Everything is quiet now... No, everything still has their own unique sound...but my ears or my brain no longer registers any of them as I wandered around the town of Ponyville.
Everything is dark, as always, but to me, everything was darker... The town I once called a peaceful town was gone. Well, Ponyville is still here, but something is no longer present...
No one seemed to mind my presence, and that is fine, for I don't think I'd be willing to open my mouth to talk to anyone... I kept on walking in a very slow pace. I didn't mind the rain. I didn't mind the wind. Both weren't worth my attention... Nothing has caught my attention...
The town was full of working ponies, but now, there were only ponies... Those with wings were absent. Those bound on the earth were walking around. At least they had a purpose of their walk. I had none...
There's a mare up ahead. She was pulling a wooden wagon full of little house-hold items. I walked pass her. She didn't mind.
There's a stallion walking out of his home. He closed the door slowly as I walked by. He didn't mind.
I suddenly stopped as an orange fruit rolled in front of my path. I stopped and stared at it, and Scootaloo slowly extended a hoof to pick up the only thing her idol had left her after we have searched the quiet and barren War Planes. Lifting her hoof in front of her face, she sobbed as she stared at the blue slightly burned feather on her hoof. She threw herself into a sitting position as she brought the feather on her chest, and embraced it as she let the stream of tears roll down her face.
An earth filly suddenly picked up the orange on the ground. She noticed me, and smiled sheepishly at me as she walked towards Scootaloo, and gently placed a slightly muddy hoof on her shoulder. Apple Bloom opened and closed her mouth several times, but she couldn't find the right words to say something...or anything. Sweetie Belle joined and placed a hoof on the sobbing pegasus' other shoulder.
I couldn't bare seeing her like that. I sadly threw my gaze on the ground, and saw my reflection on the small puddle of rain water on the ground... I closed my eyes, and let out a heavy sigh.
I continued walking through the busy road. I didn't mind the ponies I walk by. They didn't mind me as well.
I don't know how many minutes it took me to reach the edge of town. I stared ahead, and a lightning flash blinded me momentarily before my vision came back and we continued our slow trek towards the Everfree Forest. We've reached the edge of the said forest before Applejack announced that she probably needed to head back to the farm. We didn't respond, and she didn't wait for one either. She turned and started walking off with her brother still tied and carried on her back.
We stared at her, and after she was out of sight, Apple Bloom sighed and quietly started walking to the same direction that Applejack took. And again, none of us said a word. She did however, turned her head over her shoulder and stared at the misty-eyed pegasus filly. She flashed her a weak smile before continuing her trek.
When Apple Bloom was out of sight, we turned our attention at the forest. It was darker than I last remembered. The darkness however, was dispelled as Sweetie Belle summoned a faint glow on her horn as she led the way. Spike patted Scootaloo's shoulder with a claw, and the two walked after Sweetie Belle.
It took them a moment before they have realized that I wasn't following them. Spike stopped and turned to me with a look of sadness and concern.
"Howdy, Brownie," Applejack greeted me with a smile, yet her eyes and her tone betrayed her lips.
I tried to force a smile, but what came out was a sigh instead.
Her small smile vanished the instant my sigh came out from my mouth. She opened her mouth to say something, but none came out. I turned my head and stared at the vast green leaves of their orchard beyond the worn-white fence of their farm. I turned my head back to Applejack, but my gaze was locked on the red stallion as I remembered him telling us his reason as to why he decided to stay in the castle. He had no choice, he said, for if he wanted to continue living, he'd had to do what the unicorns asked him to do.
Despite our current situation however, Applejack must've sensed that her brother gave us the answer she wasn't looking for. It held no truth, she said, and Big Macintosh showed it pretty well. Giving up through a sigh, he finally told us that if he didn't die in the war, then staying with the unicorns was the second best option for him to be away of his family. He recounted the time that everyone were quarreling over his future of joining in the war. He didn't like it. He couldn't have a say on it. Every time he tries to voice out, he was completely shoved off and shut quiet. He was tired of having a quarreling family, and death was his only solution to escape. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. So instead, he took an alternative. And so, he is sitting glumly on a chair just outside the barn, staring blankly at the ground below him.
"He'll turn around," Applejack's voice reached my ears. I turned and saw her staring at her brother with a sad frown. "Ah'm sure he will." She then turned back to me. "Ah mean, he did have a good reason to leave but, he was bein' mighty selfish."
I stared at the ground near the mare's hooves, and then stared back at the sea of green leaves of the apple orchard. The rain and wind were adding beauty to the waves of leaves, but my heart couldn't feel it...
"Oh, hey," Applejack called, dragging my attention back at her. She pulled something out from her saddlebag, and after she got it out, she slowly placed it on her head. She made a few adjustments before staring back at me with a small smile accompanied by a small blush on her cheeks. "Ah got mahself a hat, like yah said that one tahm. Ahem...er...h-how'd Ah look?"
I wasn't really sure of the number of seconds that flew by. I wasn't awestruck or anything. I was too down to feel that way... But strangely, her little act gave a tiny flare in my cold and down heart.
"Ah'll take that smile as a positive feedback," she smiled weakly as she removed the hat off of her head. "And Ah think yah got a good look of me, and that's fine and dandy, 'cuz Ah won't be wearin' this any time soon, yah hear?"
My small smile grew a bit wider. She has a strange way of trying to cheer someone up. She must have noticed it as well, for she nodded her head before returning the hat inside her bag.
"Glad tah help, Brownie. Ah really don't wanna see those ol' gloomy faces plastered on everypony's faces." She shook her head. "Well, Ah better try and cheer mah own family up. Consider my little presentation earlier as mah warm-up." She started walking back towards the barn. She only took a few steps before stopping on her tracks and turning her head towards me. "Oh, we have some pie back in the barn. Wanna come an' have a bite?"
The smile I had was still there as I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head.
"Well, if yah change yer mind, yer welcome to come anytime." She gave me a small smile and a nod before walking back to the barn house. I stared at her for a short while before I continued our walk towards the old castle located in the deep parts of the Everfree Forest. We met Fluttershy on the way. At first, she asked us how we were doing, but after receiving no reply and having a good look at our expressions, she kept quiet and led the way, as she asked the creatures we come across to not harm us... At that time, I wondered if I'll feel pain if any of the animals would attack me.
Upon our arrival, the looks of the ponies inside made everything worse for me, so I turned around and walked back to the forest instead. Spike called me, but I ignored him and kept my slow pace. I didn't really know how long it took me to get out of the forest and absentmindedly continue my walk all the way to Ponyville...
As I made my way out of the other side of the apple orchard, I saw a small purple blob near the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"Hey..." Spike greeted me with a low voice through a weak smile as I reached him.
"Hey," I greeted back with my own version of a small smile as I stood beside him, turned around, and sat on the ground after kicking my tail out of the way.
We stared at the green sea of leaves of the apple orchard and the town of Ponyville in silence. We didn't mind the cold rain. We didn't mind the chilly air.
Things have really changed dramatically since I last came to town though... As I've told myself... Something about the town is missing now... The town is still there... The ponies are still there, but for how long? Even though the town was still there, there's something very important that it was missing...
"So..." Spike spoke, breaking the silence, "...how is everypony back in town?"
"They're...okay, I guess..."
"...oh..."
...The town's spirit is gone...