in front of a fireplace, and a currently occupied rocking chair against the wall on the other side of the room. To the left was a hallway and a staircase that led to the second floor of the house. To the right was the kitchen.

Applejack continued. “This here is the kitchen.” The kitchen had light green tile flooring, a refrigerator, a sink next to it on the far wall, and a pantry to the left of the entrance of the kitchen. Applejack then led him up the stairs to the second floor. They passed by a room on the left. “That room is mine.” Apple Bloom pointed out, Applejack pointed at another room on the left, “That’s Big Mac’s,” Applejack pointed out another room on the right, “That’s my room,” Finally a room at the end of the hall on the second floor on the left. “And this here will be your room.” Applejack opened the door to the room so Shadow could see it.

Shadow walked in with Applejack and Apple Bloom behind him. The room had a bed at the center against the wall on the right side of the room with a nightstand and a small lamp. On the left side of the room was a door. Applejack then spoke up. “That’s the bathroom, it’s got all the comforts a pony will need.”

Shadow was curious at that expression. “What do you mean all the comforts a pony will need?”

Applejack had forgotten for a moment that Shadow might not have had all the things that she and all the other ponies here had. She began to walk him over to the bathroom to show him. She opened the door and began. “We got a toilet for when ya need ta go, a sink ta wash up, and a shower fer cleanin yerself.”

Apple Bloom then finally noticed Shadow’s lack of a cutie mark as they left the bathroom. “Oh ma gosh, you don’t have a cutie mark?! How come you don’t have a cutie mark mister?”

Shadow looked down at the little filly, wondering if she would understand that he was from another world. “Well, you see, where I come from, ponies don’t get cutie marks. I’m sure it sounds strange to you, but that’s how it.”

Apple Bloom spoke up again. “Where are you from, how come no pony gets cutie marks where yer from?”

Applejack then interjected. “Now Apple Bloom, don’t go pesterin him, he’s had a rough day and he don’t need ya pepperin him with questions about cutie marks.” She was giving Apple Bloom a stern look.

Apple Bloom recoiled a bit from her sister. “I’m sorry mister, ah was only curious.”

Shadow looked to Applejack, then back to Apple Bloom and smiled a little. “It’s fine, I don’t mind, it’s just not exactly easy to explain. You see, I’m from another world and, through some magical mishap, was taken from my home and brought here. Thanks to one of your big sister’s friends, Twilight, Princess….Celestia was it,” He looked to Applejack for confirmation, she nodded. “Princess Celestia is aware of my situation and said she would be able to help, but it will be three days before she can come here and help me. So your sister here was kind enough to offer me a place to stay until then, which is why I’m here.”

Apple Bloom looked upon Shadow with wonder. “Another world, NO WAY, that’s amazin. What’s this other world like, are the ponies there any different than us, what are they like, are they friendly?”

Applejack cut in before Apple Bloom could ask another question. “APPLE BLOOM! Now that’s enough, ya don’t need ta be pesterin him about his home!”

Apple Bloom recoiled again, Shadow felt sorry for the little filly. “It’s ok Applejack, I don’t mind, really.” He said with a kind of sheepish grin. “I really don’t want to be a cause for you two to get in an argument.”

Applejack looked to Shadow. “Sorry sugar cube, me and Apple Bloom tend ta argue a bit sometimes.”

Apple Bloom then spoke up. “Yeah, I was just curious is all, I know I tend to get a bit carried away sometimes.”

Applejack looked to her little sister with a raised eyebrow and a smile on her face. “Sometimes?” She said curiously.

Apple Bloom looked back at her big sister. “All right, most of the time.” The two then shared a laugh after wards.

Shadow let out a sigh of relief, glad to see the tension between the two siblings was gone. “Whew, glad that’s settled.” Then a thought crossed his mind. “Applejack, would you mind explaining how the hay do I use those things in the bathroom, the toilet and the shower.”

Applejack gave a smile as she spoke. “Right, I’ll show ya.” Applejack then began to explain how everything worked.

Once the explanations were done, it was about time for lunch. “Well, that’s everythin, I imagine yer hungry right about now.”

