I. Detour
“Have a safe trip!” Granny Smith called to Applejack and her younger sister.
“Bon voyage!” Rarity shouted, “And make sure you keep an eye on Sweetie Bell, Applejack. She’s quite a handful!”
“Beg’n your pardon Rarity, but she’s a delight compared to this little rascal.” Applejack joked as she hefted Scootaloo up on her shoulders.
“Hey, quit it!” Scootaloo giggled.
“Now y’all better listen to Rarity, Applejack.” Granny Smith scolded, “Can’t let them little fillies out of your sight for one solitary moment!”
“Oh come on, Granny!” Apple Bloom whined, “We’re big fillies! We can handle ourselves! We don’t need Applejack to hold our hoof all the time.”
Granny Smith smiled gently, “Your granny’s just looking out for you, dear, that’s all.”
“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh chimed in.
Apple Bloom huffed and gave in. She knew her granny was just worried about her, but she didn’t have to baby her all the time. “Yeah, alright.”
“Now don’t forget to write once you get to Appleloosa!” Granny Smith said as AJ and the Cutie Mark Crusaders began to walk away from the group bidding them farewell.
“And please do send a gift, darling, I’m sure it will be charmingly rustic!” Rarity called out to Sweetie Bell.
“Don’t fret, y’all! I got everything covered.” Applejack said as she escorted the fillies onto the train that sat idle at Ponyville Station. “See y’all later, everypony!”
Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell waved to their friends and family that stood on the platform, seeing them off. Applejack thought this was all a bit much considering she was only taking Apple Bloom and her friends on a short vacation to Appleloosa, but she appreciated their kindness nonetheless.
Applejack’s newfound responsibility was still sinking in as she guided the ponies to the sleeper cars at the end of the train. At first, only AJ and Apple Bloom were going to go on this trip seeing as it was just to visit some family, but Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell jumped at the opportunity to get out of Ponyville for a few days. Applejack agreed to take the fillies along after Apple Bloom prodded her relentlessly for a few hours. Having this many ponies to keep track of while traveling was a bit of a headache for Applejack, who, despite being hard working and dependable, wasn’t exactly the best at managing three hyperactive young fillies.
Applejack had just brought the kids to their bunks when the train groaned and began chugging forward. She plopped Sweetie Bell into the bunk in front of her while her sister and Scootaloo hopped into the bunks behind her.
“Alright, now listen y’all, this is gonna be a long trip so I need yer full attention and utmost cooperation.” Applejack began addressing the fillies in a lecturing tone, “First of all, there can’t be no-”
Applejack’s speech was abruptly cut off as a pillow gently whacked her in the back of the head. Her face immediately drooped and her eyes narrowed as she glared off into the distance, staring at nothing in particular. A small cacophony of giggles could be heard emanating from behind her. She violently swivelled around and glared at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, who were doing a terrible job at containing their laughter.
“Aw c’mon, sis, it was funny!” Apple Bloom laughed.
“Don’t gimme that, Apple Bloom.” Applejack scowled as their laughter was curtly silenced, “Now I want y’all to have fun on this here trip, but at the same time you have to listen to me. I’m accountable for all three of you and if anything were to happen to ya, your mothers would kill me!”
Scootaloo averted her eyes to the ground.
Applejack noticed Scootaloo’s change in disposition but didn’t want to bring any attention to her own faux pas, “So y’all just have to listen to me, understand? I don’t want nopony wandering off and getting lost, or worse yet - getting hurt. That won’t happen so long as you listen to me, okay? That’s all I’m askin’ of ya.”
The three fillies silently nodded in agreement.
With a sigh of relief, Applejack added, “Good. Now who wants to get some supper?”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell instantaneously bolted from their seats at the prospect of some nourishment, but Scootaloo was a little more lethargic. Without waiting for Applejack, the two excited fillies dashed down the narrow corridor into the next car. Applejack watched as Scootaloo followed suit at a less enthusiastic pace.
