Celestial Year 997 AB
Light Flow was in pain.
Not just physical pain, though there was certainly enough of that. He was also feeling quite a bit of emotional pain. Two different kinds of hurt clashing together in the most horrible way.
The aching in the body, and the aching in the heart.
It had been about eight months since his mother died, and he was still feeling the effects.
Waking up in the morning to the sound of nothing and nopony in the house. The choking veil of uncharacteristic silence was deafening in his ears, and he often found himself talking to the empty space to fill the void.
The pleasant smells of breakfast in-progress were a fading memory now, and he could never find the energy to make anything of substance. If he ate anything, it was a bowl of cold cereal.
He still caught himself saying 'see you later' when leaving the house sometimes. As if he had fooled himself into believing there was somepony to respond.
Most days, he didn't return until dark.
Whenever he had finished with whatever he had been doing for the day, he would often waste the time away with Applejack. If Applejack was busy, he would sit around at the library, or take a long walk around Ponyville.
He did whatever he could to stay away from home, because just being there hurt him. Everything he looked at held precious memories. Flashes of tender moments spent with the most important pony in the world. There were so many days when he would find himself sitting and staring at random pieces of furniture for hours.
He couldn't stay there anymore. If he was ever going to move forward with his life, he had to leave.
It hadn't been too hard to convince Mayor Mare to allow him to move. Normally, the idea of a fifteen year old colt living alone would be unthinkable. But as it was, it wouldn't be much of a change.
Since the mayor was already breaking all sorts of laws by allowing him to live alone, the process of selling his house and moving somewhere else was frighteningly easy. He supposed there was some part of the mayor that was just happy she could sell the house to somepony that would pay full taxes.
At least, the pessimistic part of him thought that. There was an innocent little colt deep inside him that thought she was helping him because it was a nice thing to do.
He wished he could let that little colt out more, but it was hard to find a reason to recently.
The process was probably made all the easier considering the home he was attempting to buy, though the mayor definitely thought he was crazy.
There was a little abandoned lumberjack's cottage on the very edge of the Everfree forest. Seriously, It was nestled right into the trees, and the very back could probably be counted as actually being inside the forest. It had been there a long time, so It probably didn't use to be that close, but he honestly liked it better that way.
The forgotten structure was just sitting around gathering dust, and it needed an occupant.
Apparently, the lumberjack living there had gone missing one day. Nopony knew for sure, but it was pretty obvious the Everfree Forest had something to do with it. What had that lumberjack expected to happen though? It's not like the Everfree had been any less dangerous a hundred years ago.
It was a bit modest with only three rooms and a small basement, but at least it had plumbing. That had been something he was especially worried about.
Any normal pony would consider it absolutely insane to move there from a nice house in town, but he supposed it was likely a couple of marbles had gotten lost over the years.
He shouldn't have been as calm about that as he was. Maybe he should find a therapist or something?
The mayor made him take a homeowner's aptitude test, which he studied laboriously for. After passing, she very unofficially dubbed him fit to own property, before promptly asking if he could pretend to have an older guardian who happened to have the same name as him.
Her way of trying to poorly hide her very illicit dealings with an underage colt. Like throwing a sheet over the evidence.
...Okay, he shouldn't have phrased it that way, it sounded super creepy.
Either way, he didn't have a problem with it. It wouldn't be too much of a bother to help the mayor sleep a little better at night. For all intents and purposes, he had a twenty-four year old brother named Light Flow who had just returned from work abroad.
He didn't know what he would say if anypony asked where 'abroad' was, but it didn't really matter that much.
Zebrica? The Neigherlands? No, he didn't know anything about either of those places.
It could wait.
It had been a little under two months since then, and the cottage was finally ready for him. It had needed a serious cleaning, new appliances, and they even had to call an inspector in to check the structural integrity; but everything was apparently fine.
Which was a little odd. The Everfree usually found some way to break down structures like this one.
He could solve that mystery later, especially now that he was going to be living right next to the forest.
Maybe if the Necromancy thing didn't work out, he could become some sort of expert on the Everfree? Maybe look into why it is the way it is?
Regardless, after he got the all-clear from the mayor, he had begun preparing his things for his new home.
He wasn't taking a lot, since the entire purpose of this was to try and get away from the memories. He was taking his bed, which would fit comfortably in the small bedroom in the back. He was taking his bookshelf and his desk table, both of which would find residence in the main room.
He was also taking a lot of miscellaneous clutter. Just things that were necessary for a home, like towels and stuff.
That was pretty much the extent of it. Mayor Mare had said that anything left in the house would be seized by the government, but that was okay. The old stuff didn't matter.
