//------------------------------// // The City of Business: Manehatten // Story: Tales of the Abyss: Hymns of Equestria // by Genis94 //------------------------------// "Hey Luke, you've been awful quiet." Rainbow Dash noticed. "Huh? Oh sorry, Rainbow Dash... I was just thinking about my friends." Luke sadly told her. Rainbow's ears drooped a little when she heard how sad he seemed to be when he thought about his friends. Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment, then got an idea to lift everypony's spirits. "Hey Luke, how about you tell all of us some stories about your friends. We've all heard a bit about what they were like, but you've never told us any stories about them." Luke paused in thought for a moment, but a small smile forced it's way across his lips. "I think I might have a few good stories here. Okay, there was this one time we were trying to get information on Mt. Roneal, when we found Dist the Reaper... -------- Everypony was now laughing hysterically. Luke himself was caught in the laughter of his tale. "So then he tells us all to- ha ha- to beg so we can get the sword. First he made me and Guy beg him, then Anise, Tear, and Natalia were next." "HA HA! This Emperor Peony of yours sounds pretty cool!" Rainbow chuckled. "It gets better. So then, after the girls finished begging, he agreed to give us the sword, but Jade said he should beg too. Peony just started to get disgusted and told him to stop." Everypony began chuckling again. "So then he keeps begging, and Peony tells him to just take it before he throws up!" Everypony now began slapping knees, rolling in seats, and Rainbow actually began flying down the aisle in an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Rainbow couldn't see where she was going, and she crashed headlong into one of the ticket takers. "Ahem." He cleared his throat in annoyance. "Eh he... Sorry." Rainbow apologized as she rubbed the back of her neck. "We're about to arrive in Manehatten. Please retrieve your belongings and be ready to depart once we arrive." The ticket taker announced to the car. He then turned around and went back to his post. Luke began gathering his belongings, with the ponies following in suit. After Luke was certain he had all of his things, the whistle blew indicating that the train had arrived. Luke stood up and walked out as the mane 6 followed in line. "Whoa... So this is Manehatten?" Luke asked in surprise. The sight before him was one of several tall buildings blocking out most of the horizon. The streets were all busy with activity, and everypony seemed like they had a place to be. Some smoke stacks could be made out in between and looming over some of the buildings, setting a clear goal for the group. "Oh my Applejack, you never told me how wonderful Manehatten was!" Rarity said as she took in the sights. "Yeah, because it's about as wonderful as biting into a worm infested apple." Applejack said with annoyance. As Applejack began taking the first steps down the platform, Luke couldn't help but wonder what caused her reaction. "What's her problem?" He whispered to Twilight. Twilight shook her head. "I'm not quite sure. I heard she stayed in Manehatten before, but she never went into specifics with me." Rainbow Dash hovered between the two. "I think I have the answer to that." Both Luke and Twilight recoiled at Rainbow's sudden interruption. "Rainbow! Don't eavesdrop on us like that!" Twilight scolded. Rainbow simply waved a dismissing hoof. "Lighten up Twilight. I know why Applejack is acting like such a sourpuss." Luke raised a brow. "Really?" "Yeah, Scootaloo told me all about it a couple days after she and her friends went around asking each of us how we got our cutie marks. She said that Applejack lived with her snobby relatives in Manehatten, and that she got embarrassed by the whole 'prim and proper' society of the city. She was actually really homesick, and she couldn't stand how different it was." "I guess that would make sense, but she seems like she has something greater troubling her." Twilight added. "Hey, c'mon you slow pokes! We're going to miss all the fun this city has if you keep sitting on your rumps!" Pinkie called up to the trio. "I guess we can worry about it later. Right now we should try and check into a hotel. I've read that they fill up rather quickly here." Twilight suggested. "Sounds good. We can check in, set our belongings in our rooms, then investigate the factories." Luke agreed. The group then departed to search for a hotel where they might be able to rest once the daylight left them. -------- The group eventually settled upon a large hotel that looked as though it was built to house a king. Luke led the group to the counter and rang the bell for service. An earth pony with a slate grey coat and brown mane approached them. "May I help you... sir?" He said, confused as to Luke's