“Hey, listen.” Applejack said. Scootaloo stopped in her tracks. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean nothing by it, sugarcube. Slip of the tongue.”
Scootaloo smiled, “Hey, no problem. It’s cool.”
Applejack returned her smile but knew Scootaloo was being a bit less than genuine. Applejack didn’t want to be patronizing, however, and just left the conversation at that. She took up the rear as the gang made their way to the dining car.
* * * * *
That evening, after everyone had their fill at dinner, Applejack and the kids nestled into bed. The soft clacking of the train’s wheels against the track in addition to the mellow rumble of the engine at the far end of the train created a soft, comforting pink noise that lulled everyone into a deep slumber. The train swiftly sped down the tracks, the earth pony engineers working overtime to make it to Appleloosa by morning. Shovel after shovel of coal was being hefted into the furnace to keep the train barreling down the tracks. The 8:10 to Appleloosa seemed to be moving right on schedule. Wind swept across the roof of the locomotive as it passed endless tracts of sand on its journey south.
Several hours later, once AJ and the young fillies had been asleep for a while, the train approached something uncharted on any railway maps. On the far right of the locomotive, faint lights flickered in the distance. There seemed to be a small village just a few minutes from the tracks. Before the train managed to clear the outskirts of the town, blaring sounds of screeching metal echoed throughout the valley as sparks cascaded off the front wheels of the engine. The train decelerated rapidly, rattling the tracks beneath it. After a few shouts from the engineers, the entire train lurched forward and finally came to a rest.
A sudden, heaving jolt knocked Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell awake.
Applejack continued to snore and Scootaloo was completely unphased - heavy sleepers evidently.
“What was that?” Sweetie Bell squeaked.
“Applejack!” Apple Bloom jumped out of her bunk and rushed over to AJ, jostling her shoulder, “Applejack, wake up! Something happened!”
Applejack’s eyes slowly creaked open, “Sun ain’t even up, sugarcube. What is it?”
The noise and clamour of ponies from other cars began to escalate. By this time, Scootaloo woke up as well.
“Hey guys, what’s going on?” Scootaloo said as she groggily hopped out of bed.
“I don’t know!” Apple Bloom turned her attention to Scootaloo, “There was some loud noise. Now we’re stopped!”
“Do you think we hit something?” Sweetie Bell wondered aloud.
By this time, the conversation had piqued Applejack’s interest, “Wait just a darn minute, what’s going on? We haven’t had an accident or anything, have we?”
Before any of the fillies could answer Applejack’s inquiry, the door to their sleeper car hissed open. One of the train’s ticket collectors stepped through, carrying a flashlight which shone in the faces of the drowsy ponies.
He addressed Applejack, stating, “Sorry to bother you, miss, but there’s some technical difficulties with the engine it seems. We’re going to have to ask you to please exit the train until the issue has been addressed.”
“We have to get off? What time is it?” Applejack grumbled.
“It’s around three o’clock AM, miss.” the ticket collector said, “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but it will be a lot easier for the engineers to work if the train is not occupied. We will let you know when the train is up and moving.”
“What the hay are the children and I supposed to do at this hour, sir?” Applejack said, a bit pissed off, “Can’t we just stay here in our bunks and sleep till the issue is fixed?”
“Sorry, miss, I’m just doing what the conductor instructed me to.” the ticket collector said, shrugging, “I know it must be a pain, but we would really appreciate it if you cooperated.”
Applejack rolled her eyes and groaned, “Fine.”
The ticket collector seemed sincerely apologetic, and a bit worried that he had annoyed the young mare. He nervously spoke up, “If it’s any condolences, miss, we’re lucky that we’ve broken down just outside of some settlement.”
“A town?” Scootaloo queried as she raised a single eyebrow, curiously, “Way out here?”
“Yes, indeed.” the ticket taker explained, “Seems we’re just outside of a town called Happy Hollow. I’ve never heard of it myself, but it looks like a quaint little town. You could bide your time there until everything’s fixed up.”
