“There’s a unicorn missing.”
“Good. One of those no good horners finally got what’s comin’ to’em.”
“They were last seen goin’ to your farm, Apple. Right before you started using that new fertilizer.”
“So?”
“He was a debt collector. Only came to light recently that he hadn’t come back for several days after he visited your place.”
“And? He was a no-good varmint. I chased him off my fields for sticking his horn in where it didn't belong. Probably scurried off to bother some other poor earth pony farmers in the next town over.”
“That’s what everyone thought, but someone is saying they didn’t leave your fields.”
“Yes he did! I just said I chased him off! My boy Honey saw the whole thing.”
“Apple, I’m worried.”
“Worried about what?! Nothing happened and I’m doing great! The apples are comin’ in droves and selling like crazy! This whole thing will blow over in a few days once the rumours die off and it won’t even matter soon since I almost have enough bits to get out of this miserable place.”
“You’re caked in mud again.”
“Yes, thank you, Crisp. Couldn’t have—”
“Ya diggin’ holes again?”
“Yeah, I’m expanding the orchard even further and the trees need a lot of fertilizer to keep growin’ the way they are. What’s this got to do—”
“What’s in the fertilizer Seed?”
“What any good fertilizer is made up of! The apples I can’t sell in the market, waste from the animals—”
“Maybe somethin’ a little more rotten than that?”
“What are you implying, cuz?”
“That ain’t the only unicorn that’s missing. There’s been a few disappearing and the big’uns in the town are starting to look into things.”
“What’s your point?”
“Go check your holes again, Apple. Make sure they’re as deep as can be because the guard is snooping around and you better hope that if they start lookin’ in your fields that all they find is some rotten produce.”
“Of course, that’s all they’ll find! Seriously, Crisp, you’re makin’ me out to be some bad guy. I’m not! It’s just good fertilizer. Grows’em well. Now stop with your worryin’ and botherin’ me about all this. You got your own things to worry ‘bout, so leave me be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I got trees to tend to and they require a lot of care.
“They always be needin’ more.”
Ringing blared through the house.
Noteworthy pulled his pillow tighter around his ears as he curled into himself, desperately trying to drown out the incessant noise. His eyes were wide open and bloodshot, his fur tangled and in disarray. Through the ringing, he could hear the chorus sing, trying to lure him into listening.
He wanted it to stop, he wanted them to leave him alone, he wanted silence, but the phone just kept ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing—
Throwing his pillow against the wall, Noteworthy stumbled out of bed and galloped down the hall. He charged into the living room and raced towards the phone. Before it could start another round of infernal racket, he yanked the receiver off the carriage and put it to one ear. “Stop calling me!”
Only the dial tone greeted him.
“Leave me alone! Leave Me Alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Noteworthy screamed, his voice going hoarse from the exertion.
As he shouted, the first few notes of the chorus began to sing.
Noteworthy slammed the receiver onto the floor and stomped on it until it was nothing but bits of metallic pieces. Tears rolled down his face as he slumped in place, exhaustion taking its toll.
A click resounded through the room before a dial tone began to beep from the broken phone.
“No. No. No. No. No! No! NO! NO! NO!” He croaked out through his battered throat.
He collapsed to the floor, curling up into a ball, hooves covering his ears. It was no use. The chorus began to sing and penetrated through Noteworthy’s attempt to block it out. As the song continued, it became harder and harder to resist listening. He unclenched himself, letting his body go limp on the ground.
Laying there silently with tears still rolling down his face, he listened to the chorus as it sang in the dawn.
Noteworthy dragged himself forward, momentum being the only thing that kept him going down the well-worn dirt path. His hooves dragged, creating deep grooves. He was slumped over, heavy bags under his eyes.
“You listened to it.”
He raised his head to look up at the large form of Big Mac who stared down at him with an even expression. Once more, he had a shovel slung over one shoulder, and grime caked onto his hooves.
“It wouldn’t stop,” Noteworthy whispered hoarsely. “It wouldn’t stop.”
Mac snorted.
“Can you stop it?” (Mac shook his head). “Oh. I thought maybe you could.”
“Ain’t no one that can anymore for you, Noteworthy,” Mac said. “Only thing you can do is just get through the day.”
Nodding his head, Noteworthy continued his forward movement. As he passed by Mac, he perked his ears as he heard Mac say under his breath, “Might as well enjoy them since you don’t have many left.”
Fear should have gripped Noteworthy at those words, but at that moment, he found that he had accepted that he was reaching the end of the line. So, he trudged forward.
The chorus sang in his ears as he did.