As if to answer that question, Shadow’s stomach let out a growl. “I guess I am. What kind of stuff do you ponies eat for lunch around here, usually I just get hay or oats, sometimes even some carrots or apples.”

Applejack answered. “Today fer lunch, me and Big Mac are gonna make us some Apple pie with a side o apple fritters. Yer gonna love it.”

The three then went down stairs where Big Mac was already in the kitchen waiting for Applejack to get started. Applejack addressed Shadow. Why don’t yall wait in here while we get lunch goin.” Shadow just nodded and waited in the living room with Apple Bloom and Granny Smith.

It was an uneventful lunch, other than the fact that Shadow had a bit of a difficult time trying to use the silver ware for eating the pie. It took a few tries until Applejack showed him how to handle it. “Thanks for showing me how to use the silver ware Applejack, that food you and Big Mac made was amazing, I’ve never had food that good before, thank you again.”

“Don’t sweat it partner, glad ya enjoyed the food.” Applejack said. “Now that lunch is out of the way, I’d like ta see how good you can be at apple buckin. Come on outside with me and you can start earnin yer keep.”

Shadow then got up from his seat. “All right, but I don’t know if I can, I’ve never tried bucking a tree before.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll show ya the ropes, c’mon.”

Shadow then followed Applejack out of the house while Big mac went back to his own chores on the farm. Apple Bloom called out to her sister. “Applejack, me and my friends are about to have our crusaders meeting, I’ll see ya later ok.”

Applejack called back. “All right, you three just better not get inta anymore trouble, ya hear?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be good.” Apple Bloom then ran off to meet with her friends.

Applejack led Shadow to a tree with Apples on it. “All right Shadow, apple buckin is real simple, ya just turn yer flank to the tree, make sure ya got yer legs lined up with the trunk and kick it with all yer might, like this.” Applejack then demonstrated and managed to knock all the apples off the tree in one buck.

Shadow was impressed. “Wow, I don’t know if I could do that, but I’ll give it a try.” Shadow then made his way over to another tree and lined himself up with it just like Applejack told him. He raised his back legs and buck the tree as hard as he could. Only one apple fell out….and landed on his head. “OW, that hurt!”

Applejack tried to stifle a giggle. “Nice try sugar cube, try again, only this time, try and use a bit more force.”

Shadow gave a determined look as he lined himself up with the tree again. He raised his back legs and bucked the tree with all his might. This time he was successful in his attempt and made all the apples fall into the baskets around the tree. “HAH, I did it, how about that. Not too bad for a beginner huh?”

Applejack smiled at the confident pony. “Nice work there Shadow, you might prove to be a good worker on the farm after all.”

The rest of the day was uneventful as Applejack showed Shadow all the chores he would have on the farm while he stayed. The day wore on and soon the sun began to set. It was now time for dinner. Granny Smith made a nice meal of steamed vegetables and some apple cobbler for dessert. Needless to say, Shadow enjoyed another great meal. “Man, you ponies sure now how to cook, that was a great dinner, thanks Granny Smith.”

Granny Smith smiled at the compliment. “Awe shucks youngin, yer welcome, after how hard ya’ll worked fer us today, ya’ll deserved it.”

Big Mac agreed. “Eyup.”

Shadow let out a yawn. “Oh man I’m beat. You wouldn’t mind if I went ahead to sleep would you?”

Applejack responded. “Course not, ya’ll go on ta yer bed and make yerself comfortable.”

“Thanks Applejack, I’ve never slept on a bed before so this might be an interesting experience.”

Applejack smiled. “Trust me pardner, yer sure ta find a bed much more comfortable than sleepin on hay.”

Shadow then made his way upstairs to the room he would be staying in. Before trying out the bed, he made his way to the window on the other side of the room to look out at the night sky. “Wow, the night sky looks just as beautiful here as it does back home, maybe more so. It’s like I can see all the stars in the sky. Even the moon seems bigger than back home. Don’t worry Emily, we’ll see each other soon.” With that last thought, Shadow made his way over to the bed, he climbed in and managed to get the covers over him with his mouth. “Applejack was right, this bed is better than hay. Good night Emily, wherever you are.” He said as he looked at his necklace. He laid his head down and fell asleep faster than he would have expected, most likely due to how comfortable the bed was.