“Well, I reckon that’s a mite bit consoling.” Applejack grunted as she grabbed her hat off a small hook on the wall and placed it on her head, pulling the brim down. She looked at her sister and her friends, “Any of y’all want to check out this here town?”
“Sure!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"Sounds awesome!” Scootaloo added.
Applejack chuckled to herself a bit, “Yeah, alright. But keep in mind this is past yer bedtime, and we’re only doing this coz of certain circumstances.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Apple Bloom said, “C’mon let’s go, sis!”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders darted past the ticket collector and out the door behind him.
“Pardon their enthusiasm.” Applejack smiled.
The ticket taker just nodded and stepped out of AJ’s path as she made her way out of the car and outside. As she stepped her hoof onto the oddly dry soil she could see that the young fillies in her care had already run several yards ahead of her and were playing around. Those girls sure had bundles of energy.
Applejack’s age showed as she struggled to wake herself up. After shaking her head a few times, hoping to rattle herself awake, she took a moment to observe her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was how quiet it was. There was no wind, which was very uncommon for that area of Equestria, and not a natural sound could be heard - not even crickets chirping. The only sounds she could hear were the faint commotion of conversation in the distance and the clanging of metal made by the engineers. She could see a few other ponies making their way out of the train, most looking either dazed, unaware of what was going on or extremely annoyed. When she turned her gaze back on the kids, she noticed something interesting out of the corner of her eye. A small crowd had formed around the engine.
“Hey girls!” Applejack called to the young ones, “Want to take a gander at what’s holding up the train with them folks over there?”
They all nodded and galloped over to her, excitedly.
“What are those guys doing up there?” Apple Bloom asked when she caught up with her sister, “They look awful confused.”
“That ain’t a good sign.” AJ mumbled to herself.
When Applejack and the fillies approached the crowd, they could hear disconcerting murmurs from the strangers that were gathered around in a semi-circle. They all sounded nervous, worried or angry. When AJ broke through the crowd to see what everyone was staring at, she understood. They weren’t looking at the engine, they were looking at the track - or lack thereof.
“Track’s gone for what looks like a mile.” an older gentlecolt standing next to AJ pointed out.
“How could this even happen? This is insane!” a young mare cried out.
Apple Bloom climbed up on Applejack’s back so she could see over the crowd and find out what everyone was making such a fuss over.
“Wow.” Apple Bloom whispered when she saw the huge expanse of barren land, devoid of rail tracks, that lay ahead of the train.
“What’s going on?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Yeah, we can’t see anything!” squawked Scootaloo. She attempted to hover over the crowd with her wings to get a better vantage point, but to no avail.
Applejack turned her head to the fillies, “It ain’t the engine that’s the problem, the whole track’s gone! Looks like we’re stuck here for the time being, girls.”
“Shucks! Are we even going to make it to Appleloosa at all at this rate?” Apple Bloom pouted.
“I don’t rightly know. Ain’t my place to say.” Applejack said with a little hesitance in her voice, “Ain’t much we can do about it, neither.”
Applejack saw the conductor pass by, sneaking behind the crowd of angry ponies. He was an older pony, with a curly white mustache and a grey coat. A blue conductor’s cap sat upon his head which matched his blue eyes. In the dark it was hard to see, but AJ could just make out a steam engine as his cutie mark.
“Hey!” Applejack yelled, “You the conductor?”
Luckily for him the rest of the crowd was not paying attention to AJ and was instead keeping themselves occupied arguing with the engineers. After clearing his throat he announced, “Yes, I am.”
“Then can we kindly go back to sleep on the train?! We did pay for those sleepin’ car tickets after all.” Applejack snorted, not even attempting to conceal her anger.
The conductor took out a hankie and patted down drops of sweat dripping from his forehead, “Fraid not, miss. You’ll be refunded for your troubles when we finally get to Appleloosa, rest assured. It’s just I’d rather not have the responsibility of keeping two dozen passengers in order on my locomotive. Not to mention that in situations like this, it’s best to give the engineers free reign to work wherever and whenever they need to.”