gender or species. "We'd like to rent out four rooms for the night." Luke simply answered. "Very well. Each room is 200 bits per night." "Hey Pinkie, can you get the lock box Celestia gave me out of my bag?" Luke asked the party pony. Without a word, Pinkie began rummaging through the bag Luke brought, leaving the group oblivious to the look of pure shock on the hotel owner's face. "Somepony who knows Celestia personally?! If I show them a good time, it might help with my Hotel's image! Word does travel fast in Canterlot." The stallion whispered to himself. Pinkie finally retrieved the lock box, and Luke counted out the 800 bits he would need to cover the fee. "Here you go. This should cover the rooms." "Oh no, I can't have such a large group renting such simple rooms! Especially not when they are all so clearly important! Here, take the penthouse suite for three days. And don't worry, there is no additional cost." The stallion said, finishing it all off with a toothy grin. Luke and the others stood there completely stunned, except for Rarity, who quickly grabbed the penthouse key with her magic and bolted to the elevator. "Come on! It's a penthouse!" She urged to the others, waving them frantically over to the elevator. Shaking the surprise from himself, Luke grabbed his things and found himself running for the elevator too. After spending so much time away from his comfy bed in the manor, he was excited to see what luxuries this penthouse had to offer. "I wonder if it will be as nice as the hotel in Keterburg..." He thought to himself, bringing up several memories of the soft beds and relaxing spa. Once the whole group was inside the elevator, Rarity hit the button for the penthouse at least four times. Once the elevator doors parted at the top floor, the entire group audibly expressed their astonishment. "This is just so... I just... Words cannot describe..." Rarity began mumbling. "It's like a whole room of the palace with enough room for all of my friends!" Twilight said like an excited schoolgirl. "I wonder if the Wonderbolts ever stayed here... I could be sleeping in the same bed a Wonderbolt stayed in! This is awesome!" Rainbow cheered as she began zipping around the room. "This is super-duper amazing! We need to throw a penthouse party!" Pinkie blurted as she produced a blue cannon from behind her. "It's... nice." Fluttershy happily said. Applejack seemed to be the only one that was unimpressed. "Just because you polish a pig's leavings, that don't mean it's a diamond." Everypony else looked at her like she was insane, earning them a "Humph!" from Applejack as she trotted into one of the bedrooms. "Something's starting to tell me she's not acting like this because of her relatives..." Luke said, breaking the silence. "I've never seen her like this... We should talk to her." Twilight said. "Alright, I guess the rest of you should claim your rooms, while Twilight and I handle this." The other four ponies nodded and began moving in pairs to the bedrooms. Luke and Twilight approached Applejack, who was busy unpacking her belongings. "Applejack, Luke and I have been thinking, and we wanted to know if there was anything you wanted to talk about." The lavender unicorn asked. "Nope." The orange pony responded, never shifting her gaze from her work. "Are you sure?" Twilight pressed with a nervous grin. "Eeyup." "Well... uh..." Twilight was now drawing a total blank. She had never seen Applejack this upset or angry. Luke stepped forward and placed a hand on Applejack's shoulder. The farm pony quickly turned to face Luke, wearing an expression of bitter resentment. "Ah, don't need y'all to keep prying into my business!" She yelled at the pair. "Applejack, it's okay. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, dealt with the most horrifying situations. You need to talk about it, and I'm here to listen to you. I'm not sure what it is that's making you act like this, but I can tell that you need to get it off your chest." Luke explained to her. Applejack's expression softened and she lowered her head in defeat. "Ah... Ah guess you're right. Ah am the element of honesty after all; Ah can't go keepin' this a secret any more. It all happened when Ah went to Manehatten to visit Aunt and Uncle Orange..." -------- The Manheatten streets were as busy as ever, something that the young orange filly walking the streets was not used to just yet. Even with hundreds of ponies walking the streets, she felt so lonely in the concrete jungle. The filly stopped and pulled out a small picture from her tail. It was a family photo of her, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith. "Ah miss y'all, but Ah gotta try and find my cutie mark here." She said to the photograph. Just then, a small gust of wind blew the picture from her grip and the filly gave chase immediately. She followed the rogue photo into an