Shadow found himself back on the farm. There were dark clouds over head blocking the sun. “What, what’s going on, am I home? Then everything that happened must have been a dream.” He thought, joy seemed to be filling his heart as he smiled. Then he heard a voice call out to him.

“Shaaadoooowwww.”

“Emily, is that you?” Shadow thought to himself. He began to look around frantically for Emily.

“Shaaaadoooooowwww.”

He heard it again. “Emily, where are you?” He was calling in his head. He let out a loud whiney to try and signal her. He looked and saw her in an open field waving to him. Shadow put on a huge smile upon seeing her. He started to gallop towards her as fast as he could. But something was wrong, no matter how hard he galloped, he didn’t seem to get any closer. The house started to lift up off the ground as the rest of the ground started to fall away and the sky faded leaving a black abyss. Shadow was too fixated on Emily as he began to get worried as he didn’t seem to get any closer.

“EMILY!” Shadow called out to her. He started to notice the ground give way around him, creating a kind of trail of ground around him.

“Shaaaadoooooow.” Emily kept waving at him with a smile on her face.

Shadow kept trying to run to her, but then the ground under him gave way and he began to fall into the black abyss. Shadow cried out in fear as he saw Emily slowly fade away. “EEEEMILYYYYY!”

He woke with a jump in his bed as the morning light shown through the window of his room. “EMILY!” Shadow was panting hard, he soon realized that he just had a nightmare. “Emily, it was just a dream, but it seemed so real.” Shadow just laid on his belly and curled up on the bed with his head in front of the foot board of the bed as he began to silently weep.

Twilight had just finished her breakfast as she got her saddle bags ready, she was wanting to learn more about the world Shadow came from, and to see how he was doing. “I hope Shadow is doing ok. Spike, I’m going to head over to see shadow and see how he’s doing, can you watch the library while I’m gone?”

Spike smiled at Twilight. “No problem Twilight. I can handle it.”

Twilight smiled at Spike. “Thanks Spike, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Back at the farm, Shadow was still in the room thinking of how much he missed his home, mainly because of the nightmare he had. “Emily, I wish I could see you at least and see how you’re doing.” With that wish, the diamond on Shadow’s necklace began to shine brightly. Shadow looked down at his necklace. “What the hay, what’s going on?” The necklace then shot out a beam of light to the center of the room where a hole seemed to open up. The hole then showed a farm that Shadow knew all too well.

“My home, I don’t believe it.” Shadow smiled as he began to realize that this could be his way back home, before he could react, the scene changed again and showed Emily. “EMILY!” Shadow cried out in Joy, without another thought, he leapt off the bed to the hole only to pass through it and land flat on his belly on the wooden floor of the room. “What, what happened?” He turned around to look back at the hole. The scene then showed Emily with another pony with a white coat and brown splotches and a brown mane and tail, she was hugging it and showing it the same level of affection Shadow came to know from her.

Shadow was stunned at what he saw. “Emily, what’s going on here, why is she…….where did that other pony come from?” He realized that what he was seeing was a kind of window back to his own world, but at the moment, he didn’t care, all that mattered was that Emily seems to have forgotten all about him as he watched Emily with this other pony. “I don’t believe it, I’ve only been gone for a day and already I’ve been replaced, how could she? I thought she loved me.” Shadow’s eyes began to tear over as he watched the scene before him. Emily was hugging and playing with this new pony.

Unable to see anymore, Shadow raced out of the room and the image disappeared. He ran through the hall with tears in his eyes as he passed Applejack.

“Shadow, where ya goin, what’s wrong?” She saw tears in his eyes for a brief moment as he ran past her. She figured something was wrong and decided to try and follow him.

Shadow burst out the front door and ran to the right into the orchard. Twilight was walking up the path at the time and saw shadow run out the door. She was too far away at the time to see the tears in his eyes as he ran, she tried to call out to him. “SHADOW, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”

He didn’t hear her. Twilight then saw Applejack come out trying to catch up to him. Twilight followed her and caught up to her. “Applejack, what’s going on, where is Shadow going?”