“Refund, huh?” Applejack’s face contorted into a skeptical scowl, “Well alright. I’ll take yer word for it.”
“Again, sorry for the inconvenience.” the conductor scratched his head, “To be honest, I don’t know how the hay the track went missing, but we’re going to have to figure something out.”
Applejack could clearly see that the conductor was a worn out old stallion and didn’t need her giving him a hard time. He had enough on his plate given the perplexing situation they all found themselves in. She decided to just drop the issue and turn her attention to her charges.
“So what are we gonna do now Applejack?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“I’m not even tired any more!” Scootaloo said as she hopped around, “I’m hungry now!”
“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry, too.” Apple Bloom said, wincing as her stomach growled.
“Alright,” Applejack said, “here’s what we’ll do...”
Applejack looked around until her gaze finally came to rest on the flickering lights in the distance. She could see the outline of a few buildings and figured there must be some place in Happy Hollow that was still open. It seemed like a very small town, a lot smaller than Appleloosa. She wasn’t surprised she had never heard of it or even seen it on a map for that matter. But the lights must be on for some reason and it seemed in everyone’s best interest to at least check the place out.
“We were going to go to see this here Happy Hollow anyway,” Applejack said, her eyes still steady on the far off buildings, “I reckon we could look for someplace to get some vittles while we’re there. Not sure how many places are still open at three in the morning, though.”
* * * * *
After a fifteen minute walk, Applejack and the fillies entered the town center of Happy Hollow. It was just about as small as AJ assumed; the entire town consisted of one long road with buildings on either side. Everything seemed bunched together in the town square, save for a few outlying farm houses and windmills. All the buildings looked run down and in disrepair. To a passerby, it would look like a ghost town - completely uninhabited.
However, there was a bounty of signs that ponies lived there. Trash littered the alleyways and hoofprints covered the dirt road, not to mention there was a light coming from the far end of the street. Despite this, the entire town was dead silent. Not a soul could be seen at all and no signs of life stirred.
The strange colored glow caught the attention of Applejack and the kids, who could see it emanating from down the road. Its source, however, was completely unknown.
“Where’s that light coming from?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, we might as well find out.” Applejack said, although she felt a bit uneasy escorting three children towards an eerie light in a run down old town she’d never heard of.
After walking about a hundred yards, the light’s origin became clear.
“A diner!” Scootaloo cried out.
Applejack breathed a sigh of relief, “Well if that don’t beat all! Just what we were lookin’ for!”
The town’s diner had a very retro feel to it; its shiny metallic exterior sharply contrasted the surrounding wooden buildings. On top of the building was a buzzing neon sign that read simply “DINER”. The unnatural-colored lights cast a bizarre glow around the diner and the sides of the neighboring buildings. Through the huge front windows, AJ could see a single pony sitting at a long counter, where a young mare stood taking orders. As the crew approached the door they could see a big sign hanging from it that read “OPEN 24 HOURS”.
“Still open too!” Applejack’s mood began to brighten up a bit as she opened the door, “Go on in, girls. I’ll get you all a little something.”
The three excited fillies cheered as they frolicked onto the black and white checkered linoleum floor of the restaurant. A bell above the door jingled and alerted the waitress of the new customers.
“Howdy!” a chipper young mare called out, “What can I get y’all this evening?”
When Applejack stepped into the diner, she saw Apple Bloom and her friends had already hoisted themselves onto the stools that lined the counter. A young female unicorn with a white coat and a blonde mane, done up in a bun, was standing behind the counter. She wore a reddish-pink shirt with a nametag on it that Applejack couldn’t quite make out.
“Sorry, where are my manners?” she giggled, “My name’s Daisy. And good evening, miss!”
Applejack looked around to make sure this waitress was talking to her and then spluttered, “Uh... hey... evening to you too.”