alley, where it settled down on the floor. A relieved small spread across the filly's lips, and she slowly approached the precious portrait. A large hoof stomped down on the photo, startling the little filly out of her wits. "Well well well, looks like this little bumpkin is lost." A condescending male voice said. Applejack traced her eyes up the large hoof to take in its entire form. Standing before her was a black coated unicorn with a green mane and a black trilby on his head. He had a pleasant smile on his face with his eyes closed. "Well, ya see, Ah was just chasing after that picture there, but I appreciate ya holdin' it down for me." Applejack said as she was quaking in her nonexistent boots. "My, what a darling little picture we have here. You know, I might be willing to give it back if you did a tiny little favor for me." Applejack was quite puzzled. "But... that's my photo." "Oh come on, one little favor won't hurt now will it? Besides, it might just help you get your cutie mark." The stranger said as he took note of her blank flank. "Well, Ah suppose it couldn't hurt." "Wonderful! Now, you see that pony skulking around over there?" Applejack looked in the direction the stranger motioned. "You mean that angry looking one?" "Yeah. See that little slip of paper he has poking out of his tail? I need you to take that from him while I talk to him." "But, isn't that stealing?" "Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head." The stranger said as he rubbed Applejack on the noggin. "I loaned that to him a couple of days ago, but he keeps saying that he's not giving it back. I just so happen to need it for an assignment at the Royal Intelligence Department. Consider this helping me get back what's mine." Applejack was quite trusting, so she agreed without any further hesitation. The unicorn walked up to the pony he mentioned earlier, a white pegasus with the athletic build of a guard. "Hey there, Cleave! How has the city been treating you?" The unicorn asked. Cleave furrowed his brow at the black unicorn. "Look Hazama, for the last time: I'm not giving it to you." "Oh, I didn't come to ask about that. I was just in the neighborhood and thought I might check up on a former colleague." While Cleave was busy speaking to Hazama, Applejack cautiously crept to his side. Slowly she grabbed the paper from Cleave's tail, and casually walked away. Hazama caught a glimpse of Applejack's success, and decided to wrap things up. "Well, I'd better be going. I need to go verify some intel. We'll be sure to talk later, Cleave." "Yeah, whatever." Hazama trotted over to another alley with Applejack. After making sure that there were no eavesdroppers, Hazama got right down to business. "Alright, let me have a look at that paper." Applejack handed the slip into Hazama's magic grip. The unicorn began reading through the contents of the paper, a devilish grin growing with each line he read. "He he he he he.... HA HA HA HA HA! You did very well, sweetie." "So that's the paper you loaned your friend?" "Oh man, you fell for it hook, line, and sinker! This was never a paper I loaned that buffoon! This was the document he was supposed to guard! Now that I have this, I can blackmail that overgrown chicken into doing anything I want!" Applejack was now horrified as to what she had done. She had just helped this creep ruin another pony's life! "Gimme that back!" She yelled as she frantically tried to grab the paper from his magic grip. Hazama extended the power of his magic to hold Applejack against the wall of the alley. "Can't have you doing that, now can I?" "H-how could you?" "How could I?" Hazama's grin spread even wider and he finally opened his eyes, revealing their eire golden color and cat like iris'. "Let me tell you something real simple: this is how the real world is. Friends? Honesty? Kindness? Those don't mean jack out here. The only thing you can really count on is yourself." Hazama levitated the document under his hat, and replaced it with Applejack's photo. As soon as Applejack's eyes locked on the picture, it burst into flames. "No!" Hazama released his magic grip and let her slump to the ground, crying and defeated. "You've been real entertaining, but now i must bid you farewell." Hazama trotted away while laughing to himself, leaving behind a crying and shamed little filly. -------- "Ah guess comin' back here just reminded me of the whole thing." Twilight couldn't bear it any longer. She trotted over to her friend and embraced her in a tight hug. "Applejack, it's alright now. There's one thing you have that that terrible unicorn will never have." "What's that?" Applejack asked as the tears pooled in her eyes. "Wonderful friends and a loving family." Applejack let the tears roll from her eyes in Manehatten once again, not because she was sad or lonely, but because she had never been happier in her life.