//------------------------------// // Epilogue Part III: Her Whole Heart ( Final Bronycon Release - Day 3) // Story: Equestria: The BEN Chronicles // by HylianJuggalo //------------------------------// Seven years. Seven long years, I've lived here. It is now approximately early 2019, and I'm pushing 30. I’ve done what I can here, mostly managing construction projects and of course attending a LOT of funerals… The world has rebuilt itself nicely despite that, but it’s far from perfect. Personally, I’d say the world is finally getting back to its former shape. Regardless, There’s one thing that will forever bother me... Life will NEVER be the same here again; we’d lost so many community figureheads, and... well, this entire thing simply wouldn’t go forgotten. I do what I can for the people here. For example, I frequently help Cup with running Sugarcube corner and taking care of the children whenever possible. They’ve grown nicely, but... their lives will never be what it was meant to. Even in Equestria it seems that perfectly happy endings aren’t always possible... I guess that’s a harsh reality of life, no matter what ‘dimension’ you’re from. I’ll have PTSD for the rest of my life thanks to this... “NICK!” I could hear a garbled, crying voice of a filly scream from downstairs, with the slam of a door. Speaking of unhappy endings... As I got out of my chair and flung open the door in concern, I was met face to face with a red-eyed, bawling Applebloom. I immediately crouched down and hugged the young girl. “Aw… honey, what’s wrong? What’s going on!? You should be at recess right now! It’s not even noon!” I asked, drying the filly’s tears with a small handful of tissues on the nightstand next to me. “D-diamond and… S-s-sil-silver! They was makin’ fun of me about me not havin’ a cutie mark, still, like Scootaloo!” “Honey, remember, you’re better than they are. You have to be strong and-" “And they was sayin’ how Sweetie Belle was better off bein’ dead stead of livin with a blank-flank frie-” Before the filly finished her sentence, I was already out of the house.  I immediately proceeded to the school. I stopped by the marketplace on the way to pick up some lunch, and decided to hang around the shops while I waited for class to get out later that afternoon. With some hours having passed, I carefully ducked behind some bushes, and watched several children happily pile out of the schoolhouse. Fron the back came the two... Diamond and Silver. I ducked down under the bushes. The two girls broke off from the main crowd. They lived not too far from eachother, and spent a grand majority of their time together, so it was likely they’d be walking home together for some time. They went the same route they always did, down the centeral square of town, and then down Hoofington Avenue. Unfortuantely for them... The town was running construction, for obvious reasons. The two girls hit a side street, walking between two houses and down a ways. I jumped out of the bushes and took a seperate alley, taking cover behind some trash cans. As I waited for them to pass and go to another street, I clambered my way up to the roof of the building next to me, and jumped across to another upon reaching the top. Looking down, I could see the two fillies walking down another back road, just below me. I jumped down, landing on my feet from the short four meter drop. *Thud* “Hello, Diamond, Silver. What are you two up to today?” Both of the girls turned to face me, jumping back when they took notice of me. “Oh, uh, Nick! Hi! We were just walking home and talking. How have you been?” Diamond nervously asked, swallowing what, I was guessing, her pride. “I’m good. You two staying out of trouble?” I politely and calmly asked, weakly smiling at them. “Um, yeah!" Silver Spoon replied, taking a few steps back. “Really now? That’s good... How are Applebloom and Scootaloo doing in school?” I continued, making fake small talk. “Uh, they’re doing great! All A’s and B’s!” “Heh... I know that; I see it on their report cards. How are they doing... Socially?” “Great! They’re doing just fine!” “Is that so? I hear there’s a a bit of bullying going on down at the schoolhouse...” “Bullying? Never!” Diamond Tiara butted in, stuttering somewhat in her speech. “Come on now, don’t lie to me...” “Why... Why would we ever lie to you? You saved us all from BEN!” I took a few steps foward before visciously gripping both of the fillies by their necks and hoisting them up in the air. “You know, you two, I can NEVER understand for the life of me. You have everything you could possibly want, you’re heirs to some of the wealthiest fortunes in Equestria... And yet, you feel the need to assert your ‘superiority’ on other kids that just try to live a peaceful life. You want something, your parents get it for you. You want to go get a facial and hooficure at the spa, you have the money to do that... You two have the most comfortable lives I’ve ever seen. Yet...” I pinned them against one of the walls that formed the alley. “...you have to be absoloute cunts to Applebloom and Scootaloo, day in and day out. You know, I can’t understand it. After all the violence, death, and wickedrey that’s happened here, you STILL can’t be nice! Those two lost the life of one of their very good friends, and you still have the nerve to be cruel to them!” “P-please, let us go!” “I can’t fathom the fact that you would go out of your way just to make the lives of others miserable. Did you learn NOTHING from this war? You have no respect for life, Or, for that matter, the dead, if you’re making fun of those two girls after Sweetie Belle died! I’ve been through hell and back since I came here, and I’ve done things I REALLY regret. But I’ll tell you this...” I tightened my grip on the two ponies gently, yet with a noticable change in force. “If you EVER harass those girls, or anyone else for that matter, again...” I gently drug the duo down the wall, forcing their heads to look up at me. “...I’ll know. And next