AJ was a bit taken aback by the waitress’s demeanour which seemed a little out of place for a dreary diner in a hick town just a few hours before sunrise. Despite this young mare being quite odd, Applejack was pleasantly surprised. She expected everyone in Happy Hollow to be rough, tough and unfriendly based on her analysis of the town. Instead she was greeted by somepony who was the complete opposite of all her expectations.
She surveyed the rest of the diner before taking her seat next to the children at the counter. An old stallion sat at the opposite end of the bar, reading a newspaper. A cup of coffee lay on the table in front of him; steam did not rise from it and it looked as though it was cold and had been sitting there for some time. An old jukebox covered in dust rested against the wall just behind him. After getting acclimated and comfortable in her seat, Applejack again turned her attention to the waitress.
“Well, can I get y’all anything?” the waitress asked with a smile.
“Uh... let’s see...” Applejack said, glancing over the menu that the waitress had just handed her. She turned to the fillies, “Y’all know what you want?”
“Pancakes!” Scootaloo exclaimed, jumping up on her hind legs on top of the stool, “Stacked way up here!” She made a gesture with her front legs implying she wanted some sort of mountain made of pancakes.
“Sounds good to me.” Sweetie Bell said, “I’ll get that too.”
“I reckon I could go for some flapjacks.” Apple Bloom agreed.
“Well alright then.” Applejack said without taking her eyes off the menu, “Short stack for each of the girls and I’ll just have a cup of coffee myself.”
Applejack closed her menu with a flourish and handed it to the cheery waitress.
“Aw!” Scootaloo complained, “How many come in a short stack?”
“That’d be three, hun.” the waitress replied.
Scootaloo scowled at Applejack, who didn’t even turn her head to witness the expression.
“Is that all, dears?” the waitress cooed.
“Yep, that’ll do, miss.” Applejack said.
“Please, honey, call me Daisy.” the waitress said with a playful smile.
Applejack was a bit unused to such informality and found it impossible to fully comply. “Alright, thanks Miss Daisy.”
Daisy slipped into the back room of the diner with the order. The heavy, hinged door swayed back and forth a few times before coming to rest. Sounds of pots and pans clanging together could be heard through the small window giving the customers a tiny glimpse of the kitchen. The kitchen looked very ordinary, with a few pots hanging from what looked like a rod on the ceiling. After a few moments a soft hiss replaced the sound of the banging pots - undoubtedly Daisy pouring pancake batter onto the stove.
However, after a few moments that sound subsided and a thick silence filled the small room. The only sounds that could be heard were that of the buzzing fluorescent lights and the ticking of a clock that hung above the kitchen door. The fillies sat quietly awaiting their food, an unusual occurrence for the three energetic kids.
The sound of scuffling hooves caught Applejack’s attention, who looked to her right, past the children and to the other side of the room. The old stallion reading a newspaper had gotten off his stool and walked over to the dusty old jukebox. He placed a bit in it, which entered a slot in the side and rolled down the machine. After a few seconds a soft, lilting old-timey Western song echoed through the building. The muffled sound of a relaxed steel guitar and slow drum beat replaced the unearthly silence that hung in the air before. The old pony grunted as he sat down again at the counter.
“Y’all ain’t from around here, are ya?” the old stallion bellowed in a gruff voice, placing his paper down on the table and looking over at the strangers, “Ain’t often we get visitors.”
The considerable distance between the two parties made the conversation a little unexpected, not to mention awkward.
“Uh, no, we ain’t.” Applejack spoke for the group.
“Where y’all hail from, then?” the old pony asked in a disinterested monotone.
“Ponyville!” Sweetie Bell piped up.
“Ponyville?” he grumbled, as if in disgust. He turned his attention back to his newspaper, “Never heard of it.”
“You’ve never heard of Ponyville?” Scootaloo asked, laughing a bit, “Are you serious?”
The old stallion grimaced and turned his sharp eyes again towards the group at the other end of the diner, “No, I ain’t never heard of no Ponyville. Y’all ever hear of Happy Hollow?”
“Well... no.” Scootaloo admitted.
“Then why should I have ever heard of Ponyville?” the old stallion snapped his attention back to his paper, muttering something under his breath which Applejack only assumed were nasty words directed at the newcomers.