New futures lay ahead of him, full of new memories and new moments. He wouldn't run from them any longer.
Of course, there was no way for him to move all his stuff alone, and he didn't really want to hire any help.
So he enlisted the free help of his local apple sellers.
Applejack had been very supportive about many things since his mother had died, but this was not one of them. To put it in her own words, this entire idea was 'dumber than a Junebug in July'.
He could have done without the countryism, but those were something any friend of Applejack would have to get used to.
They had yelled and screamed about it until their throats were hoarse, but eventually Applejack had just become too tired to argue about it anymore. She still didn't like it, but she had conceded that she couldn't change his mind.
He understood why she was so upset. The Everfree Forest was the most dangerous thing for dozens of miles, and he was trying to settle down directly next to it. But the one thing that Applejack couldn't deny was the amount of time he spent there as it was. If he hadn't died yet, It wasn't likely to happen anytime soon.
She was probably also angry that he was selling his mother's house, but that was something that just couldn't be argued. He was already going to have to move in three years, so he was really just getting a head start.
So in the end, Applejack had begrudgingly agreed to help him move. She even brought her brother to help.
He and Big Macintosh had never quite gotten along. Looking at it objectively, two extremely quiet ponies like them should get along famously, but that wasn't really the case.
It turns out that putting two ponies with difficulty starting conversations together is a recipe for awkward silence.
Who knew?
But either way, he was glad the large farmpony showed up. He had even brought a wagon for the job.
Applejack showed up as chipper as always, while her brother nursed that stone-cold disinterest he kept.
But her chipper attitude quickly fled when she learned he was only taking a few things. He was expecting another big shouting match while her brother looked on, but she was actually strangely quiet about the matter. She just stood around with her mouth open for a while before giving a big sigh.
He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he was really just happy she wasn't outwardly angry. He could suffer the consequences later if it meant she was helping him now.
With the help of the Apple siblings, his things were loaded into the wagon, and with Big Macintosh in the harness, they set off for the cottage.
He tried not to think too much about the house disappearing behind him. That part of his life was over now, and he had to look to the future.
The cottage wasn't extremely far from Ponyville, but it wasn't extremely close either. Probably a ten minute walk from the southeast edge of the town. It was just the right distance for trips into town, but far away enough so nopony would bug him.
Not that anypony would anyway. Who in their right mind would walk up to a cottage right next to those woods?
He hoped Applejack would, at least.
They had to cross several small bridges, and eventually they transitioned to grass as they left the dirt roads. He would have to remember to buy Big Mac a thank you card or something. He trudged through the unideal terrain with no complaints whatsoever, just walking along listening to Applejack talk about whatever came to her mind.
Speaking of the orange pony, she was lucky enough to sit in the wagon the entire trip. He had tried to join her, but she had snorted and promptly kicked him out. She yelled something about getting a workout, but he hardly heard her through the sound of utter betrayal.
So he had to walk next to Big Macintosh the entire way, which wasn't so bad really. The stocky red pony made for relatively comfortable companionship when Applejack was around. They could share in their combined amusement at her antics.
Speaking of antics, there was one time when he had been visiting Applejack while she was working that instantly came to mind. She had been doing her thing, bucking trees and gathering apples, when she came across a tree that looked completely fine.
Well, maybe it wouldn't have to her, but she had been distracted with talking to him at the time. Either way, she had leaned forward and bucked the tree, but her back hooves ended up going straight through the wood.
They hadn't been stuck, thankfully, but she sure did look funny standing there on two legs.
And he had let her know how funny he found it, rather boisterously actually. That had earned him a painful bonk on the head with an apple.
He probably deserved it, but it still wasn't very kind of her.
Reminiscing on his past with Applejack was a decent way to pass the time, and they came to the front of the cottage almost too quickly.
It was a rather poor sight. The wooden paneling was almost entirely obscured by stalks of ivy and creeping vines that reached up to sprawl across the dark brown roof. Several trees from the Everfree could be seen poking out from behind the structure, and some exceptionally daring branches were even reaching out across the sides.
There were multiple windows on the walls, though they were rendered entirely useless by the all-encompassing foliage. You could barely see the cottage at all, actually. There was just too much greenery.
From any sort of distance, it would really just look like another part of the forest. Just a little splotch of brown in a sea of similarity.
It was perfect.
Applejack made some sort of comment about presentation, but he hadn't really heard her. He had been too busy admiring his wonderfully inconspicuous new house.
What did she know anyway? It's not like she had a cool overgrown cottage in the wilderness.
He approached the brown door, noticing how there were multiple stems and vines with visible cuts surrounding it. They must have grown over the door over the years, and been cut away when the mayor sent ponies in to clean and whatnot.