time, It’s NOT going to be peaceful. And by all means, go, run home and tell daddy that scary mister Brownford threatened you about this; I’m sure your parents will be absoloutely fucking thrilled to hear that their daughters are nothing more than ungreatful, brutish snobs that can’t get the fact that everyone eventually gets a cutie mark through their thick, bit-clouded skulls!” I dropped both the girls to the ground. “Now get out of here before I do something else I’m gonna regret and have haunt me for life.” “Y..yes sir...” Both girls said, struggling to stand. “And one last thing...” “Y-yes?” they asked in unison, fear spread across their faces. “I did not save anybody from BEN, I, like YOU, merely survived. And before you go about harassing more children, remember that you too, are lucky to be alive.” With that, both of the girls darted away in a puff of smoke in classic cartoon fashion. I simply walked away, back to the house, with the sun setting behind me. For once, I used my anger as a weapon for good. And that felt awesome. A few hours later, I found myself propped up against a tree, with the two fillies, Scoots and Applebloom, sitting around me in a circle. I had the ocarina in my hands, Applejack sitting beside me with a guitar. Together, we played a soothing melody as the sun set in the distance, the girl listening intently as they lay on their stomachs, nodding their heads side to side with the tempo. This kept on for some time, until the sun began to disappear - the girls had school tomorrow. “We should all call it a night, girls. You can play in the clubhouse a while longer, but don’t stay up past nine, alright? You all have school.” I told my 'kids", painfully standing up, the warm April air whipping my hair around, as I offered my robtic to Applejack. “Alright, dad. With that, I took Applejack’s hoof in my hand, walking with her to the house. We went our own separate ways for a wee bit, I ran upstairs while she went downstairs to finish the rest of the dishes from dinner. Granny was asleep in her rocker, and Mac was already asleep, exhausted from the day’s work. I thought back on all the issues here, and slowly came to realize one thing - if I hadn’t touched that goddamn cartridge in the first place… so many lives would have been saved. I opened a window to help me get through that realization, the cool air resting my heart rate. Still, understanding that all of this - all of it, was my fault, made me realize that I’m the freak here. I’m the monster. “Why… why did I go to that garage sale!?” “Sugarcube, honey, you okay?” I could hear Applejack ask, her forehoof gently opening the door, adn the sound of her legs gently dancing alon the floor.  “No… no, Applejack. I’m not okay. I… I’ve been thinking, and I’ve come to notice that everything that’s happened here is my fault.” I managed to speak amid a sob, slamming my face down on the desk where I sat. “Nick… it’s not. BEN done gone and did everything... “ The farm said, approaching me and gently stroking my back. “No. If I hadn’t had gone to that fucking garage sale… if I hadn’t have picked up that game…” I swiped everything off of the desk in rage, the glass of water next to me shattering with a loud crash. “IF I HADN’T PLAYED THAT FUCKING GAME, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!” I couldn’t help but cry, forever blaming myself for every last atrocity. Soon, I found myself gently lifted out of the chair, with Applejack standing on her hind legs and supporting my side, walking me towards the bed. “Sugarcube, please, get some sleep… All this yammerin and blamin’ yerself for stuff ya didn’t do ain’t healthy. Please, babe, relax…” I.. but I did. Sweetie Belle is dead because I let that hellspawn out of that cartridge… I’m a fucking demon… I killed people that didn’t need to die… I’m not just gonna ‘get over it’ just like that, AJ.” “Ah don’t expect you to - healin’ big ol’ wounds like that’s gonna take some time and effort.” “Two years ago, I wouldn’t fathom the thought of killing another living thing. Maybe an animal for food, but… people… I didn’t want this. I just wanted to have a simple life as a game programmer…” “But you make games for this world sug-” “No, Applejack… I wanted that back home. I just… I want to go back to a time where nobody got hurt… Not you, not Carrot, not the thousands around Equestria., not Luna, Lyra, or Twilight. I… I didn’t want this to happen.” “You couldn’t help…” “BUT I LET IT! I LET THAT VILE SHITHEAD OUT OF THAT GAME!”  I couldn’t help but cry into the pillow on the bed, burying my face into the mattress and screamed. “Sugarcube… don’t cry… it’s not your fault. I couldn’t say anything, slamming my fist into the wall, and leaving a sizable hole in the side of the house. “Nick, baby? Please don’t cry…” I reached into the nightstand, pulling out my pistol. Applejack tore it away, throwing the gun out the open window nearby. “No… Nick, please… you mean so much to mah family… you can start fresh…” “St….start fresh?” I asked, digging my face out of the bed. “Yes, honey. You can start over - a new life, here on the farm - in Equestria.  I sniffed, smiling a bit. “But first…” I found my overshirt violently ripped with a loud tear. “...You fulfilled your promise to Sweetie Belle…” Before I could say anything more, Applejack turned me to my back, gently hovering over my stomach. With a warm, starry-eyed smile, the orange farmer gently brought her lips down to my face, and a mere moment later, I let all of the sorrow wash away in bliss. We held there for a few moments more and I wrapped my arms around her back, her left forehoof slowly venturing below my chest, with a gentle tug on my jeans, the sharp sound of a zipper ringing in my ears. As I kissed her again, a gentle breeze flew in through the open window, slowly closing the door. “Now… ah believe ya have to fulfil a promise ya made to me…” Maybe this is where I do belong. With a wonderful woman sharing her whole darn heart with me. “Welcome to th’ Apple family, Nick…”