Applejack, without taking her eyes off the stallion said to the children in a loud voice, “Seems people round these parts are mighty hospitable.” It was clear she wanted the old stallion to hear her sarcasm. He either did not care or didn’t hear, because he had absolutely no response.
For a few awkward moments, the grainy Western tune coming from the jukebox was the only thing breaching the wall of silence the two parties had put up around each other.
“Here y’all go, little darlin’s!” Daisy called as she opened the back room door with her rump. She levitated three plates of pancakes with her unicorn magic as she entered the main room of the diner. After carefully placing each plate in front of the fillies, she turned to Applejack and said, “Don’t fret, hun, I didn’t forget about your coffee.”
After pouring AJ a steaming cup of coffee, she asked, “I don’t remember seeing your faces in here before. Newcomers?”
“Yep.” AJ said, taking a sip from her cup. It burned the roof of her mouth a bit and she winced after putting the cup to her lips.
“Yeah, careful, shug’. That’s hot.” Daisy said with a wink, “So where y'all from? We don’t get many tourists ‘round here.”
“So I’ve heard.” Applejack grumbled with a sidewards glare at the old pony across the room.
“We’re from Ponyville!” Apple Bloom said.
“Ponyville!” Daisy squealed, “Oh, ain’t that the most darling name for a town I ever did hear!” She giggled, “Ain’t surprised such cute little ones like yourselves came from such a cute little town!”
Daisy pinched Sweetie Bell’s cheek, who laughed and squirmed in response.
“I reckon you’ll be seeing a lot of us folks around here for some time.” Applejack explained, “See, our train broke down just outside of town and there’s one or two odd miles of track missing from the railway.”
“That’s awful odd...” Daisy pondered.
“You can say that again,” Applejack shook her head, “Darned conductor won’t even let us sleep on the train! That’s why the children and myself are here at this hour.”
“Oh my!” Daisy gasped, “You poor dears! Tell you what, there’s an inn right across the street. Talk to the innkeeper, his name’s Gourmand. You tell him Daisy sent you and I’m sure he’ll find you a room, possibly even one at a discounted price.”
“Aw shucks, Daisy, that’s mighty neighborly of ya.” Applejack said bashfully.
“No trouble at all!” Daisy beamed, “After these tykes here finish their meals, why don’t you head over and see what he says? If there’s really gonna be a big demand for rooms tonight like you said, best get a jump on it.”
* * * * *
Applejack and the fillies made their way into the lobby of the Happy Hollow Inn. After a few seconds it was apparent that no one was there to greet them. Dim candle light illuminated the spacious room. Shadows danced across the walls as Applejack surveyed the ground floor, looking for somepony to talk with. A large front desk sat directly across from the front door. To the left and right of the desk were great wooden staircases. The entire building looked ramshackle; dust and cobwebs were found in nearly every corner. It was obvious by the condition of the inn that Happy Hollow didn’t see much business by way of travellers. Most curious of all, however, is that directly above the front desk a large oil painting of an old bearded pony hung on the wall. The portrait’s frame was covered in dust and from the pony’s style of dress it appeared to be an antique.
Applejack approached the front desk. A thick guest book filled with blank pages sat facing her, but what really caught her eye was the silver bell that shone in the light of a nearby oil lamp. She gingerly tapped the top of it, and a ding rang out. The room was so quiet that the sound from the small bell sounded like an explosion.
“Anypony here?” Applejack hollered.
After a brief moment of completely static air, the sound of creaking wood could be heard from the staircase on the left. After a few thumps that were obviously hoof falls, a pony appeared, descending the rickety stairs.
“Evening, stranger.” the middle-aged male earth pony said, “You lookin’ for a room tonight?”
“Uh, yeah,” Applejack hesitated, “Daisy sent us.”