He also took note of how the lock on the door looked relatively new, which made sense. The old lock must have been rusty at best, and he couldn't imagine it would deter any thief.
After unlocking the door with the key he had been given, he took a moment to breathe before opening it. This was where he was going to be living for an indeterminate amount of time. This was the start of his new life, in his new house, with his new freedom. Out here, on the border of the Everfree, he was free to do whatever he wanted.
Specifically, to read whatever he wanted.
He closed his eyes, and swung the door open with his magic.
He stepped inside, opened his eyes, and took a deep breath. He wanted his first impression to hit him all at once, like some sort of sensory imprint.
His instinctual response was to crinkle his nose.
It really smelled like cleaning product.
The interior was, as expected, not much to look at. There was a large hearth dominating most of the right wall, which was likely necessary to heat the house when it got cold. It was sort of an eyesore, but he would get used to it.
The wooden floors and walls seemed somewhat shiny, and he could only imagine the amount of scrubbing that had transpired here. This place must have been outrageously dusty, and probably just incredibly dirty in general.
As it was, it was fairly clean, even if it did smell.
In the corner, directly next to the door and the hearth, there was something that didn't quite fit with the cabin aesthetic. It seemed as if Mayor Mare had been kind enough to supply him with a modern oven and a fridge. He only knew a little about arcane engineering, so he could only say it was probably powered by some kind of lattice, but he was happy nonetheless.
The rest of the space was empty, though there was a door on the left wall, as well as the back wall. One of them was the bathroom, and one was his bedroom. He would have to be careful not to get them confused.
It was really nice. It might have been a little small, but he actually preferred it that way. It was cozy.
As he stared around at his new residence, he felt something brush against his side. Applejack trotted slowly into his vision, before coming to a stop just in front of him.
She also seemed to be taken by the pleasant space, but probably not for the same reason.
"Well... uh... it's really.... nice, sugarcube." Applejack seemed at a loss for words. Her awe must have been staggering in its enormity.
"Yeah, it's nice. You have anything else to add?" He knew he was really fishing for insults now, but he just couldn't help it. He loved acting offended.
"It's... really... comfortable...?"
Well, not everypony appreciated the feeling of cramped spaces, he supposed.
He walked out in front of Applejack and turned to stare petulantly into her dubious emerald eyes. He just couldn't believe she was judging his choice of home.
It was time for a clever retort.
"Thanks for the input Applejack, but it's not like you have to live here. Some of us don't need an entire farm to live on."
Maybe not his cleverest retort...
But regardless, it had an effect. Applejack's nose crinkled, and her mouth turned down. Her features took on an air of resigned annoyance, and her voice adopted a familiar sarcastic tone.
"Hardy har har. Come on, let's get yer stuff in here. I got chores to do today on that farm you're so jealous of."
She turned around and walked out the door in a huff. He took the time to exaggeratedly roll his eyes and followed her outside.
He really didn't know what he'd do without her.
He walked outside to find Applejack standing next to her brother in front of the cart.
He didn't know why, but he was getting a weird feeling. There was just something about Applejack's eyes, just a little spark of... something deep inside.
He couldn't quite decipher it, but her growing smirk was far more telling.
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"Come on, sugarcube! You've only got one box to go!"
It was official. Applejack was far more villainous than he could ever hope to be.
It turns out that look in her eyes was pure malice, and he internally cursed himself for not recognizing it.
Applejack had wanted him to begin with the moving, but when he lit up his horn to start, he felt a painful jab in his side.
Applejack didn't want him to use magic, oh no. She wanted him to work for this.
She and her brother would move the heavy stuff like his furniture, but he had to move the boxes.
By carrying them. Without magic.
The task sounded daunting, but it had actually been okay at first. The boxes with his random junk hadn't been too heavy, and he was actually enjoying the light workout. Applejack and Big Mac had to contend with his bookshelf, while he breezed along with a box of kitchen utensils.
But then, he found the box with his books in it.
He couldn't actually lift it onto his back by himself, so he had to get Applejack's help. She slid it out of the wagon, and hefted it onto her back with a grunt.
He swore he could actually feel his heart dropping through his chest. How heavy were those books?
"You ready sugarcube?"
He licked his lips, and mumbled something approaching a confirmation.
He heard an exhale, and there was suddenly a great weight on his back.
His knees almost buckled, and he swore he heard something snap. He immediately wheezed in pain as his legs wobbled under the weight, and his entire body lowered a few inches to the ground under the crushing force.
He vaguely heard what sounded like a laugh, and made a solemn vow to himself to get revenge somehow. He didn't care what he had to do, he would get Applejack back for this.