“I don’t know Twi, I was on my way up ta his room to get him fer breakfast when he just ran right past me with tears in his eyes, somethin musta happened that upset him but I don’t know what.” The two just kept pace with each other as they tried to catch up to the distraught Shadow.

Shadow just kept running, trying to escape what he just saw. After a while he got tired and stopped at a hill with a view of the rising sun. He sat on his haunches as he cried. “Emily, how could you, I thought you loved me.” He then took the necklace around his neck in his hoof and looked down at it. A scowl came across his face as he remembered Emilys words the day she gave it to him. He ripped it off of his neck and tossed it behind him.

It landed in front of Twilight and Applejack as they approached. Shadow was too upset to hear them coming. Twilight looked down at the necklace and levitated it up off the ground. She and Applejack were confused as to why Shadow would just toss it like that when it seemed so important to him. Twilight spoke up to get his attention. “Shadow, what’s wrong, why are you so upset?”

Shadow turned to the two with a look of sheer sadness as tears were streaming down his face. He just turned his head back around and began. “I thought Emily loved me, but I was wrong.”

Applejack then spoke up. “What do ya mean Sugar cube, why would ya think she don’t love ya no more?”

Shadow began. “While I was in my room this morning after waking up from a nightmare I had, I was wishing that I could at least see Emily again. When I did, my necklace started to glow and a kind of window or something appeared, it showed me my home, I saw Emily there, but…..she was hugging another pony. I HAVEN’T BEEN GONE FOR TWO DAYS AND ALREADY SHE REPLACED ME! I….I thought she loved me, but……..but..” He couldn’t continue, he just broke down and cried all over again.

Twilight and Applejack couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Twilight put the necklace in her saddle bag for now, she and Applejack made their way over to him to try and comfort him. Twilight was on his left and Applejack on his right. Twilight began. “Oh Shadow, I’m so sorry, I can’t believe this, you made Emily sound like such a wonderful pony.”

Applejack then spoke up. “I swear I can’t believe some pony could be so cold hearted. If she could just up and replace you after just one day, then that just means she wasn’t a friend after all. She ain’t worth sheddin tears over sugar cube.”

Shadow then took on a look of anger as he looked up at Applejack. He got back up on his haunches and looked back out over the horizon as he spoke. He sniffed first. “*SNIFF* You’re right Applejack, if she didn’t really love me, than I don’t need her, all this time I thought we were the best of friends, but if she can just toss me aside like a broken toy, fine, I don’t need her. Twilight, you can tell your little dragon that if he still wants that necklace, he can have it, diamond and all, I don’t want it anymore.” Shadow then turned around and stormed back to the house, his eyes still wet from his tears.

Twilight ran up beside him with Applejack. Twilight had a question for him. “Shadow, how did you see all this again?”

Shadow kept his stern look as he kept his eyes forward. “Like I said, I was wishing to at least see Emily again to see how she was doing and my necklace started glowing and showed me Emily. I don’t know how or why it did, and frankly, I don’t care. I don’t want it anymore.”

Applejack then spoke up. “Well then, what about goin home, do ya still want ta go back despite all this?” She too had a worried expression on her face for Shadow.

“What would be the point, my whole reason for wanting to go back was because of Emily, and now, since she’s pretty much forgotten about me, then there’s no reason for me to go back. Besides, this world certainly seems better than where I was from. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have chores to do so I can earn my keep at Applejack’s place.” Shadow then picked up his pace and ran back to the farm house to begin his chores to try and take his mind off of what he saw, to try and start forgetting about Emily. “I don’t need her, I’ll be just fine here.” He said to himself.

Twilight turned to Applejack. “Applejack, I think I need to get a closer look at this necklace, do you think you can calm down shadow on your own?”

Applejack answered back. “I’ll sure try, I just can’t believe that this Emily would do such a thing with the way Shadow made her sound.”

“I know, I’ll come back later after I’ve studied this necklace.” Twilight then headed back to her library while Applejack was left to contend with an upset Shadow.

She still wore a worried look. “I sure hope I can get him ta calm down a bit.” Applejack then headed for her farm to talk to Shadow to try and comfort him in hopes of helping him feel better.

Author's Note:

I realize that this chapter isn't as long as my last one, but I felt it was a good stopping point for dramatic effect.