“Daisy!” the pony chuckled, “Fantastic! I’ll set you up with a room right away. Name’s Gourmand. I run this here inn. I don’t get much business at this here inn, but the rooms are warm and the beds are comfortable. I’ll only ask the humble price of forty bits for all of y’all tonight, seein’ as y’all are friends of Daisy.”
“Well that’s mighty generous.” Applejack said, a bit in shock of the bare minimum price, “I appreciate it very much, sir.”
“Now,” Gourmand said as he took his place behind the front desk and took out a quill, “If y’all can sign the registry here I’ll take you up to your room.”
Applejack did as he said, and signed for each of the children as well.
“Ah, right this way, Miss...” Gourmand hesitated before looking down at the registry, “Applejack!”
Gourmand gestured for the party to follow him up the stairwell. He was gripping a lamp in his mouth as he began leading them up to their rooms. As they walked, the fillies were taking in the scenery and remained silent. Sweetie Bell appeared to be a bit frightened by the rather eerie accommodations they had received for the evening. The Happy Hollow Inn was a far cry from Carousel Boutique. When they finally reached their room for the night, which was situated on the fourth floor, Gourmand hung up his lamp on a hook next to the doorway.
“Y’all are lucky, as a matter of fact. This is one of the only rooms we got left.” Gourmand explained, “A lot of other ponies have been renting out rooms tonight. Peculiar to have such a boom in business.”
Applejack sighed and began, “Yeah, well, see... thing is we all were on board a-”
“A train,” Gourmand interrupted, “I know, I know. I heard the story about a dozen times tonight from a dozen different ponies.”
He smiled as he handed Applejack a key, “This here’s the room key. Don’t lose it, but if you do you can always ask for another one down at the main lobby. If I’m not there, my wife will be.”
“Thank you.” Applejack said, a little embarrassed that she was about to bore him with a tale he’s heard so much this evening. AJ wasn’t one to waste another pony’s time.
Applejack unlocked the door to the room as Gourmand made his way back down to the lobby. Once AJ opened the door, the three fillies burst through and started examining their temporary home. The room contained four beds as well as a dresser, a mirror and its own bathroom. All this was crammed into a tight space, however, and the room appeared far from luxurious. Every piece of furniture was made from bare wood and the only form of decoration in the entire space was the red velvet curtain hanging from a single, large window located in the center of the far wall.
“Alright, kids.” Applejack said in a stern tone, “Bedtime. It must be almost four by now and I don’t want y’all waking up at noontime.”
* * * * *
After several minutes of lying still in quiet darkness Apple Bloom realized she was alone. Her last whisper across the room to Scootaloo remained unanswered. Everyone was asleep but her. Apple Bloom usually had a hard time falling asleep, and trying to sleep in a strange room in a strange town was nearly impossible. The muffled sound of morning birds beginning to chirp outside the window frustrated her. It was still pitch black outside, but she knew morning was coming and she wasn’t even tired.
Giving up on trying to sleep for the time being, Apple Bloom carefully got out of bed. She tried to make her movements as subtle as possible so that she wouldn’t wake anyone, especially her sister. Applejack would most likely get mad at Apple Bloom for not at least attempting to sleep; but futile attempts at sleep were just too aggravating for Apple Bloom. She decided to get up and open the window so that the sounds of the night could lull her to sleep, or at least make her feel a bit more relaxed. As Apple Bloom approached the window, she was expecting to hear the sounds of birds and crickets flood into the room as soon as the window was opened.
Once she opened it, however, all she heard was silence.
Apple Bloom paused a moment. She was confused; she could have swore she heard birds chirping outside. She scanned the area and saw no birds and not even any bird nests. She scratched her head. Weird.
Then, Apple Bloom heard a noise. It sounded very similar to the muffled sounds she heard before. Now she was able to recognize the sound, though. It was the sound of a pony’s voice! It was faint but it was shrill and high-pitched, like that of a bird. She couldn’t make out any words, though. They just sounded like noise - like chirps. Apple Bloom searched for the source of this sound as she peeked her head out the window.
Apple Bloom spotted an orange glow emanating from the alleyway beside the diner across the street.