He very shakily hefted one hoof up, and brought it crashing down a few inches forward. He enjoyed the thought that the world shook from the collision, causing huge earthquakes that devastated the kingdom as a result of his titanic burden.
The weight was nearly unbearable, and he wondered if he could just give up. What could Applejack do to him, really?
Okay, there were a lot of uncomfortable answers to that question. Maybe it would be best to just suffer through his current pain.
He ground his teeth together, and lifted another hoof forward. And he did it again, and again, and again. Each step was agonizing, and he was barely making any progress.
No matter how many times he looked back up at the cottage, it refused to move. It continued to sit in the same place, absolutely steadfast in its resolve to stay exactly where it was.
His new house must have some sort of vendetta against him.
"Come on, sugarcube! You're almost there!"
Applejack had been cheering him on, but he was almost certain she was wrong. The cottage was exactly as far away as it had been when he started, and it would probably stay that way forever.
He must have died at some point and not realized it, because he was pretty sure this was his personal hell. Forced to do unending physical labor while his best friend giggled maniacally at him.
If he hadn't been half delirious with pain, he would have commended Applejack on her devilish actions. She was truly a paragon of evil.
Everything hurt. Light Flow was in pain.
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It had taken a thousand years, but he had done it.
He had agonizingly made his way into the cabin, and set the box onto the floor.
The literal weight off his shoulders was like some sort of blessing from his unknown deity. He had never felt so light in his life, which was ironic for reasons he didn't want to justify.
As soon as the box was down, he had taken the opportunity to follow it. To anyone that asked, he would say that he was testing how comfortable his floors were; though, he didn't think Applejack would be fooled.
Speaking of the devil herself, he heard hoofsteps on the floor behind him, and he didn't think they were Big Mac's. Speaking of him, he hadn't seen the big pony in a while. Had he gone home while he was struggling with the box?
"Twenty hoof-lengths in as many minutes. Not the best performance, sugarcube, but I can't say you didn't give it your all."
Applejack's voice sounded muted in his ears, but that was probably because of all the blood flow. He moaned out some sort of vague response, and hoped she understood what he was trying to say.
Luckily, she seemed to have picked up on the tone of his voice, and he heard a chuckle.
"It don't matter none, sugarcube. I'm really just proud of you for not givin' up. Can't say everypony I know would have powered through like that."
"Granted, most a' the ponies I know wouldn't have much trouble with a box of books, but that doesn't change what I'm tryin' to say."
He really wasn't appreciating Applejack's honesty right now. She always said whatever came to mind, no matter how it might make somepony feel.
So blunt. So straight-forward. So easy to expect.
She was wonderful to be around.
He would have told her so, but he was still gasping for breath on the floor. He made a mental note share to his appreciation later. She deserved to know how much he loved her.
Wait, what was that?
"Well sugarcube, there was somethin' I wanted to talk to you about, but that can probably wait until later. You look like you could use some rest right now."
She was so considerate.
Well, not that considerate. If she was truly considerate, she would have helped him with his books instead of standing around laughing at his misfortune. Granted, he wouldn't have done much better in her place, but she was obviously supposed to have better morals than him.
He was the bad one, and she was the goody-four-shoes. That was their dynamic. Why was she upsetting it?
"Your bed is all set up in the room in the back, so you should get up off the floor. I know they got somepony to come and clean, but I still wouldn't trust it. Granny always says that dirt finds a way, and you don't want that way to be you."
She was probably right. He would get off the floor as soon as he could feel his hooves again.
"Alright sugarcube, like I said, I got chores to do back home. But don't be afraid to come 'round If y'all need anything. You know you're always welcome on the farm."
He wheezed out a faint 'thank you', and he heard another hearty chuckle in response. She had such a nice laugh, it was all deep and comforting and stuff.
"Whatever you say, sugarcube. I'll see y'all later!"
A faint 'bye' made its way out of his lips as he heard the hoofsteps retreat. The faint noise of the door shutting echoed out through the mostly empty space, before the silence snuffed it out.
And there he sat. Alone, and in the silence. In the middle of an empty cottage on the border of the most dangerous woods in Equestria.
Just a little brown colt sitting on the floor, surrounded by boxes.
He stared up at the wooden ceiling as his breathing gradually steadied, and he felt his eyes grow heavy under the weight of the day.
He hadn't really promised Applejack he would get up. He hadn't even said anything about it, so he wouldn't be letting anypony down if he didn't quite make it to his bed.
He briefly thought about looking for the box with his cloak in it so that he could use it as a blanket, but discarded the idea. That would be entirely too much work, nearly as much as getting up to go to his bed.
It was just so far away... And the floor was right here, so.....
What possible reason would there be for moving?